75 Best Hotels in Kenya

Named after an honored Maasai chief, this attractive eco-friendly camp in game-rich country rests just outside the northwestern border of the reserve, overlooking the Mara River and the Ooloololo Escarpment; guests are welcomed by a Maasai man swathed in red robes playing a wooden flute. The camp underwent a massive renovation in 2019, with canvas tents giving way to spacious glass-sided suites with raised wooden balconies from which you can see the sun rising over the river, or flitting in through the yellow barked acacia trees in the morning. A comfortable king-sized bed, huge bathtub overlooking the outdoors, rain showers, and various lounging areas complete the setting; you'll be tempted to spend your entire holiday just lounging in this suite which feels more like a resort in the city than a safari lodge in the African bush. The decor in the main area is very contemporary and urban too, with pendant lights, Maasai portraits and patterned prints hung up on gray walls, handwoven rugs, a wooden shelf displaying various ceramics, and a fireplace for those cold evenings. Even the main viewing deck here was extended, and you can tuck into your lunch here while overlooking a hippo pool with day-long entertainment from these overgrown clowns. The food is superb, and you have the option to dine with your fellow guests or on your own verandah. There is a cozy library and games room where families and friends can hang out before dinner, a bar next to the fire pit, and excellent opportunities to observe the everyday lives of the Maasai in the adjacent village. As there is an electric fence, you can freely move around.

Right at the southern end of Diani Beach Road, you'll find the access point to the only resort in Kenya that stands alone on an island—Chale lies 600 meters off the mainland and is reached by boat at high tide, and quite delightfully by tractor at low tide. The island is only 1.2 km long and 800 meters wide, making it a complete private retreat covered in beautiful coastal forest and surrounded by white sandy beaches and mangroves. Most accommodations are in thatched bandas and cottages that are well-spaced out in the trees but the two standout (and more expensive) rooms are the Overwater Suite (on stilts in the sea) and the Suite on the Rocks (on a promontory on a tip of the island). There's plenty to keep you occupied, including three swimming pools and activities like kayaking, diving, and snorkeling, and kids will love trips on glass-bottom boats and adventures to look for monkeys.

This stylish city hotel is conveniently located in Westlands, close to a number of restaurants and malls, although you will find all you need for a relaxing stay in the hotel itself. Striking contemporary East African art decorates both the rooms and public areas, and the rooms themselves are comfortable and modern, with panoramic views, marble bathrooms, and all possible modern conveniences. There's a patisserie, which turns into a cheese and wine bar at night, a brasserie serving global cuisine, and a New York–style steak house, plus rooftop dining next to the pool (check out the glass panel on the floor of the pool, which looks down onto the street hundreds of feet below). The Angsana Spa is exquisite, and the hotel boutique has specially commissioned, high-end souvenirs.

North of Samburu National Reserve, this small and remote tented camp lies below the peaks of the Mathews Mountains in the 850,000-acre Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust—a community conservancy that has been created between landowners and the local Samburu people. The six spacious tents have pole-supported thatch roofs with flush toilets and open-air showers; hot water is 24-hours thanks to solar power. The main sitting room and dining area sits on stilts in front of the waterhole and natural rock pool—yes, you swim here overlooking the waterhole and you are quite safe—with stunning views of the Mathews Mountains. Game is plentiful with resident lions and leopards, and there's an excellent chance of seeing wild dogs, elephants, and reticulated giraffes. Look out for the attractive black-and-white colobus monkeys when you go for a guided hike in the forest. Go donkey-trekking in the mountains, take a camel safari with an overnight stop at a fly camp, or stop by Reteti Elephant Sanctuary. You can get acquainted with the Samburu people on bush walks and visits to nearby villages to get exposure to the traditional lifestyle of northern Kenya’s semi-desert region.

The city's oldest hotel was established in 1902, but has switched owners and undergone major upgrades through the years; the Stanley was named after the journalist Henry Morton Stanley who immortalized himself by discovering a long-lost Scots explorer with one of the best sound-bites in history: "Doctor Livingstone, I presume?" A lot of history lies within these walls which have hosted African presidents, author Ernest Hemingway in the 30s, Frank Sinatra and his wife, Princess Elizabeth just before she became Britain's sovereign, and even a young Barack Obama. A Heritage Tour provides insight into Nairobi's history (Nairobi's Stock Exchange was, for instance, established in 1954 at the once popular Long Bar which is now The Exchange Bar). At the hotel's famous outdoor Thorn Tree Café, named for the acacia tree at its center, early travelers would pin notes and messages for fellow travelers to the tree, and it was regarded as Nairobi's first post office. Today, there's an Internet café where the communication tradition continues, and you can get light meals and live music. Public areas retain a trace of the elegance of times past and rooms offer all the standard amenities of a modern business hotel—soundproofing (useful in central Nairobi), blackout curtains, satellite TV, and coffee-makers. Rooms vary in price, from the basic right up to presidential suites in the VIP wing.

