A three star hotel in Greater Nairobi, on the eastern side of the city, near Muthurwa and the markets. It lists a lot, including a spa, a library and a restaurant, and it sits in a quarter that works in the morning and shuts early. The deciding question is whether you have a car.
01What it is
Ismarriot Hotel and Resort lists a full set of the things a three star property is expected to have. There is a 24 hour front desk, free wifi, free car parking, a restaurant, a bar, a concierge, dry cleaning, a meeting room, multilingual staff, a shuttle service, a smoking area, a spa, a library and a TV. That is a long list for the rating, and it covers the practical needs of a business stay or a night before an early departure. Two things are worth noting. The list says bars and restaurant in the plural, so you are not limited to one room for dinner or a drink. The list says surcharge without saying what for, and it says nothing about the size or condition of the rooms.
What that adds up to depends entirely on how you move. Ismarriot Hotel and Resort is 1.89 km from Muthurwa and the east markets, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers, and the street there is described as trucks, handcarts and the entire city's vegetables changing hands at 5am. After dark the same area is closed, dark and not a place to be, mornings only. So the hotel suits someone with a car or a driver, and someone who wants the markets and the eastern side of the city rather than the centre itself. It does not suit a visitor who plans to walk into the centre in the evening or who wants the centre on the doorstep.
02The supplier's photographs
0315 facilities the supplier lists
Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing outside the ten quarters
These hotels sit outside the ten quarters of the centre this site covers, on the edge of the centre in the wider city. Muthurwa and the east markets is only the nearest of the ten quarters, not the ground you are sleeping on. Treat that as the arrangement: you are in the wider city, and you will be travelling in and out for anything in the CBD. The nearest quarter is 1.23 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 16 minutes on foot in a direct line, but that figure describes the quarter, not your route from these hotels.
That quarter 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. The street feel is trucks, handcarts and the entire city's vegetables changing hands at 5am, best done as an early-morning market walk with someone who knows it. It is mornings only: closed, dark and not a place to be after dark. From these hotels you go in for that, and back out again, and the rest of your day starts with the trip.
Read the nearest quarter, Muthurwa and the east markets05Booking it
Book Ismarriot Hotel and Resort if you have a car, since the parking is free and the quarter is a morning one. 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 is Ismarriot Hotel and Resort?+
It is on 1St Avenue 12Th Street in Greater Nairobi, on the eastern side of the city. It is 1.89 km from Muthurwa and the east markets, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. The centre is further out than that, and the area around it is a morning market zone.
What does the property actually list?+
A 24 hour front desk, free wifi, free car parking, a restaurant, bars, a concierge, dry cleaning, a meeting room, multilingual staff, a shuttle service, a smoking area, a spa, a library and a TV. It also lists a surcharge without saying what it applies to, and nothing about the rooms themselves.
Can I walk into the centre from here?+
It is 2.93 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 37 minutes on foot in a direct line. The direct line is not the same as the streets you would actually take. The area around the hotel is described as closed, dark and not a place to be after dark, mornings only.
What does the guest score mean?+
It is 4.2 out of 5 from 568 reviews. That is a solid score for a three star property with this many reviews, and it suggests the basics are handled consistently. It does not tell you anything about the rooms, the food or the state of the building, none of which the listing describes.
