Lokoja — Hospitality business is flourishing in Kogi state with new hotels springing up almost on daily basis. The new hotels are making waves much more than the older ones.

Hospitality business is on the rise in Kogi State, with new hotels springing up in all corners of the old riverine, capital Lokoja on a daily basis.

Despite the many hotels that dot the state capital, the business is flourishing with the new hotels making waves much more than the older ones, as attested to by the manager of Edge drive hotel, Adebayo Frank Clement.

Adebayo tells Sunday Trust that the hotel business is flourishing in Lokoja, with the new ones having an edge over the old ones.

He said most of the new hotels are equipped with state of the art furniture and electronics, as it is found in other cities such as Abuja, Lagos and other major cities in the world, which according to him, is lacking in old hotels.

"One unique feature of hotel business is the quality of service and 24 four hours guaranty coupled with access roads, and we have all the features, hence a night in our hotel will surely convince any guest to return" he said.

Edgedrive hotel is among the newly built hotels in Lokoja and it is talk of the town. It is a three -star hotel that competes with the likes of Satof Hotel, Confluence beach hotel and Maimi hotel.

Edgedrive hotel is located close to the government house, GRA, Lokoja, and because of its strategic location and the quality of service rendered by the hotel, it appeals to guests more than the older ones.

Established in 2010, the 20 rooms and suites hotel has maximum security with CCTV monitoring, a business support centre with internet facilities, as well as outdoor catering service and commercial laundry.

The rooms are standard and tastefully furnished to provide relaxation to both leisure and business travelers. Each room and suite is luxuriously designed in contemporary style, with high definition LCD television with multiple statelite channels.

Each of the rooms has a standard bed with executive chair and table, as well as dressing mirror and table, LCD television. The suite (Clover) which is the biggest is a room and parlour apartment, equipped with state of the art furniture as well as electronics.

Besides, Edge drive has four different types of rooms, namely Rose bud, Flora, and Hibiscus, while the suite is called clover. The Rose bud which is the smallest goes for N11,900, Flora N13,800, Habiscus N16,800 while the clover goes for N24.800.

Edgedrive hotel has four departments namely food and beverages, housekeeping which includes laundering, F and B, kitchen, restaurant, shop as well as management department which includes the manager, accountant cashier and general supervisor.

According to the manager of the hotel Adebayo Frank Clement, Edgedrive is above other hotels, because it better than international standard, hence whoever lodges in the hotel will definitely want to come back.

He said furniture and electronics in the hotel are imported, and are changed immediately they develop problems, so as not to embarrass guests, adding that this gives them an edge over their competitors.

According to him, the service rendered by the staff is superb, as they keep upgrading the technical knowhow of the staff, so that they would be excellent in the art of giving guests the best comfort.

"On the menu, we have continental, intercontinental as well as local menu, a meal in our hotel cost N1,800 and any one that tastes our food must come back because it tastes delicious.

Here, we serve our meals hot and fresh because we don't cook ahead of the order. We cook on customer's request. It is when a customer requests for food that we commence preparation and within 15 minutes the food is ready. This is what is lacking in other hotels, and it gives us an edge over them."

Our 24 hour power supply gives us an advantage too, as we have two standby industrial generators to complement the dwindling power supply for the benefit of our customers.

"We have 800KVA and 40KVA to serve the hotel conveniently. We buy diesel at a very costly price and maintain the generator from time to time, so that we would not be caught unawares by the epilectic power supply. We don't repair our equipment, any of them that is faulty we replace out rightly, so that we can serve our customers optimally. And because of this constant power supply we are always ahead of other competitors."

According to him, one of the major problems facing hoteliers in Kogi state, is lack of constant electricity supply, saying that most of the hours in a day, they run generators in order to make customers comfortable.

However, a guest at the hotel, Abubakar Abdul who spoke to Sunday Trust said most people prefer Edgedrive hotel because of the quality of their service.

"There are some hotels here in Lokoja, especially the old hotels that can't guarantee 24 hours electricity supply. Most of them will run generator till 12 pm once there is no electricity, and switch off. But here in Edgedrive electricity is 24 hours once there is power outage."

He said he had never slept in any hotel besides Edgedrive any time he is in Lokoja for a business trip, saying that he would keep recommending it to people.

Another guest, who only gave his name as Adejoh, said Edgedrive hotel is hotel to patronize if one truly desires comfort.

According to him, what made him develop interest in Edgedrive was electricity and the fact that they cook meals only when the guest makes a request.

"A friend recommended the hotel to me that if I need a comfortable and good hotel in Lokoja, I should check Edgedrive hotel. And I was not disappointed because their service is exceptional. And I will continue to patronize and recommend the hotel to other people.