A three star property on Ole Shapara Ave in Greater Nairobi, built for the car and the conference room. Parking is free and the lift works, but the list of what it offers stops early. It suits anyone here to work or attend a meeting; it does not suit a stay on foot around the old centre.
01What it is
The Zawiya property lists four facilities: free car parking, housekeeping, laundry service and lifts. Three of those are the working parts of a hotel rather than anything you would plan a day around, and free parking is the one a visitor would notice first, because this address is on a ridge where a car is the assumption. The list is thin, and the Zawiya property does not dress it up: there is no restaurant, no gym, no pool, no airport transfer and nothing for children on the record.
What that adds up to is a straightforward three star property on Ole Shapara Ave where the practical side is covered and everything else is your own business. The Zawiya property suits someone who arrives with a car, has a meeting in the conference belt and wants the room kept clean and the laundry handled. It does not suit anyone who wants to step out of the door into the life of the centre, and it does not suit a family looking for things to do on site.
02The supplier's photographs
034 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 this site covers. They sit just outside the ten quarters, on the edge of the centre, and Upper Hill and Community is only the nearest of the ten. That puts you in the wider city rather than in the grid itself, so anything in the CBD means travelling in and out rather than stepping out of a lobby into it.
The ridge above the centre is new concrete, built for the car and the conference room: 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 sits 1.9 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 24 minutes on foot in a direct line, though that is the quarter's own distance and not a walk from these hotels.
Read the nearest quarter, Upper Hill and Community05Booking it
If you want a bed on the ridge with parking sorted, book the Zawiya property before you arrange the rest of the trip, because the address makes the car the deciding piece. 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 Zawiya property?+
It is on Ole Shapara Ave in Greater Nairobi. The site measures it at 2.83 km from Upper Hill and Community, which is the nearest of the ten quarters this site covers, and it sits on a ridge of new concrete built for the car and the conference room rather than for pedestrians.
What does the Zawiya property actually offer?+
Free car parking, housekeeping, laundry service and lifts. It carries a three star rating. That is the full list on file, so plan for a room and the basics rather than meals, leisure or anything for children. The lift matters if stairs are a problem.
Getting into the centre from Greater Nairobi, what is involved?+
The site puts the address 3.57 km from Kenyatta Avenue at Moi Avenue, which is 45 minutes on foot in a direct line. In practice you use the car, or take a ride. That route is not one to walk after dark, and the honest answer is that the centre is a separate trip.
How do I check availability at the Zawiya property?+
Look at the dates you want through app.impt.io, where the rooms are listed and most of them can be cancelled free. If the nights you need are not shown, try the dates either side. Nothing is held without a confirmed booking.
