Meet the Billionaire Hotelier Behind Pride Inn Empire

Hasnain Noorani is the man behind the rapid growth of Pride Inn – one of Kenya’s largest, and fastest-growing, hotel chains. Nooraini has also steered the expansion of the parent company Pride Group, with new ventures including cake chain Cake City, the restaurant Shawarma Hub, ecommerce platform Airduka and car rental service Pride Drive.

In 2022 alone, Pride Inn launched two new hotels in Maasai Mara, Narok county and Athi River, Machakos county as part of its aggressive expansion and unveiled an upgraded Diani hotel. Noorani has previously disclosed ambitious plans for the hotel chain to have a presence in all 47 counties in Kenya.

Pride Inn operates properties including Pride Inn Plaza, Pride Inn Paradise Beach Resort and Spa in Shanzu, Mombasa, Pride Inn Flamingo Beach Resort also in Shanzu, Mombasa, Pride Inn Mombasa City, PrideInn Nyali, Pride Inn Diani, Pride Inn Azure in Nairobi and Pride Inn Mara Camp in Narok County. The hotel group currently has over 800 rooms across the properties.

Noorani took over the firm from his father in 2006, freshly armed with a Manufacturing Engineering and Management degree from the University of Nottingham in England. At the time, the company was made up of two budget hotels, a car rental company and driving school.

Noorani chose to upgrade the budget hotels to three-star status and position them as the flagship locations, laying the groundwork for the chain’s growth.

Between 2011 and 2014, Pride Inn went on a shopping spree and opened 6 new hotels –  buying out existing hotels and renovating them to offer high-end experiences. The company also introduced Royal Kitchen multi-cuisine restaurants in all its hotels – offering Chinese, Indian, Continental, Kenyan and Barbecue cuisine.

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The chain also aggressively targeted the Meetings, Conferences & Events (MICE) market by building capacity to host various events. To date, it continues to host numerous county and national government events at its hotels. Its overall conferencing capacity is over 7,500 in just over a decade of operations.

He launched a bakery chain, Cake City, in 2012 after an unpleasant experience trying to get a birthday cake for his daughter.

In January 2016, the group partnered with with Vivo Energy Kenya to launch Pride Fuels Ltd – dealing with sales of fuel, gas, oils/lubricants, tyres and other vehicle accessories. It was Initially meant to be a service provider to Pride Group Companies. Noorani also sealed a deal with Sumitomo Rubber Industries South Africa, manufacturers of Sumitomo, Dunlop and Falken, to be the sole agents and distributors of the Sumitomo brand of tyres in the Kenyan market.

The company added to its restaurant portfolio in 2017 with the launch of Shawarma Express Kenya at The Sarit Centre mall Food Court in Westlands. It offers Shawarmas on wraps, made  in front of the customer.

In May 2017, the company ventured into commercial real estate with the opening of  Muthaiga Business Center, eyeing young entrepreneurs and businesses in the upmarket locale.

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