What we build
Building a holiday home or Airbnb cottage
Nanyuki has become one of the strongest short stay markets in Kenya. Building for guests is not the same as building for yourself, because every decision has to be judged against what it adds to the nightly rate and how it survives a stranger using it.
What guests pay for
Photographs decide the booking, so the things that appear in photographs deserve the budget. A view, a fireplace, a good bathroom, a veranda you can sit on in the evening and a kitchen that looks like someone thought about it.
The things guests do not photograph but always remember are hot water that works, a bed that does not creak and a house that is warm at six in the morning. Nanyuki nights are cold, and the reviews say so when a cottage is not insulated.
- One well built unit beats two cheap ones on nightly rate and reviews
- A fireplace or wood stove pays for itself in this climate
- Solar water heating removes the worst review you can get
- Furniture and linen are a real budget line, not an afterthought
Building several units
If the plan is three or four cottages, build them in phases and let the first one teach you. Rates, occupancy and the small design mistakes all become obvious in the first season, and it is far cheaper to fix them once than three times.
Shared infrastructure is where the money is saved. One water system, one waste system, one access road and one solar array serving several units costs far less per unit than doing it separately.
Questions we get asked
- How much does it cost to build an Airbnb cottage in Nanyuki?
- A one bedroom cottage of about 50 to 70 square metres, finished to a standard guests will pay for, usually costs KES 3.5M to KES 6M including basic furnishing. Two bedroom units with a good fireplace, veranda and kitchen run KES 6M to KES 9M.
- Is a container or timber cabin cheaper for Airbnb?
- Cheaper to put up, yes. Whether it earns as much depends on the market you are in. Around Nanyuki, guests are paying for a view and a night in the highlands, and a well built timber or stone cabin holds warmth far better than a bare container. If you go the container route, budget properly for insulation, because an uninsulated container is cold at night and hot at midday.
Also worth reading
Rental houses and bedsitters
Rental blocks are judged on one number, which is what a unit costs to build against what it earns each month. Everything else follows from that, including the finishes, the layout and how much you should spend on the parts tenants never see.
Apartment blocks
An apartment block is a different level of project. The structure is engineered rather than assumed, the approvals are longer, and the services have to be designed as one system rather than added room by room.
Planning a holiday home or Airbnb cottage?
Tell us the plot and roughly what you have in mind. We will come and look, then give you an itemised figure and a programme.