The famous Treetops Lodge built back in the 1930s is finally joining in the race of renovations that have been sweeping across the Kenyan hospitality scene recently. It is only the other day that we posted an article on the ongoing renovation works at the Serena and the Southern Sun Inn to woo visitors during this peak season.

The Treetops Lodge, back then, had the most expensive rooms in the world. It was heralded as the retreat of royalty. Indeed Princess Elizabeth and her fiancé Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in 1952 had been staying here when she became queen. She had gone up the Treetops a princess and came down a queen.

Located right inside the Aberdare National Park, Treetops Lodge is perched 30 FT high on a Mugumo (Baobab) tree overlooking a watering hole frequented by rhinos, elephants, buffaloes, leopards and other wild animals. In 1954, the original hotel was burnt down by the Mau Mau freedom fighters and reconstructed 3 years later as a much bigger facility.

Today the lodge has 50 small rooms with enough space for 2 or 3 bunker beds. The rooms are positioned to allow guests to watch wildlife from balconies or windows.

The Treetops Lodge is now set to undergo a major transformation that will see it reinforce its position as an exclusive high-end luxury lodge. This means it will soon be closing its doors to visitors to pave way for these renovations place slated to kick-off in October and last for 3 months.

A major part of this facelift will include converting all the current rooms to en suite with new décor and luxury furniture while maintaining the structure and the feel of the building.

The facility, after the renovations, will escalate to full lodge status offering full board options with buffets and elaborate sit-down meals. This will mean a change in the price structure to reflect the new status. The price change will however be done over a period of 2 to 3 years to smooth the transition.

Meanwhile, a sister hotel to the Treetops Lodge, The Outspan Hotel, will also undergo some changes that will see it increase its room capacity from the current 45 to 61 all-deluxe rooms with the addition of a new 16-room block.