A four star apartment block with a kitchen, a washing machine and an outdoor pool, in Greater Nairobi rather than in the centre itself. The deciding fact is the car: with one, this is a workable base; without one, the distance to the centre is the whole story.
01What it is
Magnolia Riverside Drive Westlands is listed as a four star apartment property on Riverside Drive, in Greater Nairobi rather than in the centre. The facilities list is at its strongest on the practical side of an apartment stay: a kitchen with oven, microwave, refrigerator and washing machine, iron and board, cleaning and laundry service, a safe, and free wifi throughout. There is a desk, a TV, a fan, a balcony and a terrace. Bathrooms come with towels, toiletries and slippers. Security runs around the clock, and express check in is listed. Breakfast, room service, bars, a garden and an outdoor pool are also on the list.
What is thin is the location itself. Magnolia Riverside Drive Westlands sits 4.62 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 58 minutes on foot in a direct line, and this is a property that assumes you have a car or use the listed shuttle service. Free car parking is on the list for that reason. It suits people staying a while, families or a group who want bedrooms, a sofa bed, a kitchen and a washing machine rather than a room. It does not suit anyone who wants the centre on foot, or who plans an evening out in the quarter.
02The supplier's photographs
0336 facilities the supplier lists
and 6 more on the supplier's own record. Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing outside the ten quarters
Before you book, be clear about where these hotels are. They sit well outside the centre, in the inner suburbs, and they are not in any of the ten quarters this site covers. Biashara Street and City Market is only the nearest of those quarters, which is not the same as being in it. You are in the wider city here, and every trip into the Central Business District is a journey in and out.
The market quarter itself is narrow, shaded, and the only part of the centre where the shops are still one-family wide. The oldest retail streets in the city: Biashara for cloth and haberdashery, Muindi Mbingu for flowers, and the 1930s City Market hall behind them for produce, curios and a fish counter. Jamia Mosque's three silver domes close the block. It is best for kikoi and kitenge cloth, curios without the tour-bus markup, and an hour of architecture. After dark it is a daytime quarter: the halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them. It lies 0.63 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 8 minutes on foot in a direct line.
Read the nearest quarter, Biashara Street and City Market05Booking it
Book this one if you want apartment space and parking rather than a room in the middle of things, and check the shuttle service against your plans before you commit. 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 Riverside Drive Westlands?+
It is on Riverside Drive, in Greater Nairobi, outside the central business district rather than inside it. The property is 3.99 km from Biashara Street and City Market, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. Plan on a car, parking or the shuttle service for getting around.
What does the property actually list?+
Apartments with a kitchen, oven, microwave, refrigerator and washing machine, plus a desk, TV, fan, balcony, terrace and a safe. Breakfast, room service, bars, a garden and an outdoor pool are listed too, along with free wifi, free car parking, 24 hour security and express check in.
Can I walk from here into the centre of Nairobi?+
The site gives the distance to Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue as 4.62 km, which is 58 minutes on foot in a direct line, so most people will not treat that as a walk they want to repeat daily. The listed shuttle service and the free car parking are the realistic alternatives.
How do I check whether it is available?+
Availability is checked through app.impt.io, where the rooms are booked. Most rooms here can be cancelled free. If you need family rooms or the sofa bed configuration, check that specific listing rather than assuming it is open for your dates.
