A five star behind a security gate on Mombasa Road, 11.92 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 149 minutes on foot in a direct line. Its pool, spa and gym decide it: you get the facilities of a full hotel without being anywhere near the centre.
01What it is
The Argyle Grand Hotel Nairobi Airport lists the full set you would expect of a five star: air conditioning, free wifi, a restaurant, bars, lounge, room service, breakfast and dinner, a business centre, gymnasium, fitness centre, outdoor pool, spa, sauna, steam room, massage and jacuzzi. Rooms carry a bath and shower, bathrobe, slippers, hairdryer, toiletries, minibar, refrigerator, safe, desk, TV and telephone. Practical extras include a 24 hour front desk with 24H security, concierge, currency exchange, car rental, shuttle service, laundry and dry cleaning, free car parking, lifts, family rooms and wheelchair access. Where the list is thin is the small print: smoking area, wake up service, cot and iron and board are about the limit of the fine detail, so if you need something specific, ask before you commit.
Taken together, that adds up to a large, self contained hotel on a road built for traffic. The Argyle Grand Hotel Nairobi Airport works for people who want the airport road and their own facilities, or who are passing through Greater Nairobi with a car or a driver. It suits families, business travellers on the road and anyone who values a pool and a spa over proximity. It suits you less if your Nairobi is the centre. The city sits 11.92 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 149 minutes on foot in a direct line, and you will not be walking it.
02The supplier's photographs
0336 facilities the supplier lists
and 37 more on the supplier's own record. Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing outside the ten quarters
These hotels are not in Muthurwa and the east markets, and they are not in any of the ten quarters of the centre this site covers. They sit a long way out, in the wider city, and Muthurwa and the east markets is only the nearest of the ten. That is the whole point of the distinction: you are sleeping outside the grid, and you will be travelling in and out for anything in the CBD.
The quarter itself is the eastern edge of the grid: wholesale produce, bus termini, before dawn. Trucks, handcarts and the entire city’s vegetables changing hands at 5am. It is the wholesale edge, where Muthurwa’s market and the country bus termini push up against the railway land, and it feeds the rest of the grid. Best for an early-morning market walk with someone who knows it. After dark it is closed, dark and not a place to be, and mornings are the only sensible time. Muthurwa sits 1.23 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 16 minutes on foot in a direct line, and that figure describes the quarter, not your journey from these hotels.
Read the nearest quarter, Muthurwa and the east markets05Booking it
Book this one if you want the airport road and a full hotel, not the centre. 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 in Nairobi is the Argyle Grand Hotel Nairobi Airport?+
It sits on Mombasa Road, in Greater Nairobi rather than the centre. The nearest of the ten quarters this site covers is Muthurwa and the east markets, 10.82 km from Muthurwa and the east markets, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue is further again, and not walkable.
What does the hotel actually have on site?+
The full five star set: air conditioning, free wifi, restaurant and bars, lounge, room service, business centre, gymnasium, fitness centre, outdoor pool, spa, sauna, steam room, massage and jacuzzi. Rooms include a bath and shower, bathrobe, minibar, refrigerator and safe. Parking is free, and there is a 24 hour front desk with security.
Can I walk into the city centre from here?+
No. This is a car and shuttle property on a truck road. The centre is a drive, and the site covers ten quarters for that reason. Use the hotel's shuttle service or a car rental, or plan your day around Mombasa Road rather than the middle of town.
What does a 4.6 out of 5 guest score mean here?+
It is the average from 1028 reviews, so it reflects a large number of stays rather than a handful. Treat it as a broad signal that the facilities and service land well with most people who book. It tells you nothing about the road, so weigh that separately.
