By Rodney Majawa
Blantyre, October 22, Mana: Blantyre’s first ever five star hotel, the Sogecoa Golden Peacock, will officially open its doors to the public on Friday.
President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera is expected to officially inaugurate the Chinese-constructed magnificent structure ranked five-star.
Hotel Marketing Manager, Samuel Mio, told Malawi News Agency (MANA) that following the grand opening, prices and costs of all the products and services have been cut at least by 20 per cent to provide people an opportunity to experience first class hospitality at an affordable rate.
“From today (October 22 to October 31, 2020), our clients stand a chance of being offered 20 per cent discount on restaurant services, accommodation and the rest of the facilities, as part and parcel of corporate social responsibility and indeed celebrating the grand opening promotions,” said Mio.
He said from November 15 the discount rate will be reduced to 15 per cent.
Mio said a small wedding hall that accommodates up to 150 people is currently slashed down to 15 per cent and is at K600, 000 while Lilongwe Wedding Hall is at K1 million.
He added that the Blantyre International Conference Hall (BICH), with a seating capacity of 350 people, is pegged at K1.2 million.
Mio said all customers stand a chance of winning assorted promotional materials like casino vouchers, unique casino face masks and special casino golf shirts.
He added that the give-away discounts make it easier for a customer to access accommodation up to K60, 000 per night for two, including dinner and breakfast and K120, 000 for executive suites, instead of the normal K70, 000 and K160, 000, respectively.
Golden Peacock General Manager, Derrick Xu disclosed that management decided to have the official grand opening for the much-awaited perfection architectural works due to recent decrease in COVID-19 transmissions.
“We have been following the trend in as far as COVID-19 cases are concerned. We are, therefore, very convinced that we can now go flat out to offer the best services in the hospitality industry, hence the grand opening ceremony tomorrow,” Xu said.
Theodora Kachepa and Memory Longwe who serve as reservation officers said they enjoy working with the Chinese at the new hotel as they are friendly and quick to adapt to the local cultural and traditional values.
The Sogecoa Golden Peacock Hotel in Blantyre has so far employed more than 200 Malawians some months ago before its grand official opening.
Construction of the Blantyre-based Golden Peacock started in December, 2017.
