Naming the hotel ‘Africa Hotel’, Yusuf Abdallah was nineteen years ago oblivious of the fact that there had been no other hotels running in Kenya by then.
The 100-year-old Mombasa building which now houses a school, an office and private residence has a board on its wall reading:
“1st hotel in Kenya began operations in 1901. Visitors are invited inside to view the architecture plus a photo gallery that captures those times. Your payments or donations are for restorations.”
Mr Yusuf bought the shabby building to run the hotel, which he later sold and a museum was established in it.
“When I bought this house it was very old. There were some tenants living here,” he says.
The two-storey building was opened to tourists while Yusuf lived on the top floor.
Inside the house are pictures of Mombasa in its old times. He says the house remains as it was with only small renovations.
“The pillars are the same. The wood is the same,” he says.