A three star conference hotel on Langata Road, built around the car and the meeting room rather than the street. It suits people who need parking, wifi and a desk, and it does not suit anyone who wants to walk out of the lobby into the centre of Nairobi.
01What it is
The Headquarters Inn lists the things a working stay actually needs: a 24 hour front desk, free wifi, free car parking, luggage storage, breakfast and a buffet. It also has a garden, a smoking area and a TV, and for groups it lists a banquet space and a meeting room, with dry cleaning if you are staying more than a night or two. Where the list is thin is everything else. There is no gym, no pool, no restaurant named beyond the buffet, and nothing aimed at a holiday.
What that adds up to at The Headquarters Inn is a place organised around arrival by car and a day spent in a conference room or in town. You park, you sleep, you eat breakfast, you go. The garden and the smoking area give you somewhere to stand outside, and the 24 hour front desk means a late arrival is not a problem. It suits business travellers, conference groups and anyone driving in from the south or west who wants parking more than a location. It does not suit people who want to step out and find the city, or who are in Nairobi to see it on foot.
02The supplier's photographs
0312 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
Booking The Headquarters Inn makes sense if you are driving in or attending something in its meeting rooms, because parking and a 24 hour desk are the two things it does properly. 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 The Headquarters Inn?+
It is on Langata Road, in Greater Nairobi rather than in the centre itself. It sits 5.45 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 69 minutes on foot in a direct line. It is 3.61 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers.
What does the hotel actually have?+
A 24 hour front desk, free wifi, free car parking, luggage storage, breakfast, a buffet, a garden, a smoking area, a TV, dry cleaning, a banquet space and a meeting room. There is no gym, no pool and no restaurant beyond the buffet, so the list is practical rather than holiday.
What is it like getting into the centre from here?+
You do not walk it. The road is built for the car and the conference room, and the area is safe and dull after dark, with hotel bars and a ride anywhere else. Coming from Greater Nairobi means every trip into the centre is a drive, so plan for that.
What does the guest score mean?+
It scores 3.4 out of 5 from 77 reviews, which is a middling result rather than a strong one. Read it as a place that does the basics for people who drive and work, and not as somewhere that wins people over on atmosphere or setting.
