A three star hotel on Pumwani Road, 0.34 km from the centre of Muthurwa and the east markets, with parking, breakfast and a desk that stays open all night. It suits traders and early starters; if your day begins late or runs past dark, look closer to the centre.
01What it is
Starehe Link Hotel lists the practical things first. There is a 24 hour front desk and a reception area, so somebody is there when you arrive late or leave before light. Free wifi and free car parking are on the list, which matters if you are driving in from elsewhere in the city. Breakfast and a buffet are served, and laundry, dry cleaning and lifts are available inside the building. A smoking area is set aside. The list is thin on anything beyond the basics: no restaurant named for the evening, no pool, no gym, nothing described for sitting about. It is a three star working hotel, and the facilities read that way.
For someone staying at Starehe Link Hotel, this adds up to a clean, functional base with the essentials covered and little else promised. The location decides it. The hotel sits in the market quarter, where trucks and handcarts move the city's vegetables from 5am, and it is 1.47 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 19 minutes on foot in a direct line. That makes it right for produce buyers, traders and anyone whose business here starts at dawn. It is not right for a leisure stay or for anyone wanting to walk out for dinner. After dark this area is closed, dark and not a place to be.
02The supplier's photographs
0310 facilities the supplier lists
Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing in Muthurwa and the east markets
You are staying in Muthurwa and the east markets, on the eastern edge of the grid. Trucks, handcarts and the entire city’s vegetables changing hands at 5am: this is the wholesale edge, where Muthurwa’s market and the country bus termini push up against the railway land. It feeds the rest of the grid and is the last piece of the CBD most visitors would recognise as part of it, and the quarter sits 1.23 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 16 minutes on foot in a direct line.
The wholesale trade, the bus termini and the before-dawn start are the whole character of the place. It is best for an early-morning market walk with someone who knows it, and for nothing else. After dark it is closed, dark and not a place to be. Mornings only, and if you want an evening out, this is the wrong quarter to base yourself in.
Read the whole of Muthurwa and the east markets05Booking it
Book Starehe Link Hotel directly if your business in Muthurwa starts early, and plan your arrival before the market empties. 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 Starehe Link Hotel?+
It is on Pumwani Road in Nairobi, 0.34 km from the centre of Muthurwa and the east markets. That puts it inside the market quarter rather than in the central business district, with the trade and transport of the east markets immediately around it.
What does the hotel actually provide?+
A 24 hour front desk, reception area, lifts, free wifi, free car parking, breakfast, a buffet, laundry and dry cleaning, and a smoking area. There is no pool, gym or evening restaurant on the list, so treat it as a working base rather than a full service hotel.
How do I get into the centre from Muthurwa and the east markets?+
The centre is 1.47 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 19 minutes on foot in a direct line. Traffic in this quarter is heavy with trucks and handcarts, so the walk is the straightforward option and the hotel's free parking helps if you drive.
What does the guest score of 3.8 out of 5 mean?+
It comes from 129 reviews, so it reflects a reasonable spread of stays rather than a handful. A score at that level suggests the hotel does the basics acceptably without standing out. Read it as a solid, unremarkable three star, not a destination.
