Oceanview Hotel

Not to be confused with the Ocean View Hotel, in Santa Monica.

Oceanview Hotel in Mombasa, Africa is a haven for vampires who travel through the hostile African wilderness. It is owned by Lupo Giovanni and his family.

Overview

The hotel was created when a young man named Lupo came to Kenya from Italy to make a "Home Away from Home" for European travelers. Big game hunters poured in from around the world. Among Lupo's earliest patrons were a young Winston Churchill and American president Theodore Roosevelt traveling with his son Kermit in search of big game. Mombasa and Lupo thrived for over 25 years, until the early 1930s when an economic slump affected the entire world.

Lupo could not pay for the hotel's most recent renovations, a fiasco which cost him over $100,000. He faced bankruptcy but the Oceanview was saved by an italian patron called Francesco Giovanni. The italian vampire came on behalf of Lupo's father and offered to help, but at a price. He embraced Lupo and split ownership of the hotel five ways, an equal share going to each of five investors, including Francesco and Lupo. The Oceanview has been a haven for the kindred ever since.

The entrance to the Oceanview has become a tourist attraction in its own right. Wide marble steps lead up to the carved double doorway at the front of the building. A marble bas-relief of giant elephants, antelope and lions surrounds the door frame. The portico roof is supported by marble pillars covered with carvings of climbing vines. Bamboo chairs and tables on the front porch allow guests a place to relax as they look out over the ocean.

Inside, the ceiling of the main foyer displays an impressive painting of a sunset behind Mount Kenya. In the same painting, a variety of animals roam among the grasses at the foot of the mountain. A lion greedily eats a dead zebra. A mother elephant snuggles her baby. A hyena raises its snout to sniff the darkening air, and a hippopotamus bathes happily in a brown pool.

To the left, the entrance of the casino is decorated on either side by two large tufts of gilt grass. A gilded lion peeks out from behind one tuft and a large bird hovers just above the other. To the right, the front desk awaits guests checking in and out. The hotel's 100 rooms, 15 suites and single penthouse are all equally elegant. The penthouse has a kitchen and all the necessities for a long-term stay. Room rates compare favorably to similar hotels in Chicago or London.

The casino offers all the games that a European casino would offer. It has acquired a reputation for rich style and honest gambling among the circuit's elite. Beautiful local women serve drinks on trays which they carry on the tops of their heads. They wear brightly colored sukas, strapless garments which encircle their bodies, and elaborate collars of beadwork which wrap tightly around their necks and upper chests, giving the effect of pushing their heads up higher than they should go.

References

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