Ole Sereni

Very few city hotels can claim a game park for a garden. Ole Sereni sits just outside the northern fence of Nairobi National Park, so zebra, giraffe and buffalo drift past the waterhole below the terrace while guests eat breakfast, and the plains stretch to the horizon from the park facing rooms and the rooftop pool deck. The interiors lean into that setting with warm earth colours, carved timber and safari artwork, and the scale of the place, 134 rooms and suites plus conference halls, makes it as practical for business travellers and events as it is for safari guests arriving or departing through the nearby airport. Cozy Rooms are compact and well equipped, Club Rooms add space and a choice of park or city aspect, and the top suites bring a separate living room and a jacuzzi. Eagles restaurant and bar handle steaks and evening drinks, the terrace restaurant is where the view does the work, and the Duma spa, salon and health club cover the rest. Note that the hotel is outside the park boundary, so no park concession fee applies to a night here, and a day drive into the park starts a few minutes away at the main gate.