New York Stock Exchange-listed company Hilton Worldwide has announced it has signed a franchise agreement with Reliance Hotels to open Hilton Garden Inn hotel at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. 

The hotel becomes the 12th Hilton Garden Inn property under development in Africa, and is expected to open in early 2016.

The 171-room hotel will be located two kilometres from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the country’s largest airport and a busy hub for sub-Saharan travel.

Its location off Mombasa Road, the main link between Nairobi and Mombasa, is expected to make it an ideal base for local, regional and international visitors.

“Hilton has long pioneered the concept of airport hotels and in recent years has added new properties in aviation hubs, including London Heathrow, Istanbul Ataturk and Amsterdam Schipol airports,” said Patrick Fitzgibbon, senior vice president of development, Europe and Africa, for Hilton Worldwide.

“Agreeing our first Hilton Garden Inn for Kenya, and adding a second airport location to our African portfolio (after Nigeria’s Hilton Garden Inn Abuja Airport), demonstrates how we are growing and evolving our presence across the continent.”