The hotel is within a very lush and green compound but the structure itself looks unkept and in desperate need of a facelift. For those wondering whether this is an improvement over its sister, the 680, here are my takes:

Cost; it is more expensive, and yes, you must pay a $13 deposit to get the TV remote. Internet is very steeply priced and unreliable.

Location; good and bad - removed from the city center in a lush and mostly well maintained compound good for relaxing in the day; large swimming pool. But a bit of walking (20 min +) is necessary to restaurants, business center etc.

Noise: One side of the hotel (facing the garden) is mostly quiet. The opposite side is a different story; facing a very busy highway, it is noisy through and through. There is no AC so opening windows is obligatory, ear plugs would help.

Rooms; same size as 680, but more dated - seems like no renovation has taken place since hotel construction.
Water pressure was low, hot water was unavailable about half the time.
Room safe; very big - can accommodate a 17" laptop, so all your valuables are safe.

Restaurant; buffet breakfast among the worst in Nairobi, limited selection and of very poor quality. Restaurant meals were average to good.

Bottomline: I would look elsewhere for the money. The 680 is a better value overall, and that is not a compliment.

I would have found the Boulevard Hotel in Nairobi a great hotel anyway, with large grounds, a lovely garden, a restaurant onsite, luxurious surroundings, and comfortable rooms, but after weeks of backpacking and camping throughout Africa, it was sheer heaven! I'm not exactly an outdoors person anyway, and although I DID love the adventure of camping, and knew it was the easiest way to see Africa, I wasn't able for camping, and although I upgraded when I could, the upgrades were often almost as basic as the tents. So after arriving at the Boulevard Hotel in Nairobi, it was like luxury to me. The hotel seemed even more clean and comfortable after weeks of roughing it in a canvas tent, but it was a good hotel anyway, with great rooms- I'd booked a room for one person, and couldn't believe the space I had, plus each room had a fan, a hairdryer, and a kettle for making tea!- and lovely gardens. I couldn't believe the size of the gardens, but what ruined it for me was that there was a huge big billboard on the street outside, just onfront of the hotel, that had that part of the garden in shadow, and ruined the view from that side. Not the hotel's fault, obviously, but it's something to be aware of. That said,I couldn't fault the gardens- especially loved the little bird house, and the flower archways, and it was nice having the swimming pool out the front, and the gardens around the other side. All in all the impression was of lots of space everywhere.

On the first day I arrived, I didn't get there til the afternoon, and I was having a group meal with the others that night, so I didn't eat in the hotel then. But the next day I had both lunch and dinner, and I found those meals very nice, and the staff friendly and helpful. I felt the staff were so obliging, and really went out of their way for me- Tony especially, at the front desk, chatted to me for ages on the day I arrived, and when I told him I had one full day in Nairobi and wanted to see quite a lot of things then, he said he'd take me out himself, for the day, in his own taxi. Tony was as good as his word, and did indeed take me out for the day, and although he had to go off and do another job halfway through, he got his colleague, Harrison, to take over, and made sure I was looked after before he left. Harrison was as obliging as Tony was, and it was so good having the one taxi and being left from place to place, not having to try and hail a cab when leaving every place, and not knowing the driver!

It was also Tony who suggested that I ask the restaurant could they prepare an early breakfast for me, on the day I was flying to the airport, as I had a very early start. It was so good having the breakfast ready for me so early, but it was also a cause for complaint. I took the milk that I assumed was there waiting for me, as it was on the table, poured it onto my cereal and took a good mouthful, only to discover the milk was sour. It was pretty sickening, as you can imagine, but when I told the waiter in charge- whose name I didn't know- he wasn't very helpful or apologetic, and didn't seem to realise how bad it was. He just shrugged, 'Oh it won't do you any harm!' and I said politely but firmly that that wasn't the point, that it makes you feel sick when you swallow sour milk, and he shouldn't have left it out if it was gone off. THat was the only service that I thought hadn't been very good, but all the other reception people and taxi drivers were so good at their job, and so friendly and helpful, especially Tony, who really went out of his way for me.

The only other minor things I have to say is that at that early breakfast, the hotel lights flickered off for a few seconds, and the room was in darkness. And one evening when I was in the shower, the light in the shower flickered off, and although the bathroom light was still on, and the shower light came back later, you'd wonder was the hotel having problems with the electrics, and did this happen on a regular basis? They also seemed to have problems with the mosquitos in this hotel- on my first night I woke up feeling I was literally being eaten alive, and there were mosquitos buzzing all around me. I sprayed some of my repellent on myself and it got easier after that, but you wouldn't expect hotels like that to have so many mosquitos, and to have no nets!

Those points are about the only negative things I have to say about Hotel Boulevard- everything else was excellent, especially the helpful and friendly staff. The people writing bad reviews must have had a very different experience to what I had, and I'm sorry to hear their experience wasn't so pleasant. I was glad I had that real luxury hotel experience after all those nights of camping, and before I went back home!

In late 2011 I wanted to change hotels and after checking out from Sentrim 680 which was mediocre, I decided to check in at Sentrim Nairobi Boulevard because I had two more days before flying back to the US. I thought the location was better than the city center but the service was even worse. The front desk clerks were so clueless whenever we had a problem and they didn't seem happy at all. One of the guests I got to meet was charged extra because her friend came to her room to hang out before travelling to Lake Nakuru the same day. I was very shocked when a Kenyan national who was hanging out with us told us that under the new management, the women employees were not hired because of their qualifications and that left a lot to our imagination especially when the national said that those who didn't comply did not last long as employees. When the Kenyan national also mentioned how little these employees got paid - about $170 a month working 12 hours a day I understood why they seemed sad and not so helpful. I also understood when the national mentioned that the employees often "pocketed" the extra charges from guests themselves. All I know is that in the earlier years the Boulevard Hotel and 680 were better hotels than they are today and I WON'T be going to any of them on my next visit to Kenya because they don't care about their guests.

I stayed in the hotel between 25 and 29 March 2012. On the 26th, after dinner, I took a colleague upstairs into my room to get some documents to her. She left the room and the hotel within 15-20 minutes. The hotel decided to charge me extra U$65.00 because she was not supposed to go to my room. After discussing the issue with the manager, he ordered the front desk staff to take the charge off. They did so, but the front desk staff, after the manager left the area, told me that most likely they were going to be charged for it themselves. what a shocker!