Nairobi was named the world’s best city to visit in 2024. The perfect base to explore the city? This boutique hotel exudes colonial elegance… and is just 20 minutes from the airport
‘I don’t want to go to a museum. I don’t want to look at a market. I just want to lie down. I am broken.”
It’s a rare moment of surrender for Felix, 11.
But then again, anyone who lands at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport – named by Lonely Planet as the best city to visit in 2024 – after a week’s safari will understand the deep exhaustion that comes from seven days of sunrise and eight hours of collision every day. game drives and the Have-I-Lost-My-Mind excitement that comes from staring leopards and lions in the eyes as they devour their prey before your eyes and live to tell the tale.
The brain is overloaded. The heart is full. But boy, the body needs rest. And ideally a dip in water that is not teeming with hippos and crocodiles.
As our jeep weaves through the morning chaos, streets full of workers and street vendors, I begin to wonder if we will ever find an oasis of peace before boarding our flight home the next morning.
Fiona Hardcastle from MailOnline Travel checked into House of Waine in Nairobi, Kenya
The family-run hotel has a suite (Malaika above), 10 rooms and a self-contained cottage
Large wooden doors lead to the lobby of the boutique hotel
A taxi is coming towards us, the pink neon strip on the windshield shouting, ‘God is the answer!’
That may well be the case, but our needs are more pressing and center around the essentials of peace, tranquility and, preferably, a swimming pool.
House of Wainea boutique hotel twenty minutes’ drive from the airport, proves to be the perfect place for an emergency stop before boarding a flight back to England.
Located in the leafy suburbs of Masai Lane, the impressive entrance via a gated driveway gives a taste of what is to come.
Formal front gardens frame this gracious mansion and as soon as you step inside you are greeted by a colonial atmosphere.
A polished stone lobby gives way to gleaming teak floors, tasteful modern furnishings and a wide selection of African art.
Double doors lead to a courtyard where manicured gardens fan out on both sides. Palm trees shade the sun loungers along the pool, while covered tables and chairs are spread across the lawn.
Fiona’s son Felix was especially impressed by the outdoor pool, even though it is unheated
Upstairs is author Karen Blixen’s home (now a museum), where she was inspired to write the novel Out of Africa in 1937
Even the famous Karen Blixen Museum or the David Sheldrike Wildlife Trust – both attractions just steps from the hotel – can’t lure us out.
Felix begs to jump into the pool – his first of the week – but first we are taken to our rooms.
Rose, 17, and Evie, 16, are led back to the main house and taken upstairs to ‘Tembo’ – the Swahili for elephant – a spacious and bright double room overlooking the gardens.
Much to Felix’s delight, the rest of us are led back to the pool and given the keys to a charming cottage hidden behind a hedge.
With a private veranda, stylishly furnished sitting room, dining area, fully equipped kitchen and two bedrooms with sparkling clean bathrooms, it could be a family home for a week. We only have one night, so there’s no time to lose.
Finally wanting their own space, the girls announce that they will do their own thing. Rose takes a book into the garden while Evie, reunited with WiFi, takes a prime position on the hotel’s front balcony.
Fiona stayed in The Cottage (upstairs), which has a private veranda and fully equipped kitchen
With a double room and a single room, The Cottage provided the perfect space for Fiona’s family
Rooms at House of Waine start from around $420 (£330) per night at the time of writing. One of the hotel’s common areas is located upstairs
I can’t wait for a long hot bath and soon I’m strutting around in a fluffy white dressing gown and slippers, browsing the cottage’s selection of illustrated hardbacks about African life.
Felix runs to the pool and terrorizes his father into joining him in the refreshing cold water. Like a saint who must subject himself to increasingly colder temperatures, he does so – with the agreement that within an hour we will all meet in the shaded seating area for our first board game of the holiday – Ticket To Ride: The Heart of Africa, our latest version of this insanely competitive series.
As always, an hour flies by in a heated period of family rivalry and geographical domination.
Relaxation quickly gives way to blame as routes are thwarted and victories nullified. Strangely enough, we feel like ourselves again and are ready for dinner. Although we better stop shooting before the starters arrive.
Fiona’s daughters, Rose and Evie, stay in a ‘spacious and bright double room’ (upstairs) called ‘Tembo’ (Swahili for elephant), which overlooks the gardens
Fiona and her family spotted leopards, lions and hippos during their Kenyan adventure
Baby elephants at the Nairobi National Park orphanage
The dining room at the front of the hotel is a pleasantly formal affair, with muted tones, starched white tablecloths and attentive waiters in smart waistcoats. The food, although slightly old fashioned, is well presented and the portions are large.
Red snapper and steak Diane are hits with meat eaters, while vegetarians are satisfied with their eggplant pasta and potato dish.
A strong bottle of South African Chardonnay prepares the ground for going to bed. The thoughtful addition of piping hot water bottles nestling under the covers upon our return to our rooms only helps us fall closer to sleep.
We wake up refreshed and as ready as we will ever be for a 6,000 mile flight.
House of Waine has made us whole again. And renewed these Big Five with enough energy to handle our journey home.