The Buddy’s International Hotel has been sold to Turkish hotel group ‘Princess’ and an agreement to this effect has already been signed, according to an informed source.
The hotel had been developed in time for World Cup Cricket last year at a total cost of US$12M. CEO of the hotel Omprakash ‘Buddy’ Shivraj remained tight-lipped when this newspaper contacted him yesterday for confirmation on the buyers or investors.
A management team comprising a number of South African nationals is already in place at the hotel in preparation for the change in branding.
According to various travel websites, the Princess group has a number of hotels around the world and they are known for reflecting local culture and being especially accommodating to children. It is not uncommon for the group’s hotels to have the word ‘Princess’ included as part of the name, while the other part of the name is usually indicative of the location.
This newspaper understands that some issues had to be worked out before government gave approval since the land on which the hotel is built was leased from the government.
“That is why when your newspaper asked if Buddy’s hotel was for sale, the owner answered ‘no’ because it had already been sold,” said the source.