Farmington Hotel boosts tourism

The General Manager of Farmington Hotel at the Roberts International Airport in Harbel, Margibi County, Mr. Ronald Stilting, says the hotel is bringing new dimension to the tourism sector of Liberia.

Addressing reporters on Friday, 23 June during a news conference held at the hotel, the General Manager says a new dimension has been added to Liberia’s tourism industry.
The Farmington Hotel successfully hosted the recent ECOWAS conference & Heads of State Summit, is a game-changer for Liberia. He notes that the hotel is the largest hotel-facility in Liberia with 164 rooms and suites, including three Presidential Suites of 300 M², and will be extended with 10 villas in the second phase.

Mr. Stilting narrates that Farmington Hotel strongly focuses on leisure and guests to make them able to relax in beautiful large gardens along the Farmington River, and cool down or workout in one of its three swimming pools that contain an infinity riverside pool.As the resort strongly focuses on tourism, it will offer land-tours to various interesting sites and cooperate with other service providers to boost Liberia tourism sector. A botanical garden, showing typical fruits and crops often unknown to visitors, will be integrated in the large grounds to show the diversity of Liberia’s nature.

The hotel will be a hub for everybody flying in/out, as they can spend the previous day in a relaxed environment until short before departure without the stress of driving from Monrovia.The hotel intends to employ more than 250 Liberian workers on all levels, and secure many more jobs with suppliers and business partners. Mr. Stilting is no stranger to Liberia, as he has previously opened and managed the RLJ Kendeja Resort.

“This is my 8th hotel / 6th African opening and I feel very happy to return to Liberia. I had a great time in Liberia and returning here was quite emotional and almost felt like coming home. I am determined to contribute to Liberia’s development, certainly beyond opening and operating a hotel”, he says and acknowledges that “task ahead is a big challenge, but delivering high standard service is definitely possible. Liberian people have great potential with very friendly and positive character. My recipe is to provide good service to create a positive corporate / family culture, where the staff is a team and people enjoy the work and have fun. Their good mood will reflect in how they treat the guests”, he says.

According to him, the key to achieving high quality service is a strong management team with internationally experienced and dedicated managers. “We aim to bring the highest quality of service in Liberia with a motivated team and positive approach.” The Farmington Hotel is managed by Campbell Gray Hotels which is a renowned high-end hotel group from UK. It operates iconic properties, such as The Phoenicia in Malta, One Aldwych in London and Le Gray in Beirut, with more projects coming up all over the world. The Farmington Hotel is owned by Liberia-based AJA-Group and partners.

“Apart from the commitment to tourism development, the hotel will also get strongly involved in capacity building. The resort runs trainee programs and intends to set up a hotel school to develop talents in various disciplines, which will benefit development of the Liberian hospitality and economy”, Mr. Stilting continues.The hotel will have a kitchen-garden to grow its own herbs and vegetables, but will also initiate and support the development of agricultural projects by linking with NGOs for technical support and promises to purchase produces that are grown, adding that this will provide income for many and help the Liberian economy to become less dependent on imports.

By Lewis S. Teh-Editing by Jonathan Browne