A four star residential-style hotel on Karen Road, at the country club, with pools, a spa, tennis, squash and a golf course. It is built for families and longer stays, and it is a long way from the CBD, which is the fact that decides whether it works for you.
01What it is
The Residences at Karen lists a serious spread of sport and leisure: an outdoor pool, a kids pool and a pool bar, a gymnasium and fitness centre, aerobics, squash, a tennis court, a bowling alley and a golf course at the country club on Karen Road. There is a spa, a sauna, massage, a garden, a terrace and a playground. Rooms come with a kitchen or kitchenette, microwave, minibar, desk, balcony or patio, bathrobe, slippers and toiletries, and the property lists family rooms, a cot, free wifi, free car parking, a 24 hour front desk, concierge, laundry, dry cleaning and room service. It is a four star list and it reads like one. Where it thins out is eating and drinking beyond the bars, restaurant and pool bar, and practical city matters: the shuttle and car rental are listed but nothing about how they run.
What that adds up to is a self-contained place. The Residences at Karen gives you grounds to stay inside, which is the point if you are travelling with children, playing golf, or on a longer stay that wants a kitchen and a laundry rather than a room and a corridor. It does not set you up for the centre. This site's own line on the area applies: the street feel is new concrete on a ridge, built for the car and the conference room, and after dark it is safe and dull, hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. Suits families, golfers and long stays with their own transport. Does not suit anyone whose trip is the CBD, meetings on Kenyatta Avenue, or a walkable evening.
02The supplier's photographs
0336 facilities the supplier lists
and 34 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 direct if you already know you want the Karen side of the city, because the whole decision here is location rather than the room. 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 Residences at Karen?+
On Karen Road, at Karen Country Club, in Greater Nairobi. The site measures it at 13.59 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 170 minutes on foot in a direct line, and 11.78 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers.
What does the property actually have on site?+
Pool, kids pool, gymnasium and fitness centre, spa, sauna, tennis court, squash, bowling, golf course, garden, terrace and playground. Rooms include kitchen or kitchenette, microwave, minibar, desk and balcony or patio. There are bars, a restaurant, a pool bar and room service, plus free wifi and free parking.
Can I stay here without a car?+
It is possible but it works against you. The area is built for the car and the conference room, and after dark the honest description is safe and dull, hotel bars, and a ride anywhere else. A shuttle service and car rental are listed, so ask before you book rather than after.
What does the guest score mean?+
It is 4.6 out of 5 from 216 reviews. That is a strong average across a decent number of stays, and it tells you the property generally delivers what it lists. It says nothing about how close you are to the centre, which is the thing to weigh separately.
