01
HIRING 2026Lead Steward · Hospitality
BOUTIQUE HOTELS & LODGES
Owns the standards, SOPs and quarterly cadence behind every boutique hotel and lodge engagement.
CRAFTED ROLE
OUR PRACTICE
THE STUDIO
A QUIET PRACTICE
Founder-led. Operator-informed. Discreet.
North & Ivory began with a simple observation. Across East Africa, some of the most extraordinary properties — boutique hotels, private estates, heritage houses on the Swahili coast — are loved by their owners but not always held to the operating standards their architecture deserves.
We started this practice to bridge that gap. To bring the discipline of the finest hotels, the discretion of family-office work, and a genuine commitment to regenerative care into a single, owner-representative consultancy.
We do not manage properties. We steward them. Quietly, on long horizons, and always in service of the place itself.
500+
community members engaged through stewardship & enterprise programmes
2,000+
travellers hosted through regenerative experiences
50+
local partners mobilised across conservation, culture & enterprise
8 qtrs
five-star Superhost rating across the UK and South Africa
FOUNDER & CEO
EVA WASONGA
Luxury Property Stewardship Consultant
Eva is a regenerative hospitality and property stewardship leader with hands-on experience building, operating and positioning boutique hospitality assets across East Africa, the United Kingdom, South Africa and the United States.
She founded North & Ivory to bring together luxury guest experience, estate care, sustainability systems, community benefit, vendor coordination and owner-level governance into one discreet stewardship practice for high-value hospitality properties.
Her leadership is grounded in lived operator experience through Stawi Zanzibar and Tarawanda House in Stone Town, where she has shaped regenerative tourism models, hospitality standards, stakeholder partnerships and transparent operating controls. That gives the studio a founder-led advantage: advice that is practical, elegant, sustainable and commercially aware.
Before North & Ivory, Eva managed end-to-end hospitality operations across the UK and South Africa for Travelhost — earning 5-star ratings and Superhost status for eight consecutive quarters, with 95%+ enquiry-to-booking conversion and vacancy held below twelve percent.
PROJECTS FOUNDED
- Stawi Zanzibar
- Tarawanda House · Stone Town
- North & Ivory
LANGUAGES
English · Swahili · French (working)
REACH
East Africa · United Kingdom · South Africa
FIVE LENSES, ONE PRACTICE
How operator experience becomes client value.
The studio is built around five lenses on luxury property care. Each one is informed by lived hospitality experience — not theory — and translated into something tangible for the owners we work with.
LENS 01
Luxury property stewardship
Guest standards, quality assurance, supplier coordination and commercial administration across boutique hospitality operations.
Owners receive disciplined care that protects asset value, guest experience and operational reliability.
LENS 02
Regenerative hospitality
Tourism models that connect conservation, livelihoods, education and hospitality revenue across East Africa.
Properties become more sustainable without losing luxury positioning or commercial viability.
LENS 03
Boutique hotel operations
Booking and channel strategy, staff approach, reporting cadence, KPI tracking and monthly operating controls.
Small hotels gain professional systems without becoming generic or over-corporatised.
LENS 04
Owner representation
Budgets, procurement discipline, reconciliations, deposits, controls, reporting and partner coordination.
Absentee owners gain trusted oversight, transparency and decision support.
LENS 05
Heritage & place-sensitive care
Stone Town and East African hospitality experience rooted in culture, community and conservation.
Properties are preserved and elevated with respect for context, design character and local ecosystems.
THE STUDIO STRUCTURE
A founder-led studio, growing carefully.
We hire slowly and deliberately. Each role below sits inside the practice today or is the next to join us — chosen so that every engagement remains personally led and never out-grown.
02
HIRING 2026Lead Steward · Estates
PRIVATE VILLAS & FAMILY ESTATES
Holds the relationship with absentee owners — preventive maintenance, gardens, vendors and guest readiness.
CRAFTED ROLE
03
ACTIVERegenerative Systems Designer
WATER · WASTE · ENERGY · SOURCING
Designs and embeds the regenerative systems that lower footprint and operating cost on every engagement.
CRAFTED ROLE
04
ACTIVEHeritage & Coastal Specialist
STONE TOWN · LAMU · SWAHILI COAST
Artisan-led care, salt-air protocols and culturally sensitive design for heritage properties on the coast.
CRAFTED ROLE
05
HIRING 2026Studio Operations & Owner Liaison
REPORTING · GOVERNANCE · COMMS
Holds the monthly reports, governance cadence and the direct line each owner has into the studio.
CRAFTED ROLE
06
HIRING 2027Audit & Project Manager
AUDITS · RENOVATIONS · TRANSITIONS
Runs the Stewardship Audit process and oversees renovation or pre-opening transitions where required.
CRAFTED ROLE
REGENERATIVE PRINCIPLES
A different definition of care.
REGENERATIVE BY DEFAULT
Every engagement reduces water, waste and resource use against a measured baseline — it is the only way we know to operate.
OWNER-REPRESENTATIVE
We never accept commissions or markups from vendors. Our income comes only from clients. Independent advice, by design.
HOSPITALITY-TRAINED
Built on more than a decade in luxury East African and international hospitality. We bring those standards into every property we touch.
OUR QUIET IMPACT
Better for people. Kinder to the planet.
32%
AVG. WATER REDUCTION ACROSS STEWARDSHIPS
12,400kg
ORGANIC WASTE COMPOSTED ON-SITE THIS YEAR
6
HERITAGE PROPERTIES UNDER OUR CARE
0
HARSH-CHEMICAL FORMULATIONS SPECIFIED
BY THE NUMBERS
A studio at work.
40+
PROPERTIES UNDER STEWARDSHIP
6
EAST AFRICAN REGIONS
32%
AVG. RESOURCE SAVING ON REGENERATIVE ENGAGEMENTS
12 yrs
IN LUXURY HOSPITALITY