A three star apart hotel on Rhapta Road in Westlands, well out from the centre. It is self catering: kitchen, washing machine, parking, wifi, a garden and a terrace. That decides it. Suits longer stays, people with a car, early nights. Does not suit anyone who wants the centre on foot.
01What it is
Westlands is a three star property on Rhapta Road, in Greater Nairobi rather than the centre. The list is a working one: air conditioning, a balcony, a private bathroom, free wifi and internet access, a television, non smoking rooms, a kitchen and a washing machine. Outside there is a garden and a terrace, and parking is free and on site. There are twelve photos on file. What the list does not carry is the hotel apparatus: no restaurant, no bar, no gym, no airport transfer, no room service. Kitchen and washing machine are the point of it, and the quiet facilities are there; the services are not.
For a stay in Westlands, that adds up to an apartment you run yourself, with parking and a washing machine doing the work a hotel would do for you. The site's own line on this part of the city is that it is a daytime quarter, the halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them, so the evenings here are yours to make indoors. Westlands suits a longer stay, a working visit, a family, or anyone driving who wants to be out of the centre and sleep in quiet. It does not suit a first visitor who wants the market, the halls and the streets of the centre on foot.
02The supplier's photographs
0314 facilities the supplier lists
Facilities are the supplier's list, not a check made on the ground.
04Standing outside the ten quarters
Before you book, be clear about where these hotels are. They sit well outside the centre, in the inner suburbs, and they are not in any of the ten quarters this site covers. Biashara Street and City Market is only the nearest of those quarters, which is not the same as being in it. You are in the wider city here, and every trip into the Central Business District is a journey in and out.
The market quarter itself is narrow, shaded, and the only part of the centre where the shops are still one-family wide. The oldest retail streets in the city: Biashara for cloth and haberdashery, Muindi Mbingu for flowers, and the 1930s City Market hall behind them for produce, curios and a fish counter. Jamia Mosque's three silver domes close the block. It is best for kikoi and kitenge cloth, curios without the tour-bus markup, and an hour of architecture. After dark it is a daytime quarter: the halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them. It lies 0.63 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 8 minutes on foot in a direct line.
Read the nearest quarter, Biashara Street and City Market05Booking it
Book Westlands directly if you want a self catering base on Rhapta Road rather than a serviced hotel in the centre. 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 Westlands?+
On Rhapta Road, in Westlands, which this site counts as Greater Nairobi rather than the centre. It is 4.16 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 52 minutes on foot in a direct line, and 3.55 km from Biashara Street and City Market, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers.
What does the property list?+
Air conditioning, a balcony, a bathroom, free wifi, a kitchen, a washing machine, a television, non smoking rooms, a garden, a terrace, and free car parking. It is a three star property. There is no restaurant, bar or gym on the list, so plan to eat in or go out.
What is getting into the centre from here like?+
It is a drive or a long walk, not a stroll. The site's line on this part of the city is that it is a daytime quarter, the halls shut in the late afternoon and the streets empty with them. Staying here means you are not in the centre.
How do I check availability?+
Availability and free cancellation for most rooms are handled through app.impt.io, where you book. The site holds no rates; the booking page shows what is open for your dates. Read the room list there before you commit to a long stay.
