A 3 star hotel on Moi Avenue, in the loudest part of the Nairobi CBD. The location is the whole argument: walk to the centre, take a car after dark. Suits business travellers and people who want the centre on foot, not anyone after quiet.
01What it is
Hotel Ambassadeur is a 3 star property on Moi Avenue, and the listed facilities are broad rather than deep. You get a 24 hour front desk, free wifi, free car parking, lifts, luggage storage, a safe, laundry and dry cleaning, a concierge, a business centre, a meeting room, shops, a restaurant, a bar, breakfast and a buffet. Wheelchair access is listed, and so is a shuttle service with a surcharge attached to it. The list is thin on the things that would make a long stay easy: no pool, no gym, nothing for children, and the eating and drinking is all in house.
What that adds up to for someone staying at Hotel Ambassadeur is a functional base in the middle of the commercial district, with the desk staffed around the clock and the practical services a working trip needs. The trade off is the street itself. Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street is a daytime quarter of hawkers, phone shops, preachers and buses, and it thins out fast after the commute. Hotel Ambassadeur suits business travellers and anyone whose day is in the CBD. It does not suit light sleepers, families wanting space, or anyone who plans to walk back late.
02The supplier's photographs
0322 facilities the supplier lists
Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing in Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street
Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street is the busy grid, and it is the loudest, fullest pavements in Kenya: hawkers, phone shops, preachers, and a bus every few seconds. Two parallel streets carrying most of the pedestrian traffic in the country. The National Archives sits at the Moi Avenue end in the old Bank of India building, and the whole stretch is shops at street level with offices stacked above. It is best for street life, errands, and the Archives gallery in the middle of it. The quarter sits 0.27 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 4 minutes on foot in a direct line.
After dark it thins out fast after the commute and is better avoided late. Take a car after dark. That is the trade: you are paying for the heaviest footfall in the country, and the same footfall disappears by evening, leaving pavements you should not cross on foot. It suits anyone who wants the day to happen at street level and is happy to retreat behind a door at night. It does not suit anyone who wants an evening on the pavement outside.
Read the whole of Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street05Booking it
Book Hotel Ambassadeur if you want the CBD on foot and you will take a car after dark. 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 Hotel Ambassadeur?+
On Moi Avenue in the Nairobi CBD, at the junction with Tom Mboya Street. It is 0.32 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 4 minutes on foot in a direct line. The pavements outside are the loudest and fullest in Kenya, and the area is better avoided late.
What facilities does Hotel Ambassadeur list?+
A 24 hour front desk, free wifi, free car parking, lifts, luggage storage, a safe, laundry and dry cleaning, a concierge, a business centre, a meeting room, shops, a restaurant, a bar, breakfast, a buffet, and wheelchair access. A shuttle service is listed with a surcharge. There is no pool or gym.
Can you walk to the centre from the hotel?+
Yes. Hotel Ambassadeur is 0.26 km from the centre of Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street, so the commercial district is on foot during the day. After dark the streets thin out fast and you should take a car rather than walk, even for a short distance.
What does the 4.1 guest score tell you?+
It is a 4.1 out of 5 from 3963 reviews, which is a solid middle for a 3 star city hotel with this many guests. Read it as reliable rather than remarkable: the volume of reviews is the useful part, since a single score rarely tells you much.
