Elilly Hotel Begins Paid Smart Parking

Elilly Hotel has opened a seven-storey smart parking building, which has already begun partial service. The parking facility together with its basement has a parking capacity of around 254 vehicles at a time. The parking structure is part of the large-scale expansion of the Hotel, which will cost over an estimated 800 million Br when it is complete, according to Gemshu Beyene, the owner of the five-star hotel.

The structure will help address the issues of street parking in Addis, which is becoming a problem for residents.

Smart parking systems are automated to help drivers reserve and pay for parking. The parking service at Elilly will be available for three types of users, for whom the parking structure will issue different cards.

“A monthly parking card is issued for permanent clients,” said Bizuwerk Mulugeta, information technology manager at Elilly . “Customers can extend the duration as they wish and there is no fixed price.”

Walk-in guests will be issued with a temporary card and will be charged 10 Br an hour for parking for each vehicle, according to Bizuwerk.

Users who are guests at the Hotel, or users of its other services, outside of parking, are usually given a free card.

“People who come for meetings and other events will be able to use the parking as part of their event package,” said Bizuwork.

A scanning machine which will be installed in the structure as a security measure is being imported and is currently at the Port of Djibouti. The service is currently operating with a cashier and other related staff, such as information technology technicians, system administrators, and security guards.

“So far, the challenge we have had is a shortage of foreign currency,” stated Gemshu.

Constructing the parking structure has taken two years, while the rest of the expansion project, which began almost three years ago has reached 80pc completion.

Haile Bayisa, a user of the parking service for his car, thinks the service is essential to making Addis Abeba more convenient city transportation-wise.

“I do not think the fee is very burdensome for users, and it will be lucrative for the hotel,” he said. “It could also attract people to use the Hotel’s other facilities.”

Elilly is constructing two more hotels in Burayu and Bishoftu, Oromia Regional State, two popular tourist and recreational centres in the country. The construction is undertaken by Gebe Construction, a sister company of Elilly.

Similar public parking structures are being built in Addis Abeba and other cities. The parking facility was undertaken by the Addis Ababa City Government Transport Program Management Office around Megenagna, next to Zefmesh Grand Mall, with a project cost of 40 million Br, it has reached 95pc completion. Last Saturday, the parking facility started providing a pilot service to users.

 

 


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