Adaeze Nwosu
General manager
About Velvine
A family hotel, run with care
Velvine opened in 2019 on a quiet close in Asokoro, with one rule written on the wall of the staff room: every guest should leave more rested than they arrived.
Our story
Built from a family house
The hotel began as the family house of the Okafor-Bello family, who travelled often for work and grew tired of hotels that hummed, flickered and forgot their names. In 2017 they rebuilt the house and the plot next to it into a small hotel, keeping the neem trees, the courtyard and the habit of offering every visitor a cold drink at the door.
Today Velvine has forty two rooms and suites, sixty four staff and a restaurant that people from across Abuja drive to on Sunday afternoons. It is still owned and run by the same family.
Our values
Four things we hold to
- 01
Quiet first
No humming, no flicker, no loud corridors. Rest is the product.
- 02
Remember people
We note how you take your tea and which pillow you liked, and we ask before we use it.
- 03
Local, done well
Nigerian food, Nigerian craft and Nigerian suppliers, held to an international standard.
- 04
Fair to staff
Living wages, health cover through an HMO, and training paid for by the hotel.
Timeline
From house to hotel
- 2017
The family house is rebuilt with twenty rooms around the courtyard.
- 2019
Velvine opens, with Juniper Table and the first pool.
- 2021
Solar and an inverter bank are added. Generator hours fall by half.
- 2023
The east wing opens with Ashwood Hall and the Presidential Suite.
- 2025
Forty two rooms, and a guest score of 4.8 across the year.
Example details for this demo.
Our people
The team you will meet
Ngozi Ekwueme
Executive chef
Halima Garba
Events manager
Tunde Adeyemi
Head of guest services
Names and roles are invented for this demo.
Responsible hospitality
Lighter on the city around us
- Solar provides around 35% of daytime power, cutting diesel use
- Refillable glass bottles in every room, no plastic water bottles
- A kitchen garden for herbs, peppers and salad leaves
- Two thirds of staff live within ten kilometres of the hotel
Example figures for this demo.
Reservations
Come and meet us
The best way to know a hotel is to stay a night. Our team will be at the door.