Handpicked safari lodges & camps across Africa

Nairobi

Nairobi Serena Hotel stands on Kenyatta Avenue beside Central Park, about five minutes from the city's business district. It has 196 remodelled rooms and suites, with interiors that draw on Ethiopian, North African, West African and East African design. Restaurants include Mandhari for fine dining, Herbs & Spices for South-East Asian food and Cafe Maghreb for all-day buffets, with the Aksum Bar alongside. The Maisha Spa & Health Club has a gym, sauna, steam room and heated pool, and resident guests are offered free cultural heritage tours.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

Hemingways Nairobi is an all-suite boutique hotel in Karen, the leafy suburb between Nairobi National Park and the Ngong Hills. Opened in 2013, it has 45 suites, each with a terrace or balcony facing the Ngong Hills, and offers butler service, a brasserie, a bar and a spa. It stands in about ten acres of gardens, roughly 30 minutes from Wilson Airport and 40 minutes from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The Karen Blixen Museum, the Giraffe Centre and Nairobi National Park are all close by, so it works well as a quiet first or last night on a safari.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

Giraffe Manor is a small hotel in a 1932 manor house in Nairobi's Lang'ata suburb, built in the style of a Scottish hunting lodge. Jock and Betty Leslie-Melville bought it in 1974 and began breeding the endangered Rothschild's giraffe here, founding the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife. The resident herd roams the grounds and is famous for reaching through the windows at breakfast and afternoon tea. Rooms are split between the original manor and a separate garden manor. The Safari Collection has owned it since 2009, and it closes each year from mid-April to mid-May.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Lake Naivasha

Chui Lodge is a small lodge in the private Oserengoni Wildlife Sanctuary on the shores of Lake Naivasha, about two hours by road from Nairobi. Its individually designed cottages, set in indigenous forest, have four-poster beds, log fires and verandas, and much of the furniture is made in the lodge's own workshop. There is a heated pool overlooking a waterhole, a spa tent and a dining room with hand-carved artwork. Day and night game drives in the sanctuary, boat trips on the lake and bush breakfasts are included in the activities.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Nairobi

Villa Rosa Kempinski is a large hotel on Chiromo Road in Nairobi's Westlands area, with 200 rooms and suites over ten floors and a presidential suite at the top. Places to eat and drink include Lucca, Tambourin, the Balcony Bar, K Lounge and Cafe Villa Rosa. Kempinski The Spa and fitness centre, an outdoor pool, a grand ballroom and private meeting rooms complete the facilities. It is a full-service city base for travellers combining business in Nairobi with a safari.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

The Norfolk Hotel, now Fairmont The Norfolk, opened in 1904 on what is now Harry Thuku Road in central Nairobi, built by Major C.G.R. Ringer and R. Aylmer Winearls. It began with 40 rooms, a billiard room and a French chef, and grew over the following decades. Today its rooms and suites look onto tropical courtyard gardens. Facilities include a heated outdoor pool with a poolside restaurant, a health club and spa, the Tatu restaurant, the Cin Cin wine bar and the Lord Delamere Terrace.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Great Rift Valley

The Great Rift Valley Lodge & Golf Resort sits at about 7,000 feet on the slopes of Mount Eburru above Lake Naivasha, roughly 90 minutes by road from Nairobi. The lodge has 30 rooms with balconies over the Rift Valley, and the estate also has private houses and chalets beside the golf course. Its golf course is laid out on volcanic slopes, and zebra and gazelle graze in the grounds. Horse riding, birdwatching and trips to Hell's Gate National Park and Crater Lake are offered, with views across to Mount Longonot.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Nairobi

Eka Hotel is a business and transit hotel at the junction of Mombasa Road and the Southern Bypass in Nairobi, a short drive from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport via the Nairobi Expressway and close to Nairobi National Park. It has 167 air-conditioned rooms, mostly superior rooms plus a few suites and two accessible rooms. Facilities include the Galaxy restaurant with a terrace, two bars, a 24-hour coffee shop, an outdoor pool, a gym, a spa and five meeting rooms for up to 200 people. Its location suits an overnight between an international arrival and a safari departure.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Nairobi

Fairmont The Norfolk is a historic hotel in central Nairobi that opened on Christmas Day 1904, when it advertised itself as the only stone-built hotel in East Africa. Early settlers and explorers used it as a base before setting out for the Masai Mara, the coast and the Rift Valley. Fairmont acquired it in 2007 and refurbished it. Rooms are arranged around courtyard gardens, and the Lord Delamere Terrace, serving drinks and meals from morning until midnight, remains one of the city's best-known meeting places.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Lake Naivasha

