A 3 star lodge on the southern side of Nairobi National Park, away from the centre and built around grounds rather than pavement. It suits people with their own vehicle, or a willingness to use the shuttle, who want quiet and space. It does not suit anyone who needs the city on foot.
01What it is
Ololo Safari Lodge is a 3 star property south of Nairobi National Park, one of the addresses this site files under Greater Nairobi rather than the centre. It is 11.63 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 146 minutes on foot in a direct line. The grounds carry most of the weight here: an outdoor pool, garden, terrace, patio and balcony, plus archery, badminton and table tennis. Inside there is a restaurant, bars, a lounge, a fireplace, a spa and massage, a business centre and banquet space. Practical items include free wifi, free car parking, 24 hour security, housekeeping, laundry, family rooms, non smoking rooms, express check in, a shuttle service, cots, bathrobes, hairdryers, toiletries and towels. The list is thin on nothing important for a lodge of this sort, though it is a resort list rather than a city hotel one: no gym, no airport desk, and no claim on the centre itself.
What that adds up to depends on how you are moving around. Ololo Safari Lodge sits at 10.55 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers, so the centre is a deliberate trip rather than a stroll, and the area around it is new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room. After dark the guidance is plain: safe and dull, hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. That is fine if you are here for the lodge grounds, the pool, the spa and a quiet night, and it is fine if you have a car or use the shuttle. It is wrong for anyone who wants to walk out to dinner, and wrong for a short city stay built around meetings in the CBD. A family or a small group with transport gets the most out of it.
02The supplier's photographs
0336 facilities the supplier lists
and 18 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 Upper Hill and Community, and they are not in any of the ten quarters of the centre this site covers. They sit a long way out, in the wider city, and Upper Hill and Community is only the nearest of the ten quarters to them, which is not the same as being in it. Treat the quarter as a reference point, not an address. Anything you want in the CBD means travelling in and out.
The quarter itself is the western ridge above the centre: new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room. It is not the CBD proper but the ridge immediately above it, and the place most of the CBD's office space has been moving to since the 2000s: the tallest towers in the country, the big hospitals, the aid agencies, and an expressway ramp to the airport. It is best for meetings, a quiet night close in, and a fast run to the airport, and after dark it is safe and dull: hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. The quarter lies 1.9 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 24 minutes on foot in a direct line.
Read the nearest quarter, Upper Hill and Community05Booking it
Book this one directly if you want the lodge and its grounds to be the point of the stay, and confirm the shuttle before you commit to a car free trip. 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 Ololo Safari Lodge?+
It is south of Nairobi National Park, filed under Greater Nairobi rather than the Central Business District. It stands 11.63 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 146 minutes on foot in a direct line, so treat it as a base outside the centre rather than a city address.
What does the property list for guests?+
An outdoor pool, garden, terrace, spa and massage, a restaurant, bars, a lounge and a fireplace. Also archery, badminton and table tennis, free wifi, free car parking, 24 hour security, laundry, family rooms, a shuttle service and non smoking rooms. It is a 3 star lodge list, resort rather than city hotel.
What is it like getting into the centre from Greater Nairobi?+
You do not walk it. The nearest of the ten quarters this site covers is Upper Hill and Community, at 10.55 km. The area around the lodge is new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room, and after dark it is hotel bars and a ride anywhere else.
How do I check availability?+
Check dates and room types through app.impt.io, where most rooms here can be cancelled free. Confirm whether you want the shuttle service noted at the same time, since the lodge sits away from the centre and a car free stay needs that arranged in advance.
