A four star apartment block off Thika Road, on the far side of the city from the centre, with its own kitchens and parking. The distance decides it: if you are driving yourself, this works; if you meant to walk Nairobi's Central Business District, it does not.
01What it is
Crystal Apartments TRM Drive is a four star apartment property on Thika Road Mall Drive, opposite Gate C. The lists run to self-catering: kitchen and kitchenette, oven, microwave, refrigerator. Rooms are carpeted and air conditioned, with a fan as backup, a safe, a TV, shower and WC, towels, toiletries and slippers. Wifi and internet access are free. Outside the room there is free car parking, a 24 hour front desk, express check in, 24 hour security, laundry service and a shuttle service. The list is thin where hotels usually pad it: no restaurant, no bar, no gym, no pool, no airport transfer beyond a generic shuttle. What you get is an apartment with a desk at the door, not a hotel with a restaurant downstairs.
What that adds up to is a self-catering base on the eastern edge of Greater Nairobi, and the address matters more than the fittings. Crystal Apartments TRM Drive is 10.24 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 128 minutes on foot in a direct line, and 9.56 km from Ngara and the Globe, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. The street there is a flyover, a roundabout, and a market that starts before the light does, and after dark it is a transport edge rather than an evening one, to be crossed by car. Book it if you have a vehicle and want a kitchen; skip it if you plan to walk into the centre each day.
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
These hotels are not in Ngara and the Globe, and they are not in any of the ten quarters this site covers. They sit a long way out, in the wider city, and Ngara and the Globe is only the nearest of the ten. Treat that as the honest starting point: you are outside the centre, and anything you want in the CBD means travelling in and back out again.
The quarter itself is the northern edge, where the grid loosens and the roads north begin. The Globe Cinema roundabout is the CBD's northern hinge, the fruit market beside it opens at four in the morning, and Museum Hill is the next rise beyond. The street feel is a flyover, a roundabout, and a market that starts before the light does. It suits early markets and the walk up to the National Museum, and it is a transport edge rather than an evening one, crossed by car. The quarter sits 0.81 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 11 minutes on foot in a direct line, but that measures the quarter, not your hotel.
Read the nearest quarter, Ngara and the Globe05Booking it
For a self-catering apartment off Thika Road, book ahead and confirm the shuttle and parking you need in the same message. 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 Crystal Apartments TRM Drive?+
It is on Thika Road Mall Drive, opposite Gate C, in Greater Nairobi rather than in the Central Business District. It sits 10.24 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 128 minutes on foot in a direct line, so treat it as an eastern base reached by car rather than on foot.
Can I cook for myself at Crystal Apartments TRM Drive?+
Yes. The property lists a kitchen and kitchenette, an oven, a microwave and a refrigerator, so self-catering is the point of staying here. There is no restaurant or bar on the list, so plan to buy and prepare your own food rather than eat downstairs.
What is the area around the property like at night?+
The street there is a flyover, a roundabout, and a market that starts before the light does. After dark it is a transport edge rather than an evening one, so cross it by car. There is nothing here that reads as a place to walk out to after dinner.
How do I check whether Crystal Apartments TRM Drive has a room free?+
Availability is checked at the point of booking rather than by asking the front desk at the door. The same channel that shows you open dates also handles changes and cancellations, so settle those before you commit to the trip out to Thika Road.
