Kenyan development professionals Abdalla Dahir and Feisal Ahmed, from consulting firm Adam Smith International (ASI), were having lunch together at the Secret Garden restaurant at the grounds of the hotel when the suicide bomber struck.
Both worked on economic programs trying to improve life in Somalia, home to the militant group that claimed responsibility for the attack.
Their bodies left the mortuary together for a joint funeral in the city.
An American who survived the 9/11 attacks was also killed during the siege that began on Tuesday evening.
His brother Jonathan posted on Facebook- It is with a heavy heart that I have to report that my brother Jason Spindler passed away this morning during a terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jason was a survivor of 9-11 and a fighter. I am sure he gave them hell!”
-Cyrus Ombati