Fairmont The Norfolk, Nairobi, Kenya 🇰🇪

The Location

The Fairmont The Norfolk is located not far from the Kenya National Museum in the heart of the Kenyan capital. Most of the sightseeing sports are not far and easy to reach. Many other hotels in the international district are just around the corner .

Getting there

Of course, usually you get to Nairobi from Europe by plane. There are regular connections from all major international cities. Kenya is a popular travel destination and is served by several airlines from around the globe.

Certainly, you can also travel to Kenya by car or bus from other African countries.

How to get to the hotel

Coming from Europe, you land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, from where the hotel can be reached by car within 30 minutes. However, the roads in Nairobi are notoriously congested, so you should allow a little more time.

There are also well-organized cab and car rental stands at the airport. We took uber to the hotel without any problems. Centrally organized public transport is only partially available in Nairobi. But if you are a bit adventurous and don’t mind the noise or crowds, you can also get to the hotel on one of the famous matatus.

On the way back from our safari at the JW Marriott Masai Mara and the flight with AirKenya, however, we traveled to the hotel from the much smaller Nairobi Wilson International. The airport serves the shorter routes to neighboring countries, but above all the safari airstrips at the country’s national parks. The distance to the hotel is just under 6 kilometers and can actually be covered in less than a quarter of an hour, but due to the constant traffic jams, we always needed just under half an hour. So be sure to factor this into your time planning.

Check-in & Welcome

Once you arrive by car at the Fairmont The Norfolk, you must first drive through a gate and stop in front of the barrier behind it. Here you will be asked to get out of the car and go through a metal detector, which is located in a small house built especially for this purpose. Your luggage will as well be unpacked and x-rayed. Although this is a little time-consuming, it is a fairly normal procedure in Nairobi and the staff are super friendly and helpful.

Only when you have passed through here can you drive up to the main entrance of the hotel. Once we arrived here, we were greeted warmly and helped up the stairs with our suitcases. At the reception desk, we were given a warm tea and a cold towel for check in. The process itself was relatively quick and unproblematic.

As a welcome gift, we were given a welcome letter and a few sweets in our room after waiting for a while.

The Fairmont The Norfolk at a glance

The Fairmont The Norfolk, a hotel steeped in history, has existed in parts since 1904, when it opened with 40 rooms as the only brick-built hotel with a tiled roof in East Africa. In 1913, a further 30 rooms were added and from 1972, the hotel boasted a total of 170 rooms. In the time since it was built, the hotel has hosted many famous guests – including Theodore Roosevelt.

On New Year’s Eve 1980, the hotel was shaken by a fatal bomb attack that destroyed the entire west wing and cost many lives. In the years that followed, the hotel was extended and rebuilt to its current form with 108 rooms and 17 suites.

In 2004, on its 100th anniversary, The Norfolk came under the management of Fairmont Hotels and became Fairmont The Norfolk.

The buildings are built in colonial style and are grouped around several inner courtyards on a maximum of 3 floors. The floor plan is somewhat labyrinthine in keeping with the hotel’s history. The reception desk, restaurants, bar, store and some rooms are located in the main building by the street. The spa and gym are located in the wing just off the pool.

The Suite(s)

As always, we booked the lowest room category. In this case, the Fairmont Room. Due to our Platinum status with Accor Life Limitless, we were lucky enough to get an upgrade to a Junior Suite.

Suite No. 3

Just behind the entrance door is a sort of entrance hall where you will find the wardrobe, desk and luggage rack. Slippers, shoehorn, iron and ironing board, safe as well as laundry bag are stored in the cupboards.

There is a coffee machine on the desk complete with tabs, a kettle with tea bags and cups, as well as a bottle of water. However, the position of the desk is relatively strange. Placed in the entrance area and directly in front of the wall is not a particularly nice place to work.

You find the living and sleeping area in the actual room. On the left, the sofa with armchair and table is opposite a chest of drawers on which the TV is located. The minibar is housed in the chest of drawers, but in our case it was not stocked.

At the other end is the queen-size bed with a comforter and a total of 4 pillows ready for you. Two of the pillows are firmer, the other two are softer.

Bathroom

The bathroom is located off the sleeping area and is relatively spacious. Various amenities were available on the washstand with one basin. These included a toothbrush kit, a comb and a shower cap. Hand wash gel and body lotion from Jua by Agar were also provided here.

The toilet is separated from the washbasin by a half-height wall and is located right next to the bathtub. A towel is already hanging on the adjacent shower and body wash, shampoo and conditioner are ready and waiting. You will find the bathrobes behind the bathroom door.

But somehow we just didn’t like the room – no balcony, strange view and the strange entrance area. So we simply asked if it would be possible to move to another room. That was no problem at all and so we moved diagonally opposite to Junior Suite No. 1.

Suite No. 1

Behind the front door, you will find a bench and a luggage rack in the small hallway. To the right is a corridor leading to the wardrobe and bathroom. The wardrobe and its contents are identical to those in the previous room.

Continue straight ahead into a combined living and sleeping area. Here you stand in front of a sofa with a coffee table and next to it the same chest of drawers with a TV as in the other room. To the right is the desk, which also has a coffee machine with cups, coffee pods, kettle and teabags, as well as a bottle of water. In this room, the desk is also facing the wall, but at least it is in the room itself and it definitely seems a lot easier to work here than in the other suite.

