A four star hotel on Mombassa Road in Greater Nairobi, away from the centre and built around grounds, pools and sport. The deciding question is how you get in and out: with a car you have space, quiet and facilities; without one the industrial road decides your day.
01What it is
Ole Sereni lists four star facilities in a wide range: outdoor pool, swimming pool, pool bar, garden and terrace, tennis court, fitness center, aerobics, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, spa and massage, plus a night club, bars, restaurant, lounge and banquet space. Rooms carry air conditioning, bath, bathrobe, bathroom, shower, hairdryer, toiletries, towels, slippers, minibar, refrigerator, desk, TV and telephone, with cots, sofa beds and family rooms available. Practical support runs to a 24 hour front desk with express check in, concierge, luggage storage, currency exchange, business center, laundry and dry cleaning, free wifi, free car parking and valet parking, plus babysitting, a playground and a shuttle service. Where the list is thin is the centre itself: nothing here puts you in the Central Business District.
What that adds up to is a self contained place to sleep and spend time, not a base for walking the city. Ole Sereni suits people arriving by car or with a driver, families who want a playground and a pool, and anyone combining business with leisure who prefers grounds, a spa and a tennis court to a street address in the middle of things. It does not suit a visitor who wants to step out of the lobby into the centre, or anyone planning to spend the evening on foot, because the surroundings are industrial.
02The supplier's photographs
0336 facilities the supplier lists
and 42 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
These hotels are not in the centre. They sit well outside it, in the inner suburbs, past the ten quarters this site covers. The nearest of those quarters, for orientation only, is The Railway Quarter, on the southern edge of the grid, and that is as close as the connection goes. You are in the wider city here. Anything in the CBD means travelling in and out, so plan the day around that rather than around a short step from your room.
The Railway Quarter itself is wide industrial land, sheds, and the reason any of this is here, the museum, and understanding the city's whole layout in one afternoon. Nairobi exists because the Uganda Railway stopped here in 1899 to gather strength for the Rift; the 1929 station, the old yards and the museum of locomotives sit on the CBD's southern boundary, ten minutes below Kenyatta Avenue. After dark it is industrial and unlit in stretches, so keep it to daylight and a car back.
Read the nearest quarter, The Railway Quarter05Booking it
Book Ole Sereni if you want the facilities and the grounds and you have a way to move around. 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 Ole Sereni?+
Ole Sereni is on Mombassa Road in the Greater Nairobi area, not in the Central Business District. It sits 5.35 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 67 minutes on foot in a direct line. The street there is wide industrial land, sheds, and the reason any of this is here.
What does Ole Sereni have on site?+
The hotel lists an outdoor pool, pool bar, garden, terrace and tennis court, a fitness center, aerobics and a spa with sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and massage. It also lists a restaurant, bars, a lounge, a night club and banquet space, with free wifi, free car parking, valet parking, a business center and a 24 hour front desk.
Can you stay at Ole Sereni without a car?+
You can, but getting to the centre is the problem. Ole Sereni is 4.48 km from The Railway Quarter, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. The area around it is industrial and unlit in stretches, so plan on daylight only, and a car back.
What does the guest score mean?+
Ole Sereni scores 4.5 out of 5 from 1293 reviews. That is a strong record across a large number of stays, and it tells you the facilities and the service hold up in practice for most people who book, rather than promising anything about the location.
