A few metres from the entrance of the Aberdare National Park, in Nyeri is where you find the Treetops Hotel, the very place that Britain’s longest serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne in 1952.
Sir Eric Sherbrooke Walker, a British hotelier, built the hotel in 1932. It was originally intended to be a wildlife viewing station. However, after 1952, the hotel became popular as the place Elizabeth, then 25, went to bed as a princess and woke up the next morning as Queen Elizabeth II.
The original construction of the three-bedroom house was on top of a Mugumo Tree. It provided a great viewing point for guests to view the big five who frequented the water pan at the bottom of the tree house.
In 1954, Mau Mau freedom fighters would demolish the first treehouse. They suspected it had been used by British soldiers as a sniper station.
The demolition only allowed for the construction the present picturesque, three-deck hotel that houses 48 rooms.
The new tree house borrowed a lot from its predecessor, as it was still built on top and parts of the branches served as the stilts.
Surprisingly, only two suites have private shower rooms, one of them being the one christened “Princess Elizabeth Suite”, for the other 46 rooms bathrooms are a communal affair.
The dining experience is communal and features long Victorian-style dining tables that allow guests to interact. This lounge and bar is also equipped with elephant tasks, which were donated by Sir Eric Walker. The lounge has a close-up view of the water point from its second floor.
On the corridor leading into the rooms, you will find framed photographs of wildlife sightings at nights, postcards and appreciation notes as well photos of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, and other Royal family members visiting the establishment. The Queen returned to the hotel in 1959 and 1983, following her coronation in 1953.
The most striking frame is a handwritten record of a wildlife sighting taken on the night that the Queen and Prince stayed at the hotel on the evening of February 5,1952.
From the frame the following can be read: “Animals seen…Elephants about 40. Waterbucks(many) and a fighting broke out in the steps,” reads the first few sentences.
“Herds of elephants (about 50), Rhinos all night…in the morning two bulls fighting,” continues the scroll which was signed off by Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
The iconic hotel closed its doors in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has yet to recover.
KNA visited the hotel in June and found that much of its 98-year-old structure was still in good condition. The watering hole also provided a mud bath for the buffalos, and waterbucks who still frequent the hotel, oblivious to its historical significance.
By Wangari Mwangi and Kiama Wamutitu
Source: kenyanews