Hemingways Retreat Kigali joins the Hemingways Collection

Published on Oct 7, 2025, 2:04 pm CDTUpdated on Oct 7, 2025, 2:09 pm CDT

5 min read

The Hemingways Collection is expanding beyond Kenya for the first time, adding Hemingways Retreat Kigali through the acquisition of Heaven Holdings, and welcoming Hemingways River Camp Mara in Kenya's Maasai Mara. The Kigali property brings a 20-room, five-star urban sanctuary with eight super-luxe pool villas and Fusion, a farm-to-table fine-dining restaurant. Founders Alissa and Josh Ruxin have trained more than 3,000 Rwandans since 2008, and the brand says that community focus will continue under the Hemingways banner.

Key points

Why it matters: New luxury option in Kigali backed by a trusted East Africa brand.
Travel impact: Adds a five-star city stay to pair with Mara and coastal itineraries.
What's next: Brand integration, training programs, and refreshed guest experiences.
Retreat Kigali features eight pool villas plus Fusion, a fine-dining restaurant.
River Camp Mara joins Ol Seki to broaden Hemingways' Maasai Mara portfolio.
Sustainability pillars include solar, rainwater capture, and local sourcing.

Snapshot

Hemingways Retreat Kigali is the newest member of the Hemingways Collection, a family-owned hospitality group with roots dating to 1988 at Hemingways Watamu. The Kigali property began as The Retreat by Heaven in 2018 and has grown into a 20-room, five-star boutique hotel with eight pool villas, on-site wellness, and Fusion, a farm-to-table restaurant. The acquisition preserves a training legacy credited with developing more than 3,000 local hospitality professionals since 2008, while formalizing sustainability practices such as solar power and rainwater harvesting. In parallel, the Collection adds Hemingways River Camp Mara, enhancing its safari lineup alongside Hemingways Ol Seki Mara. Together, the moves create easier city-to-safari combinations across Rwanda and Kenya under one brand.

Background

Heaven Holdings, founded by Alissa and Josh Ruxin, launched Heaven Restaurant in 2008 as Kigali's first international restaurant and training platform. The Retreat opened in 2018 with 20 rooms, including eight high-end pool villas, and introduced Fusion to showcase Rwandan produce in a contemporary menu. The property emphasized low-impact luxury, community partnerships with local artisans and bakeries, and programs benefitting women and youth. Hemingways' acquisition brings that ethos into a broader portfolio that spans city, bush, and coast, including Hemingways Nairobi, Hemingways Watamu, and Hemingways Ol Seki Mara. The addition of River Camp Mara further diversifies the brand's Maasai Mara footprint, giving travelers more private, small-scale options with seamless access to game drives and conservancy experiences.

Latest developments

Hemingways pushes into Kigali, pairs city luxury with Mara safari

Hemingways confirms Retreat Kigali as its first property outside Kenya, positioning the hotel as an urban wellness-forward base for gorilla-tracking or regional business travel. The brand's "Every Stay a Story" platform will guide integration, with curated experiences that connect guests to Kigali's creative scene, local artisans, and neighborhood foodways. On the safari side, River Camp Mara complements Ol Seki with a more intimate setup that suits families or small groups seeking private drives and sundowners. For planners, the combined footprint simplifies multi-country itineraries: arrive into Kigali for a restorative city stay with spa and dining, then connect to the Mara for a few days under canvas before a coastal decompression at Watamu. The Collection says community training and conservation commitments remain central to the expansion.

Analysis

Strategically, this is a textbook city-and-safari pairing that meets traveler demand for shorter, high-impact East Africa trips. Kigali has matured into a polished capital with efficient air links to primate regions and onward hubs, so anchoring a five-star boutique there is smart. By absorbing The Retreat's training-first DNA, Hemingways inherits both a skilled pipeline and strong local goodwill, which can be hard to replicate. On product, eight pool villas and Fusion give the property a clear luxury signal without losing its neighborhood intimacy. In the Mara, River Camp Mara fills a private-camp niche next to Ol Seki's tented-lodge experience. That creates room to upsell exclusive-use stays and multi-generational safaris. The risk is execution drift during brand integration; keeping Heaven's community partnerships and sustainability benchmarks intact will determine authenticity. If Hemingways maintains those standards while leveraging its Nairobi and Watamu operations, the combined Rwanda-Kenya arc should resonate with luxury travelers seeking meaningful, place-forward stays.

Final thoughts

Hemingways' move into Kigali expands the brand's narrative beyond Kenya and pairs naturally with its Mara and coastal retreats. For travelers, the promise is a friction-light circuit that starts with design-led city calm, pivots to big-sky wildlife, and finishes by the Indian Ocean. The differentiator will be whether that journey remains grounded in training, local sourcing, and measurable conservation rather than brand gloss. If the Collection protects those roots, "Every Stay a Story" reads less like a slogan and more like a promise delivered at Hemingways Retreat Kigali.