Nairobi Hilton??
 

We are just overnighting in Nairobi before we start/finish our Serena Lodges Safari trip in Tanzania. Has anyone stayed at the Nairobi Hilton? Is it Marriott/Hilton/Intercontinental standards? What is the best way to get to the hotel from the airport?

I will be able to tell you in a couple of weeks... I'm staying there for a few days. It looks OK on the website and has been refurbished.

Best thing is to get a taxi (unless Hilton run a shuttle which I don't think they do).

If you want to be met, my "prefered" driver is Kaparo. His mobile number is +254722345370 I think he will charge you 1200 Ksh from Airport to Hilton, but SMS/Text him for a price and say you spoke to Simon. He will give you good honest pricing.

Otherwise there are plenty of drivers at the airport touting for business.... but don't let them charge you more than 1500 Ksh.

Vacationer, I haven't stayed at the Hilton, but I'm sure it's nice, as most, if not all, Hiltons are. But, if you're still considering other places to stay in Nairobi, you might want to consider the historic Norfolk Hotel. We were there in June and enjoyed it very much. And the Ngong House is supposed to be very nice, although I haven't stayed there myself.

The Hilton is a Hilton is a Hilton. But last I've heard, some of their rooms were in need or repair. However, it's position and the shopping at their Collector's Den on the lower lever is a great place to purchase sourvenirs, you might find it disappointing if rooms haven't been refurbished within the last year or so.

Nearby, is the Intercontinental, which is an Intercontinental Hotel. Another western-style hotel... catering to business people (as well as tourists). The rooms are lovely with all kinds of internet connections, business center, shops, pool, and health club, restaurants and even a Casino. They also just recently refurbished rooms.

The two hotels are about 3-4 blocks from one another. Personally, I preferred the IC.

As to the Norfolk or Ngong House - both lovely, but will cost more money. The latter is in the suburb of Karen and that much further from the airport than the Hilton, IC or Norfolk. On arrival, if late, I'd go for the downtown central business district hotels.

Assuming since you're asking about getting from the airport to the hotel - you're tour operator isn't providing the transfer? Any reason why not? And then who is providing your transfer when you return to airport for your homebound flight?

If you have to provide for yourself, email the hotel/s for their price. Otherwise, you can take a taxi from the airport; on the return from the hotel to the airport. It's not expensive.

The Hilton has gone sharply downhill in the past few years. Most tour operators seem now to be using the Intercontinental or the Grand Regency which, for about the same money, are a lot nicer, esp GR.

Vacationer1,
See my reply under your previous post on the Hilton (did you know that if you click on your screen name, all of your previous threads will appear in the left hand column?) -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34656003

The Hilton's rooms could use a little refreshing, but it's fine for a 1 night pre/post safari stay. I stayed there in Jan/Feb of this year. The staff is excellent.

If your tour operator isn't providing you with an airport transfer, the Hilton runs its own shuttle for around $10pp one way I believe. You can contact them in advance of your arrival with your flight information. Or just take a taxi which runs approx 1200 KES from the airport to downtown.

Simon,
When will you be at the Hilton? We're staying there the night of Nov 15 and 29.

Vacationer1,
I don't have that many photos of the Hilton but I uploaded what I have for you -

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...0&y=c27upx

The room pics are of a junior suite(?) on the executive floor. And I believe the view is down Kimathi Street but I could be wrong (it's whatever street the Stanley sits on the corner of).

We were planning to book the rooms on the Executive floor. Are those ok?

Patty thanks for taking the trouble to upload the photos...that was very helpful. I know I am being picky but do you remember if the beds are comfortable (we are going to be flying 20hrs before we arrive)? We are planning to stay at th Exec floor but I wonder what the non-suite rooms are like on the Exc floor. Was the Exec lounge good?

Sorry, I don't recall much about the beds which probably means that they were neither super comfy nor extremely uncomfortable to me ;)

The non-suite rooms on the exec floor are similar in decor to the pics I posted only they don't have the living room and second bathroom. There's a small sitting area, coffeemaker, and mini-bar. The hairdryer was built into the drawer of the vanity table not in the bathroom. There was a fruit basket and a liter of bottled water provided in room and you can ask the lounge attendants for more bottled water.

Like I mentioned earlier, the rooms themselves could use a little sprucing up (not unlike many Hiltons/Hyatts/Marriotts I've stayed in the US which were also a little worn around the edges) and we noticed little things like a broken towel bar than needed fixing, etc.

The exec lounge is small but was never crowded when we used it. For some reason, the key cards that reception gave us never worked on the lounge door, so we had to knock to get someone to open it for us. The first time this happened, the attendant at the lounge re-keyed our cards for us. The second time, we didn't bother getting our cards re-keyed and just resorted to knocking each time.

A light breakfast is served from 6:30am (I think) in the morning. In addition to what they have in the lounge, I believe you can order other breakfast entrees such as french toast, omelettes, etc. and they will send the order down to the kitchen and serve it to you in the lounge. There was a card at each table with a list of items available to order, but we never ordered anything so I can't tell you how long it takes.

In the evening around 6:30pm they bring out some hot appetizers and drinks. The lounge attendants will take your drink order or you can just go up to the bar and serve yourself. If you need anything like tonic water, just ask. You'll need to sign a tab for the drinks but this never appears on your folio (I believe it's for their own internal accounting purposes).

There's no internet access in the lounge or in the rooms, but there are several computer terminals with internet access in the business center which I believe is open until 10:00pm or 11:00pm. There's also an internet cafe right across the Hilton driveway and the cost there is about 1/10th of the price of internet access in the business center but their opening hours are more limited.

We used Hilton HHonors points for our stays and at 10,000 points per night it's a good value, especially if you're HHonors elite and have lounge access. We were also able to get a complimentary 7pm late checkout on our final day.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Patty - that really helps! 10000 HHonors points for i night just seems like too good a deal to pass up!

Speaking of Nairobi hotels, is anyone familiar with the Palacina?

Patty, do you have the direct email address for hilton Nairobi?

Here are two email contacts that I have for the Hilton -

[email protected] - GM of the property at the time of my stay. I don't know if he is still the current GM.

[email protected] - I believe Lilian works in reservations.

I stayed at the Hilton for one night in August - it was awful. The room was institutional pea soup green. The mattress was so lumpy I ended up sleeping on top of the comforter to get some cushioning. There was mold on the bottom of walls and on the ceiling in the bathroom. Lights flickered in the bathroom. Lobby looks decent but that is about it. Stayed at The Norfolk a few weeks later and it was light years better!

"When The Norfolk Hotel first opened in Nairobi on Christmas Day 1904, the Savoy Hotel in London was 5 years old and the London Ritz was still a year away. No other hotel in Kenya captures as much of Nairobi's splendid past and exciting present, and few hotels anywhere can claim a more romantic history. Adventurous visitors such as 26th American President Theodore Roosevelt, Lord Baden-Powell, the Earl of Warwick, Lord and Lady Cranworth, and the Baron and Baroness von Blixen have all been part of the Hotel’s history."

The above is from the Norfolk Hotel's website. Lord Baden-Powell is Robert Baden-Powell who started the Boy Scouts and is buried in a small cemetary in Nyeri, a city not far from Nairobi, and Baroness von Blixen is, of course, Karen Blixen. I can't imagine going to Nairobi and not staying at the Norfolk at least once. We stayed there in June and I hope to get back someday. Jack

I'm staying here for a couple of days in September, 2009 - any more recent experience? I'll be on my way to TZ for most of my trip so I don't want to spend a lot of money on things to do in Nairobi but would love to walk/taxi to a market to shop and people watch - any thoughts?

Val.