A five star property on a ridge in Greater Nairobi, built around a pool, a garden and a table rather than a street. What decides it is the setting: you get lawns, a playground, a tennis court and quiet, and you trade away any chance of walking to the Central Business District. If your Nairobi is meetings in the centre, this is the wrong side of the city.
01What it is
The Drexel House Kenya lists what a full service five star property is expected to list, and it lists a lot of it. There is a 24 hour front desk, 24 hour security, a concierge, express check in, luggage storage, currency exchange, laundry, housekeeping and a business center with copying. You eat in house: breakfast, breakfast in room, lunch, dinner, buffet, room service, special diets, coffee, a restaurant, bars and a pool bar. Outside there is an outdoor pool, a garden, a terrace, a picnic area, a playground, a tennis court and a golf course. Rooms carry bath and shower, WC, TV, safe, fireplace, jacuzzi, iron and board, free wifi, and family and non smoking rooms. There is free car parking, car rental, a shuttle, wheelchair access, and pets are allowed. The list is thin on nothing except the centre: this is a self contained property, and it assumes you have a reason to be this far out.
What that adds up to is a property that works as a base for a group or a family with its own transport, and works badly as a base for anyone without it. The Drexel House Kenya gives you grounds, a pool, a playground and a tennis court, and a shuttle and car rental to get you moving. It does not give you a street. Karen End Rhino Gardens is new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room, and after dark the area is safe and dull: hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. The property is 14.51 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers, and it is 16 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 200 minutes on foot in a direct line. Suit a family, a wedding party, a team on a retreat, or a traveller who wants a garden and does not mind paying for every trip into town. Do not suit a first time visitor who wants to step out of the gate into Nairobi.
02The supplier's photographs
0336 facilities the supplier lists
and 23 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
Booking The Drexel House Kenya is straightforward, but decide first how you will get around, because nothing here is walkable and a shuttle or a hire car is part of the decision rather than an extra. 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 The Drexel House Kenya?+
It is at Karen End Rhino Gardens in Greater Nairobi, on new concrete on a ridge built for the car and the conference room. It is 16 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 200 minutes on foot in a direct line, so treat it as a car based base rather than a city centre address.
What facilities does the property actually have?+
An outdoor pool, garden, terrace, picnic area, playground, tennis court and golf course, plus a restaurant, bars, a pool bar and room service for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rooms have bath and shower, safe, fireplace, jacuzzi, TV and free wifi, and there is free car parking and a business center.
Can I get into the Central Business District without a car?+
The property lists a shuttle service, car rental and public transport, which is how most people here move. After dark the area is safe and dull, meaning hotel bars and a ride anywhere else. Plan each trip into the centre rather than expecting to walk to it.
How do I check availability for specific dates?+
Check dates and room types through app.impt.io, where confirmed bookings can be cancelled free in most cases. The property lists family rooms and non smoking rooms, so state your requirements when you look, and ask the concierge about the shuttle before you commit.
