Serviced apartments on Riara Rd, on the new concrete ridge above the centre, with a pool, a spa and parking on site. The pool and the parking decide it: take this place if you have a car and a reason to be north of the centre, and skip it if you want the Central Business District on foot.
01What it is
Smarts furnished apartments is a four star serviced block on Riara Rd, in Greater Nairobi. The listed facilities are broad rather than deep: an outdoor pool and a kids pool, a spa, a restaurant, a supermarket and shops, a casino, a 24 hour front desk, lifts, laundry, cleaning and luggage storage. Rooms come with a TV, towels and water. Free wifi and free car parking are both listed, and there is a shuttle service. Wheelchair access is listed. Three items sit oddly: a surcharge, and parking listed twice. Beyond the facilities, the listing says almost nothing about the apartments themselves, so treat the list as your only description.
What the list adds up to is a place built for people who arrive by car and stay a while. Smarts furnished apartments gives you a pool, a spa and a restaurant without leaving the compound, plus a supermarket and shops for the ordinary business of a longer stay and a launderer for the rest. The trade is the position. This is a car-first ridge, and the after-dark advice is blunt: safe and dull, hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. It suits longer stays, families and anyone with business on this side of the city. It does not suit a visitor who wants to step out into the centre in the evening.
02The supplier's photographs
0322 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 Smarts furnished apartments if the pool, the spa and the parking matter more to you than walking distance to the centre, and book early if you need an apartment rather than a room, since the listing does not say how many of each there are. 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 Smarts furnished apartments?+
The address is Riara Rd, in Greater Nairobi. It sits 5.94 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 75 minutes on foot in a direct line, and it is 4.38 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers. The street itself is new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room.
What facilities are listed at this property?+
The listing includes an outdoor pool and a kids pool, a spa, a restaurant, a supermarket, shops and a casino, plus a 24 hour front desk, lifts, laundry, cleaning and luggage storage. Rooms list a TV, towels and water. Free wifi and free car parking are also listed, along with a shuttle service and wheelchair access.
Is the area around Riara Rd walkable in the evening?+
Not really. The site's own line on it is safe and dull, with hotel bars and a ride anywhere else. The compound has a restaurant, a bar scene of its own and a supermarket, so an evening in is easy. Anything else means a car or a taxi out and back.
How do I check whether Smarts furnished apartments has availability?+
Check the booking page for the dates you want, since availability changes by day and the listing does not say how many apartments there are. If you need a particular room type, ask the 24 hour front desk directly, because the facilities list does not describe the individual apartments or how they are laid out.