The other half of the room is occupied by exactly the same bed. However, there is one crucial difference: the view is through a large window front into the inner courtyard and onto the private terrace.

This gives the entire junior suite a completely different feeling of space. The room is not larger or differently furnished, but the different arrangement and the reference to the inner courtyard make it much more comfortable and pleasant.

Bathroom

The bathroom is slightly larger and arranged differently, the washbasin is much wider and you can place things there a lot easier. A second washbasin would have been great, but I’m not complaining. The whole room is really much nicer and interestingly also brighter, friendlier and more modern in feel.

The View

But let’s get to the real game changer – the view. Or rather the question: terrace or no terrace?

In Suite No. 3, the view was of the roof of the porch and out onto the street. The windows are very small and don’t really offer a view worth mentioning.

In Suite No. 1, however, things look quite different. Here you have a whole terrace just for you and can enjoy the view of the green, well-tended and quiet inner courtyard from there. Of course, the outdoor area could have been made even more cozy, but the difference to before is really huge!

The Hotel Activities

The Pool

The pool is located at the very end of the hotel grounds and adjacent to the property boundaries. There are some sun loungers and seating.

However, as the adjacent building can be attributed more to African brutalism, the area is rather less cozy. Additional greenery and a little more privacy would have done the area a lot of good.

Fitness Center

Just by the pool area you find the fitness center on the second floor, which is rather well equipped. Here you will find a few treadmills and fitness machines, as well as a small corner with free weights. There are also small and large towels and you can help yourself from the water dispenser. There is no other training room.

Spa

We were only able to take a quick look at Pambo Spa. The rooms are located on the floor above the gym, partly in the attic. In addition to the changing rooms, there is a sauna and a steam bath. Of course, you can also choose from a spa menu of different treatments. If you’d like to see more, take a look at our YouTube post, where Fabi has made even more detailed recordings for you.

The Restaurants

Restaurant

Tatu restaurant is well-known within the city and is listed in every travel guide for high-quality food in Nairobi. If you want to eat here, you should book in advance if possible. The restaurant consists of a large room right next to the lobby and a terrace in the hotel courtyard. However, we ate outside in the evening and did not test the restaurant for you.

The Lord Delamere Terrace is attached to the hotel building in the front area next to the entrance. To get there, you have to go through the lobby and out the front exit, take a left turn to arrive in front of the restaurant entrance. International dishes are served here throughout the day and the restaurant also serves as a breakfast restaurant. If you want to find out more about this, you can read more in the Breakfast section further down in the text.

Bar

We really liked the Cin Cin Bar. It exudes great colonial charm and we immediately felt a little transported back to the time when The Norfolk was built. The room looks elegant and very inviting. From the terrace you can enjoy the view of the inner courtyard.

We had lunch here upon our arrival. Unfortunately, neither the service nor the food was really great. We waited over half an hour to get our order, even though there were only two other guests sitting next to us on the terrace.

The Breakfast

As mentioned above, breakfast is served on the Lord Delamere terrace. I found the location a little unusual. Though I can’t really say why. A terrace for breakfast is not that unusual. But facing the street and taking into credit that at a time we stayed at the hotel it wasn’t necessarily always really warm in the morning… I don’t really know.

Nevertheless, I have to say that the breakfast was really good. The buffet is extensive and there’s nothing to missing. The terrace itself is sheltered from the outside and very cozy.

Hot and cold drinks were served to us. However, there are no other à la carte options. There is a separate station at the buffet for egg dishes. Although the staff may not have been particularly quick, they were in a good mood and extremely friendly.

Check-out

On the day of our departure, the check-out process went smoothly and fairly quickly. We were briefly asked if everything had gone well and if we needed any help with our departure. Everything was very professional – but nothing more.

The Cost

We paid 225 dollars for our one-night stay, including breakfast.

The Departure and Onward Journey

Once again we left in the direction of Nairobi Wilson Airport to travel on to Zanzibar. As for all our journeys in Nairobi, we again used uber without any problems.

If you want to know more about the rest of our trip, stay tuned and follow us to Zanzibar in the coming weeks for more hotels and an exciting and surprising flight home!

The Bottom Line

The Fairmont The Norfolk is okay. I have to say I expected more and was a little disappointed. However, we had of course just returned from the impressive JW Marriott Masai Mara and other hotels can probably only lose against it. Nevertheless. I think more could been made out of this historic hotel. The rooms urgently need new furnishings and an overhaul to get them up to date. The courtyards are beautifully maintained and lovely. Especially in a city as turbulent as Nairobi, they are a haven of peace and relaxation. This could be used even more!

We can recommend the hotel for singles, couples, families and business travelers.

Hotel Homepage

https://www.fairmont.de/norfolk-hotel-nairobi/

Rating

We award the Fairmont The Norfolk 7 out of 10 possible points.

We deduct one point for the really unattractive Junior Suite No. 3, which we were booked into, as well as the interior furnishings, which are in real need of an overhaul. Another point is deducted for the uncomfortable pool and the outdated gym. A final point is also deducted for the rather unsuccessful start at lunch upon our arrival.

Go there?

We left with a good feeling and can recommend the Fairmont The Norfolk. It’s not outstanding, but it’s definitely okay.