It’s like walking into a painting at this aptly named resort which sits on a stunning stretch of powder-white beachfront that ever so perfectly complements the Indian Ocean’s turquoise blues. With 340 rooms, it is massive and comes outfitted with all the trappings of a beach getaway offset by green manicured lawns fringed by towering leafy palm trees. Highlights include four pools; one has a swim-up bar with the best pina coladas in town while another has a water slide which kids will love, if they ever get bored of gazing wondrously at the fish pond. You could stay here for a week and enjoy a different type of cuisine every night, with themed buffets ranging from Continental and Arabic to East Asian; Swahili days are a favorite. There are also several bars and restaurants, and the casual Coco's beach bar with its low-slung sofas is the perfect spot to sink into and while away an afternoon. In the evening, acrobats, DJs, salsa or karaoke events take place, and guests are encouraged to participate. After the kids are sent off to bed, the bar morphs into a sandy nightclub where you can dance barefoot late into the night.

This exclusive eco-friendly lodge lies just outside the Masai Mara National Reserve, inside the Mara North Conservancy in a remote valley of olive and cedar trees. Each of the five cottages and two family villas have polished wooden floors and is furnished with hand-carved cedarwood beds, Persian rugs, African art, colonial antiques, and comfortable chairs. You'll dine at a long table at Kuro House, the main lodge, which combines an eclectic mix of old-style Africa and modern design. The Italian cuisine here is superb, but there's also a wide international menu available that uses fresh, locally grown, organic produce. You can also participate in a bush barbecue or dine alone by candlelight on your verandah. The library has a superb collection of Africana—it's definitely worth a visit. Children of all ages are welcome. The tucked-away Masai Wellbeing Space, which uses local plants for its treatments, is run by one of Italy's most famous spas, Centro Benessere Stresa, and is considered one of the best spas in Kenya. All the guides are members of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association, and Saruni supports the innovative Koyiaki Guiding School, which trains young Kenyans. Make sure you factor in the $116 per-person, per-day park fees into your expenses as this is not included in the lodge's fees.

You certainly won't come across another vehicle at this exclusively sited camp in the northern section of the Masai Mara ecosystem on the border between the Lemek Conservancy and the Mara North Conservancy. It has three comfortable Bedouin-looking tents with en suite bathrooms with hot and cold running water and flush toilets and outdoor verandahs with tables and chairs offering great views across the plains. One of the tents is suitable for families, with two bedrooms and bathrooms. This area has resident elephants, giraffes, buffalo and impalas, the lucky might spot lions paddling by, and this is also one of the very few parts of the Mara where wild dogs are occasionally seen. You can track animals on foot or take action-packed night drives when you have more than a good chance of spotting a leopard, as well as other nocturnal animals such as bush babies and genets. Full-day game drives into the Mara are also available and guests can also go to the Saruni Mara to use the spa.

This small and friendly camp lies on a traditional migration route, so it's not short of game. It's not short on comfort either. You'll stay in one of 20 tents placed in a semicircle looking out onto a waterhole, each with its own verandah. All are built under individual thatch canopies and shaded by trees. There's a handmade bed inside your green canvas tent, with lots of attractive African-patterned soft furnishings, and each has a private bathroom with running water and a safari-style bucket shower. The food is wholesome and fresh, and there's a spacious semi-open dining, bar, and lounge area; it's also great to sit and have an alfresco lunch under the 200-year-old tamarind tree and watch the elephants at the waterhole. There's a viewing deck on stilts where you can sit and read, or just watch, wait, and see what walks up.

Satao is located in the south of Tsavo East, so it's a good option for safaris from the coast, especially for families as extra beds can be put in the tents.

