Family-owned hospitality and travel group Hemingways has expanded into Rwanda via acquisition of American company Heaven Holdings, which owns and manages luxury hotels in the East African country.
The Rwanda-registered US firm operated a chain of businesses including The Retreat Hotel, Fusion Restaurant, Heaven Restaurant, and Heaven Boutique Hotel as well as Heaven Experiences- the company’s tour operating arm.
Hemingways and Heaven Holdings did not reveal the cost of the transaction. Heaven Holdings properties have previously hosted high-profile dignitaries and celebrities who have visited Rwanda, including King Charles and Princess Camilla.
“We are incredibly excited about this opportunity and look forward to working with and continuing to develop the talented team of hospitality professionals at Heaven and The Retreat,” Hemingways Hospitality Group CEO Ross Evans said.
The acquisition marks the fifth hotel property under the luxury boutique hotel brand, Hemingways Collection, and its first property outside Kenya.
Hemingways was founded in Kenya in 1988 with its first hotel property, Hemingways Watamu, on the Kenyan coast. It has since expanded with the creation of the hospitality brand, Hemingways Collection in 2013, which owns and operates five-star luxury boutique hotels and camps in Kenya.
Demand for hospitality services continues to grow in the East Africa region, fueled by tourism and business conferences.
In Kenya, 26 hotels with a combined 4,344 rooms are in the development pipeline this year, compared to 25 hotels with 4,268 rooms in 2024, according to the Hotel Chain Development Pipeline in Africa 2025 report published by Lagos-based advisory W Hospitality Group.
Data by the advisory firm shows that Tanzania’s resort city Zanzibar has the highest number of hotel rooms in the pipeline this year in the region, and ninth continentally.
Others in the top 10 are Cairo (17,757 rooms) and Sharm El Sheikh (4,231) in Egypt, Lagos in Nigeria (3,709), Boa Vista in Cape Verde (3,650), Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (3,369), Morocco’s Casablanca (2,939), Accra Ghana (2,652), Nigeria’s Abuja (2,523) and Dakar, Senegal with 2,334.
W Hospitality Group compiles the data based on private disclosures by 50 leading hotel chains operating in Africa on deals made for either planned or ongoing construction of hotels in any of the 54 countries in Africa.
