Victor Muthama: At Royal Senchi, Guests Relax in Serene  Ambience

The General Manager of The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort, Victor Muthama, tells Charles Ajunwa why tourists should visit the resort situated in Akosombo, Ghana

What do you have to offer at The Senchi Royal Hotel and Resort? 

The Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is a four-star luxury resort in Ghana. We are currently in Akosombo in the eastern region. We are situated by the river side which is the Volta River. We have 84 rooms, nine of which are suites and then we have one presidential suite as well. We offer recreational facilities. We have conferences also for people who like conferences and we have events that we do over here. We have two pools. One is for the adults and one is for the kids.

 There are activities like kayaking, canoe riding, nature island tours that we give to guests and people that would love anything that would make them unwind and de-stress. We have tournaments like the golf tournament that we host from time to time for people who are into sports and love sports. We’ve added the snooker table, the mini fastball table, there’s also the basketball court now.

What other facilities do you have that attract guests? 

We have the gym which is complimentary to all in-house guests. We have the spa and the saloon for anybody that would like a massage or a retreat and would like to look good while they are here. They don’t have to go all the way outside. 

We also have the boat site where people can go on boat cruises on the river. We have an island for people that would like to take a picnic experience or an exclusive experience. The tennis courts is there, the basketball courts is there and then the golf course is also there. Just this year, we had our first mini golf tournament.

In the future here, we’ll develop it into probably animal spots where you can go there with your partner, there’s a tree house, there are things that we’re thinking of and doing. I’m sure your next visit you should see more of that.

Are there plans to expand the conference centre? 

Yes. Currently combined together with this area, which is our tent conference space and then our built conference space, we’re looking at over 500. The expansion that they are doing, we definitely have over thousand-seater.

What activities do you have at the pool side? 

We have two pools. One is the main pool for all of our guests. It’s complimentary for all in-house guests.

And then we have one for the kids. So we intentionally designed a pool just for the kids to have fun and some splash while they are here so that the adults can also have their own fun when their kids are around so that we do not distract them. It’s not as deep as the adult one, so it’s safe and secure. You always have pool guides around to help them with any activity related to water sports. 

What special cuisines do you offer? 

We have both local and international cuisines. Our chef and his wonderful team, they are well trained and well exposed. So any dish you can think about internationally and locally, especially Ghanaian cuisine, we have it here on our spread. If anybody wanted any special dish, you could speak to the chef and they can have it prepared for them. 

Tell us about your facility in the north, Zeina Lodge?

Zeina Lodge is way up north in Mole National Park.

So it’s in the middle of the park which is the biggest wildlife park in West Africa. It has 24 tented chalets and then we take people on a safari ride whilst they are there to see wildlife. Prominently amongst all the animals you can see are the elephants and you have the bush bucks. We have the deers, we have the antelope, you have birds and over 300 species of birds that you can see over there.

We have community tours that we take people to for Shea Bata to see how it’s prepared from raw to its processed state. We have waterfalls that we take people to.

We have the river rides, canoe rides whilst they are in the north. 

How secure are these two facilities? 

Senchi is very secure. Every area or space in the hotel has security personnel over there, more than three at a time whilst they are in their space. Because Zeina is a wildlife area, we have the Forestry Commission of Ghana already in there with rangers that are trained and experts that will take you on the guide. So it’s very secure. The security is really tight over there. You can’t come to Zeina without permission.

How can your clients access Senchi and Zeina? 

For anybody in Accra, it’s an hour and 30 minutes drive from Accra to Senchi. So all you have to do is get a bus or maybe arrange with the reservations team. We can either pick you up or you can come on your own. Senchi is relatively closer to Accra.

Zeina, because it’s up north, if you were to drive, it would take you 12 hours from Accra to Zeina. If you were to go by flight, then it’s an hour to Tamale and then two hours to the lodge,  which is in Mole. So it’s almost three hours to Zeina, but one hour and 30 minutes stops to Senchi.

Can you throw more light on your partnership with Accra Weizo? 

I think Ghana and Nigeria have always been siblings at best. Mr. Ikechi (Uko) and his wonderful team, they bring together wonderful and seasoned journalists and people from all walks of lifeespecially tourism industry.

They come and they experience Ghana and they carry Ghana on their back to Nigeria or wherever they are coming from. We have also had the opportunity to visit Nigeria at Akwaaba and we’ve had a wonderful relationship. So it’s very, very mutual where we host, but we also get to be hosted and then we get to have guests which come in from these experiences.

The owner of The Royal Senchi loves nature. Why emphasis on nature? 

You see, we pride ourselves in the fact that we didn’t have to artificially engineer anything that is here. This is very natural. We just were blessed with the river to be by. So the river that you can see right from your rooms is naturally there. You know it’s not water that has been brought in from any other place. The trees, the lush greens, so we just built in or within nature. We happen to have Senchi right here in the middle of nature. Nothing is artificial. The greens that you are seeing watered beautifully. We have a lot of water around us, so it’s all throughout the year it’s green, it’s lush, it’s very detoxing, it’s very like natural and it’s really therapeutic. You know, because it’s like the birds and everything around you just speak to how natural everything is. 

How affordable are the rooms?

Our rates are affordable. Currently, we are in partnership with Accra Weizo. We’ve got a very wonderful price for anybody that come through the Weizo team. Instead of the $350 per night bed and breakfast, we are currently running at $260 per night bed and breakfast. 

Why should any guest visit Royal Senchi? 

If I were to give you one word or one theme that Senchi stands for, it’s serenity. You could also say tranquility or just peace. If you noticed everything around you is not noisy, it’s not over the top, it’s just to relax you whilst you are here. So for everybody out there, if you are looking for that space that allows you to reset and just detox and just connect with yourself and even with nature, then the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort is a space to be.