The spacious thatched-roof rooms of this Italian-run mid-range resort near the Vasco da Gama Cross are filled with handcrafted furniture such as huge Zanzibar beds. Some can sleep up to four, making it a very affordable place to stay and good for families. Day couches are scattered around the exotic gardens where there are four swimming pools. The good beach is a short walk down a narrow path and has sun loungers and thatched umbrellas for Scorpio's guests as well as the Coco Beach bar that serves cold drinks and pizzas at lunchtime. The buffet meals have a wide selection of dishes, and staff are friendly and eager to please.

Nestled right by a postcard-ready beach in a neatly manicured green garden fringed by towering palm trees, this is one huge mansion with six en suite double rooms, a rooftop bar, and an intimate restaurant that sits just 35. The kitchen whips up a delicious mix of Kenyan, Indian, and seafood cuisine, reflecting the heritage of the owners and the property's idyllic setting. On the rooftop is the only seaside cinema in town, where you can hang out with friends and play movies or music videos projected onto a large blank wall. One of the executive suites has both a sunrise and sunset view, another has a jacuzzi overlooking the beach, while some of the other patios have hammock chairs that you can sink into while being lulled to sleep by the waves. The saltwater pool is only open to guests and there's a fire pit right on the beach, where you could get a bonfire going while relaxing with friends in the evening. 

This gorgeous resort at Shanzu Beach, about 30 km (19 miles) north of Mombasa, was built to resemble a 13th-century Arab town. A visit here will transport you to another time and place with its courtyards brimming with fountains, narrow twisty lanes, and hand-carved balconies. Spacious rooms have an old Swahili ambience with hand-carved wooden furniture and hand-woven rugs. Set in lush tropical gardens next to an improbably blue sea, it's ideal to enjoy a full-on beach holiday. Food is excellent with lots of fresh fish, seafood, and vegetables flown in daily. There's plenty to do here, including day excursions to Shimba Hills National Reserve, the Arabuko Sokoke forest, the Kipepeo Butterfly Project, or the haunted ruins of the ancient town of Gedi. There are all manner of water activities available, too, but a trip in a glass-bottomed boat to the nearby coral reef is a must.

This rustic bush camp is named after the flat-topped Acacia tortilis trees that surround the main thatch-roof open bar, lounge, and dining room, which also overlooks a waterhole and has superb views of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru in neighboring Tanzania. Your large tent sits under a huge thatch canopy and is raised up on a small platform with wooden floors, a king-size bed, and an en-suite bathroom with hot showers and flush toilets. If you want to catch up on your journal or bird and mammal lists, then relax on the comfortable furniture on your personal sitting area, or laze by the pool in between activities (such as game drives or guided bush walks, which the camp provides at an extra cost). There's also a family house with one double and one twin-bed room if you don't fancy splitting up between two tents. The tasty food is made with homegrown herbs and vegetables and the menu features both European and local dishes. While Tortilis borders Amboseli, it sits within its own private conservancy, which means that game walks with a Masaai guide are possible. The price includes the conservancy but not park fees.

This sleek and urban business hotel sits in the new wing of one of Nairobi's leading malls, The Village Market in the suburb of Gigiri, where you can find clothing and jewelry stores, two food courts, a bowling alley, art gallery, wine, cheese and chocolate shops, trampoline park, and more. Plus, there are always fun activities such as salsa dance mixers that you can participate in. Trademark's two dining outlets, Harvest and Hero, offer excellent cuisine; the former has a live kitchen where you can watch the chefs plating your steaks and seafood, while the latter has incredible sushi. Unlike a lot of other lodgings in the country, rates are standard for both residents and non-residents. It's sister property, The Tribe Hotel, sits on the opposite end of the same mall and shares the Kaya Spa; guests have access to facilities in both hotels.

This small, tented camp lies below the peaks of the Mathews Mountains in the 850,000-acre Namunyak Wildlife Conservation Trust, a community project between landowners and the local Samburu people. Accommodation is in six spacious tents, sited under pole-supported thatch roofs with flush toilets and open-air showers. There is also a two-bedroom house with a shared sitting/dining area. The main sitting room and dining area sits on stilts in front of the water hole and natural rock pool—yes, you swim here overlooking the water hole and you are quite safe—with stunning views of the Mathews Mountains. Game is plentiful with resident lion and leopard, and there's an excellent chance of seeing wild dog as there are two packs in the area. Look out for the attractive colobus monkeys when you go for a guided hike in the forest. Go donkey trekking in the mountains, or take a camel safari with an overnight stop at a fly camp.