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In a market where property owners are seeking smarter, more profitable ways to make use of their assets, KENNAH has emerged as a true pioneer, and was recently named a Top 3 Winner at the Cityscape Egypt Proptech Challenge.
Founded on the belief that adaptive reuse can be both environmentally and economically sustainable, KENNAH transforms underutilized spaces into high-performing short-term rentals, offering a seamless experience for both property owners and travelers.
In this interview, we sit down with the founder to explore KENNAH’s journey, the challenges and opportunities in Egypt’s short-term rental market, and how their tech-enabled, end-to-end approach is reshaping the future of hospitality in the region.
As an architect working on the thesis project for my master’s degree between 2013-15, I became very interested in the concept of Adaptive Reuse, a fundamental principle of sustainability in the Built environment. I had previously studied and sat for the LEED GA certificate, while observed the difficulty of wide adoption in an emerging economy such as Egypt due to technical difficulty and high upfront cost, evident in the limited number of executed projects in a couple of decades. Adaptive reuse is the process of renovating/upgrading an existing structure for a new use. KENNAH takes this further by combining Adaptive Reuse of the building/space with viable economic use, enabling economic sustainability of the endeavor, not only environmental sustainability. Our first financial model is transforming buildings/spaces to become income-generating short-term rentals.
Short-term rentals primarily relies on mega platforms such as Airbnb that reaches a staggering 150m users. Starting out as a peer-to-peer platform where individuals listed their own homes, or even parts of them, for a bit of extra income, the main challenge for guests is reliability, consistency and quality of the experience. As for owners, their concern is damage to the property and misuse by guests, causing trouble with neighbors, authorities and so forth. Professional property and hospitality management, with properties exclusively used for rental and guests vetted, is the approach we adopted and invested heavily in building in the first two years of operation.
We invested in building a tech platform that streamlines our property management SOPs and backend operations, rather than one where guests can make reservations, which is the focus of most of our competitors. This enables us to grow sustainably, maintaining consistent quality and service standards, without proportionately increasing our headcount. This is key for us as a startup bootstrapped for 3 years. Our platform also enables property owners to monitor their properties performance, earnings and provides market/unit analysis and insights to inform investment decisions.
Ours is an end-to-end, hassle-free approach. We manage all three phases on behalf of the property owner: pre-OP, getting the property ready for short-term rental, followed by the full scope of property and guest management, and finally financial investment assessment to enable informed future decision making.
So far we’ve hosted 1600+ guests from 40 countries for more than 13,500 nights at KENNAH properties. Our owners have spent 2m USD on refurbishment and made an average of 23.3% ROI. Our team has grown from one jack-of-all-trades when we started out with 7 properties to a full-fledged team of 20+ who manage 50 keys and counting.
When we first launched in 2022 and took our first steps in the tech startup ecosystem, nearly the entire focus and vast majority of investment was in Fintech, with very little attentions to other sectors. Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen a shift, with Proptech becoming one of the more exciting up-and-coming sectors. We now have several incubators, competitions and events geared towards Proptech and a community of stakeholders beginning to form. We’re optimistic this will lead to an increase in funding and expansion opportunities, in addition to supportive legislation and regulation.
More than the pandemic, the event affecting the local short-term rental market has been the successive devaluations and ensuing inflation of the last few years. These have led to loss of value to owners renting their properties long-term in local currency on one hand and the difficulty in investing in purchasing fresh real estate due to the tremendous spiral in prices. These factors encouraged property owners to seek alternatives in order to boost their earnings and look into their existing idle inventory of units to bring to market. With our head start and track record of 3 years operating on the ground, KENNAH is well-positioned, with a value proposition that caters to their needs.
The most important criterion is livability. Short-term rentals must be located in safe, inhabited neighborhoods, with services and facilities ideally within walking distance. Current condition of the property is not a deterrent as we have the expertise required to manage an effective transformation.
We started out with a design/supervision only team, then built a Hospitality Operations function from scratch. In 2024 we began assembling our in-house TECH team and finally this year we’ve started building our Growth function which encompasses Sales, Marketing and Business Development. Previously relying entirely on referrals and word of mouth, we now have specific outreach initiatives and spend on online marketing. Our goal is to end the year with 3x the number of properties under management compared to end of 2024 and a streamlined property onboarding process.
We’ve developed a SPEC book for hospitality finishing and furnishing standards that is applied to all KENNAH properties. We aim to deliver properties that are warm and inviting and will also continue to look good after years of heavy use. Rather than starting from scratch here, we tapped into the expertise and know-how of the team at our sister company Design Dialogue who’ve had 10yrs+ experience in architecture and interior design in Egypt and the region.
We have a rigorous inspection, commissioning and handover process that tests every aspect of the refurbished property before it is listed. Every completed stay is followed by a check-out inspection to ensure no damage or take necessary action in case there is. Our Facility team conducts annual maintenance works during low-occupancy seasons to ensure our properties remain in optimum working condition. It is also worth mentioning that 65% of guests who book on platforms such as Airbnb and booking.com leave reviews that are in many cases quite detailed and frank. We’ve succeeded in maintaining Superhost status, with a score of 4.8 star and 700 reviews that comment on the quality of our properties, lively locations and a warm hosting experience, exactly what we set out to do.
We have digital locks on all our properties that enable contact-less access to the properties, timed to the booked stay. Travelers can reach us 24/7 via on whatsapp or call our hotline for any request or complaint.
Property owners care about two things: the property’s earnings and its upkeep and condition. The SPEC book and SOPs we employ, especially now that they are largely automated, enable us to deliver on these consistently.
As for travelers, booking with a superhost who has hundreds of reviews, gives them peace of mind and assurance their stay and experience will be a positive one. While unforeseen happenings can and do come up while traveling, they have reliable, personal response that addresses any issues they may encounter, at the property or elsewhere.
KENNAH is proving that adaptive reuse can be both sustainable and profitable, for owners and travelers alike. By combining design expertise, hospitality operations, and a data-driven platform, they are setting a new benchmark for the short-term rental market in Egypt. With plans to scale and a clear value proposition for both property owners and guests, KENNAH is well-positioned to lead the next wave of PropTech-driven hospitality in the region.
🔗 Learn more: www.kennahstays.com
Cityscape | Aug 12, 2025
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