The once leading hotel in Arusha now a sorry sight

Arusha. William Mollel looked confused and short of words as he stares at his troubled hotel; ransacked and ripped off to the hilt.

Opened in 2009, when the hotel industry in Arusha was at its crescendo, Snow Crest Hotel was once a leading outfit in town.

But yesterday, the striking structure at Ngulelo along the Moshi highway had been reduced to a shell of itself.

The broken doors are visible upon entering the multi-million dollar facility which had about 80 sleeping rooms and several meeting halls.

The devastation is more conspicuous and appalling inside; beds and shelves plucked off the walls and money safes blasted.

As it that was not enough, the seats in its two state of art conference rooms have been removed and carted away alongside with the furniture and the cutlery.

Mr Mollel who purchased the property in 2014, calls it “ a senseless destruction” and said he would move to court to claim damages.

The storming of the hotel and removal of the vital items, including cash, last Friday remains a guess work even as a probe is underway.

The soft-spoken Mollel was not explicit as to the motive behind the action taken following a court order and execution by the court brokers.

He does not believe unsettled claims by the suppliers could be the motive for the removal of key assets of the hotel and resultant destruction.

He says claims by the suppliers amounted to only Sh 141 million, a small amount by all standards, especially for a tourist hotel.

Two of the suppliers Allan Mollel and Daniel Lukumay, he said, were paid just before the storming of the hotel. They pocketed Sh10 million each.

“Why confiscate or destroy properties worth billions of shillings for a mere Sh 141 million debt,” queried an enraged hotel investor.

He could not estimate the cost of the items taken away and the alleged destruction of others during the exercise.

However, impeccable sources intimated to The Citizen that they could be worth a staggering $ 300,000 (About Sh690 million). They included computers and TV sets.

He denied the confiscation of properties was due to unpaid $ 3.4 million (About Sh7.8 billion)loan extended to former owners to construct the hotel.

“I have been in constant discussions with the PTA Investment Bank. The debts we owe are addressed differently”, he said.

Snow Crest Hotel, built on a three acre prime plot near Arusha, was originally owned by one Wilfred Tarimo and his partners.

In 2014, he sold the property to Mr Mollel. Under the sell out, all the debts and other liabilities were to be transferred to the new owner. Mr Mollel claimed yesterday that the sudden closure of the hotel could derail plans to lease the facility to a foreign hotel chain.

“Discussions on the rebranding deal were in the final stages and had the blessings of the PTA Bank”, he pointed out.

Unconfirmed reports had it that some $ 47,000 was among the cash which could not be accounted after the safes were broken or taken away.