A 3 star hotel on Tom Mboya Street, on the loudest pavements in Kenya. The deciding question is whether you want to be in the middle of the city's busiest shopping streets or somewhere you can sleep before dawn.
01What it is
Hotel Mercury is a 3 star property on Tom Mboya Street. The listed facilities are practical rather than generous: a 24 hour front desk, a reception area, restaurant and bar service, a cafe, breakfast, coffee, sheets and towels, a smoking area, and wheelchair access. There is no pool, no gym, no airport transfer and no room service on the list. What you get is the core of a working city hotel and nothing dressed up as more.
That list suits someone who wants a bed and a desk inside the Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street quarter and intends to spend the day out of it. Hotel Mercury is 0.1 km from the centre of Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street, so the phone shops, hawkers and bus traffic are at the door. It does not suit anyone who wants calm, a garden or an easy late walk. After dark the area thins out fast and is better avoided late; take a car.
02The supplier's photographs
0312 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 Mercury if you want a 3 star base directly inside the Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street quarter and you plan to arrive, sleep and leave. 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 Mercury?+
It is on Tom Mboya Street in Nairobi's central business district, in the Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street quarter. It sits 0.1 km from the centre of Moi Avenue and Tom Mboya Street, which puts the bus stops, phone shops and hawkers immediately outside.
What facilities does the hotel list?+
The list covers a 24 hour front desk, a reception area, a restaurant, a bar, a cafe, breakfast, coffee, sheets, towels, a smoking area and wheelchair access. There is no pool, gym or transfer service. It is a short-stay city hotel and the facilities match that.
Is the location good for getting around the centre?+
It is 0.26 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 4 minutes on foot in a direct line. That puts the business core within reach on foot during the day. The pavements are the fullest in Kenya, and after dark you should take a car rather than walk.
How do I check availability at Hotel Mercury?+
Availability and room types are shown when you search the property on app.impt.io. You pick your dates there and see what is open. Booking through the app is how you get the free cancellation and the other terms attached to the room.
