A three star bed and breakfast on Mwingi Road in Kileleshwa, a ridge of new concrete built for cars and conference rooms. What decides it is whether you have a reason to be in that quarter, or a driver to get you out of it.
01What it is
Magnolia Pine B&B is a three star bed and breakfast on Mwingi Road in Kileleshwa. The list of what it declares is short and worth reading before you commit: a safe, a TV and wifi. That is the whole of it, so treat the room as a place to sleep and the safe as where your passport goes. There is no restaurant, no gym, no pool and no airport transfer on the list. Twelve photographs are on file, and they will tell you more about the finish of the rooms than any facility list can.
What that adds up to is a Kileleshwa address with parking for a car you are expected to have. The street there is new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room, so the bed and breakfast suits somebody attending something in that quarter or working nearby in Greater Nairobi, and it does not suit a visitor who wants to step out of the door into the centre. It is 3.66 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers, and 4.67 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 59 minutes on foot in a direct line. Plan on a ride, not a stroll.
02The supplier's photographs
033 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 Upper Hill and Community, and they are not in any of the ten quarters of the centre this site covers. They sit well outside the centre, in the inner suburbs, and Upper Hill and Community is only the nearest of the ten quarters. That matters more than it sounds: you are staying in the wider city, and anything in the CBD means travelling in and out for it. The ridge itself is new concrete built for the car and the conference room, and most of the CBD's office space has been moving up there since the 2000s, which is why you find the tallest towers in the country, the big hospitals, the aid agencies and an expressway ramp to the airport on it. The quarter sits 1.9 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 24 minutes on foot in a direct line.
Upper Hill and Community is best for meetings, a quiet night close in, and a fast run to the airport. After dark it is safe and dull: hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. If you want the centre on foot, this is not the right base.
Read the nearest quarter, Upper Hill and Community05Booking it
Book Magnolia Pine B&B if you want a quiet Kileleshwa address with the three things the list actually names, a safe, a TV and wifi. 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 Magnolia Pine B&B?+
The address is Mwingi Road in Kileleshwa, in Greater Nairobi. Kileleshwa sits on a ridge of new concrete, built for the car and the conference room, and the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers is Upper Hill and Community. It is a residential and office address, not a tourist one.
What does the property list in the rooms?+
The facilities on file are a safe, a TV and wifi. That is a short list, and it means no restaurant, no pool and no gym are declared. Twelve photographs are on file, so look at those for the standard of the room rather than expecting a long amenity sheet.
How do I get into the centre from there?+
Magnolia Pine B&B is 4.67 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 59 minutes on foot in a direct line. The street is built for the car, and after dark the area is safe and dull, with hotel bars and a ride anywhere else. Have a car or a driver arranged.
Is Magnolia Pine B&B right for a first visit to Nairobi?+
Only if your business is in Kileleshwa or that side of Greater Nairobi. The centre is not a walk you take on impulse from here, and the quarter is a daytime one. If you want to be in the middle of the Central Business District, look at the ten quarters this site covers and pick closer in.
