A two-bedroom apartment on Riverside Drive, outside the walking centre, with a full kitchen, laundry and free parking. The deciding fact is that you need a car or a driver to use it: this is a self-catering base for a group or a family of four, not a hotel you step out of into town.
01What it is
This is a three star two-bedroom apartment on Riverside Drive at Riverside Chandarana, and the listing is built around living rather than service. There is a kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave, a washing machine, an iron and board, and a dining setup implied by the high chairs. The rooms are carpeted and non smoking, with a shower, WC, towels, bathrobe and slippers. Bedrooms open onto a balcony, patio or terrace, and there is free wifi, internet access, a TV, a minibar, lifts and free car parking. Wheelchair access is listed. Where the list is thin: no restaurant, no bar, no gym, no pool, and no reception hours given, so do not read it as a serviced hotel.
The apartment is in Greater Nairobi, 4.2 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 53 minutes on foot in a direct line, and 3.58 km from Biashara Street and City Market, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. The street there is narrow, shaded, and the only part of the centre where the shops are still one-family wide. After dark it is a daytime quarter. The halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them. So this apartment suits a family or two couples who want a kitchen, laundry, parking and a car or driver across the day. It does not suit a solo visitor without a vehicle who wants the centre on foot, and it does not suit anyone expecting a lobby, a bar or staffed hours.
02The supplier's photographs
0327 facilities the supplier lists
Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing outside the ten quarters
Before you book, be clear about where these hotels are. They sit well outside the centre, in the inner suburbs, and they are not in any of the ten quarters this site covers. Biashara Street and City Market is only the nearest of those quarters, which is not the same as being in it. You are in the wider city here, and every trip into the Central Business District is a journey in and out.
The market quarter itself is narrow, shaded, and the only part of the centre where the shops are still one-family wide. The oldest retail streets in the city: Biashara for cloth and haberdashery, Muindi Mbingu for flowers, and the 1930s City Market hall behind them for produce, curios and a fish counter. Jamia Mosque's three silver domes close the block. It is best for kikoi and kitenge cloth, curios without the tour-bus markup, and an hour of architecture. After dark it is a daytime quarter: the halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them. It lies 0.63 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 8 minutes on foot in a direct line.
Read the nearest quarter, Biashara Street and City Market05Booking it
Book this apartment if you want a self-catering two-bedroom with parking rather than a hotel room, and check the kitchen and laundry against what you plan to cook and wash. Most rooms here can be cancelled free, and you book them through app.impt.io. Every confirmed booking removes one tonne of CO2, at no extra cost to you. Five percent of what you pay comes back as IMPT credit, out of the hotel commission rather than added to your bill.
Facts on this page come from the booking supplier's record: star class, address, photographs and facility list. Guest scores come from verified stays. Nobody from this site has stayed here; the quarter copy around it is this site's own.
06Questions
Where exactly is the apartment?+
It is on Riverside Drive at Riverside Chandarana, in Greater Nairobi, west of the central grid. It sits 4.2 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 53 minutes on foot in a direct line. That puts it outside the walkable centre, so treat a car or a driver as part of the stay rather than an optional extra.
What does the apartment actually include?+
Two bedrooms, a kitchen with a refrigerator and microwave, a washing machine, an iron and board, high chairs, free wifi, a TV, a minibar, a balcony, patio or terrace, a shower, WC, towels, bathrobe and slippers, lifts, free car parking and wheelchair access. Rooms are carpeted and non smoking. There is no restaurant, bar, gym or pool listed.
Can I walk into the centre from here?+
It is a long walk, not a short one. The nearest of the ten quarters this site covers is 3.58 km from Biashara Street and City Market, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers, and the centre is a daytime quarter where the halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them. Plan on a car or a driver for most trips.
How do I check availability and book?+
Check the apartment's page on app.impt.io for open dates and book there. Most rooms can be cancelled free, so you can hold a date while you sort flights or a car. Confirm the kitchen, laundry and parking against your plans before you book, since there is no reception or hotel service on site.