Loldia House is a 1943 farmhouse turned guest lodge on the northwestern shore of Lake Naivasha, set on a private 6,500-acre ranch and conservancy about two hours from Nairobi. Part of the Governors' Camp Collection, it has eight rooms: a master bedroom in the original house, three cottages with separate en-suite rooms and two suites with lake views. There is an infinity pool, a poolside spa, a dining room and wide verandas. Activities include boat safaris on the lake, day and night game drives on the ranch, and excursions to Hell's Gate and Lake Nakuru.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Nairobi

Safari Park Hotel & Casino is a large resort hotel set in about 50 acres of landscaped gardens on the Thika Superhighway, roughly 15 km from central Nairobi. It has 203 rooms and suites spread across several blocks, plus apartments for long stays. Five restaurants include the Nyama Choma Ranch, known for grilled meats and evening entertainment, and there is a casino on site. Swimming pools, a fitness club and spa, tennis and squash courts, a walking trail and large conference halls complete the facilities.

Modern rooms with air conditioning and Wi-Fi

Lake Naivasha

Fisherman's Camp is a lakeshore camp on Moi South Lake Road, Lake Naivasha, about 20 km from Naivasha town and two hours from Nairobi. It is laid out on two levels: Bottom Camp has camping, bandas and dormitories on lawns at the water's edge, while Top Camp, across the road, has cottages with verandas over the lake. There is a bar and restaurant, gardens and conference space. Boat rides, fishing, horse riding, birdwatching, mountain biking and walking safaris can be arranged.

Authentic canvas tents with comfortable beds and en-suite facilities

Nairobi

Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport is a hotel at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, a few minutes from the terminals and linked by a free on-demand shuttle. Its sixth-floor rooftop has a heated pool and the Tazama restaurant, which specialises in grills and looks over the runways towards Nairobi National Park. The Marketplace restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there is a 24-hour gym and a spa. It suits a late arrival or an early onward flight on either side of a safari.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Masai Mara National Reserve

Mara Sopa Lodge is built on the slopes of the Oloolaimutia Hills on the eastern side of the Masai Mara, close to the Oloolaimutia Gate and about 250 km from Nairobi. Its 99 rooms, including a honeymoon suite and 12 suites, are housed in round cottages with conical thatched roofs that follow the contours of the hillside. The lodge has a swimming pool, a bar and lounge, a restaurant with outdoor boma dining, a gift shop and a conference room. Game drives, balloon safaris, bush meals and nature walks can be arranged.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Lake Naivasha

Lake Naivasha Simba Lodge is a lakeside lodge on Moi South Lake Road, on the southern shore of Lake Naivasha in Kenya's Rift Valley. Its 70 rooms are laid out in blocks across landscaped gardens, where zebra, waterbuck and hippos graze among the lawns. Facilities include a swimming pool, restaurant, bar and lounge, tennis court, gym, massage room, children's playground and conference rooms. Boat rides on the lake, game drives and evening bonfires can be arranged from the lodge, which makes a practical overnight between Nairobi and Lake Nakuru or the Masai Mara.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Lake Nakuru National Park

Flamingo Hill Tented Camp sits among low hills close to the main gate of Lake Nakuru National Park, about two hours' drive northwest of Nairobi. It has 25 en-suite tents under thatched roofs, each with a private veranda facing the plains. A central thatched building holds the dining room, lounge and bar. The camp takes its name from the flamingos that gather on the lake shore, and its position near the gate allows early starts for game drives to look for rhino, lions and birdlife in the park.

Authentic canvas tents with comfortable beds and en-suite facilities

Samburu National Reserve

Samburu Sopa Lodge stands on high ground inside Samburu National Reserve, about 350 km north of Nairobi, with wide views over the dry scrubland. Its two-bedroom cottages, styled on Samburu architecture, curve around the main buildings and leave an opening so animals can move to the water, and two rooms are wheelchair accessible. Facilities include a free-form pool, a children's pool, a bar, a gift shop and Wi-Fi in public areas. The lodge also runs an astro-tourism programme with a manyatta-shaped planetarium and guided telescope stargazing.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda

Nairobi

Nairobi Safari Club by Swiss-Belhotel is an all-suite hotel in central Nairobi, at the junction of University Way and Koinange Street opposite the University of Nairobi's main campus. It occupies the 16-storey Lilian Towers, whose shape is often compared to a maize cob. It opened in 1984 as a private members' club and became a public hotel in 2001. Each suite has a separate lounge and a balcony, and facilities include a heated outdoor pool, a gym, a sauna and steam bath, three restaurants and bars, and meeting halls for up to 300 people.

Spacious rooms with en-suite bathrooms and private veranda