Citiheight Hotel hosts APPOEMN, seeks collaboration with members

In line with it’s resolve to build strong relationship and network with stakeholders in the hospitality industry, Citiheight Hotel Ikeja recently played host to members of the Association of Professional Party Planners and Events Managers of Nigeria (APPOEMN).

Hosted by Tee Laugh, with Starlight Band on ground to thrill guests, the evening of light music and refreshment, was an opportunity for APPOEMN members to network with top management of the hotel, including its chairman Olufemi Talabi and director Richie Dayo Johnson. As part of the hosting, APPOEMN members were taken on a facility tour of the hotel that has become a choice venue for pre-wedding and wedding parties.

Some APPOEMN members at the event include Omolara Akande of JW Events, Redbubbles Events, Bose Abisagbola of 2AY Events, Lope Ayodele of Lapelle Events, Yemi Peters of Sparkling World, Kemi Remi Dairo and others.

Speaking on the motive behind the special hosting, Olufemi Talabi explained, “We agreed to do this because, we decided sometime last year, that we are going to have industry specific reception for players in this sector. Today is that of the events planners; they are critical to us because these are the people we work with. When we sell the hotel to them, of course, they take it with them and sell the ideas to their customers and clients. So, we believe that we need to work closely with them and that’s the idea beside this reception,” he said.

On the unique selling point for Citiheight, Talabi informed that, about a year since the hotel opened, it has become a choice venue for weddings.

“Nearly every weekend, we host pre-wedding events here; people would like to come in and take pictures within the reception. Now, we have a whole floor that is dedicated to the couple and their families when they come; they also have the taste of our hospitality. Of course, the sixth and seventh floors are blocked to other guests; we have security man there to ensure people don’t go beyond that point.”

In a bid to help guests keep in touch with family and business, Citiheight has introduced a mobile phone for guests with free survives during their stay in the hotel.

“The latest thing we have done now really is to introduce a phone that is called handy. This phone is unique in Nigeria; this is the first time it’s brought into this country and we are the first to use it. If you check into the hotel, you have one of the phones in your room and you can make calls immediately, locally and internationally; it’s totally free, you don’t pay anything. You can also use it to communicate within the hotel, call the bar, kitchen and other services in the hotel. It also gives you free Internet access, which means you can use your social media on it; everything is totally free,” he noted.

On how the management plans to sustain the tradition and ensure the hotel stays up to standard, Talabi said, “The good thing about it is that we are not totally new in this business; we’ve been in this business for about 14 years now. We started in Abuja, we have one in Lekki, now we have one here in Ikeja. So, we know what it takes and thanks God, we’ve been able to sustain those hotels up till now. So, we can only continue to improve,” he assured.