This was my second stay at the Chester House Apartments, and overall the place was as nice as I remembered it. It seems that all the rooms are the same, and my 1 bedroom apartment was very comfortable and roomy. It included a full kitchen, lounge, bedroom and bathroom. Everything was quite clean. There was also a balcony on the north side. A good room. The place offered free wifi, and when it worked it was great. Security was good too, with guards on the entrance downstairs and security doors on each level requiring your room card to access.
Then there was the problem. Just after I checked in, the power went out. Thankfully the elevators and electronic door keys still worked, but there were no lights, no power and no wifi. I understand that these things happen, especially in Kenya, but the reaction of the staff was to do nothing. Only after it was getting dark and I had a whinge to reception staff did they bring up some candles so I could at least see my way around the apartment. At $142 USD per night, I shouldn’t have had to ask. I am sure they would have left me sitting in the dark. For the record, about 10 hours after it went out, the power finally came back on.
In truth, the power could go out wherever you stay in Kenya, but I would hope for a little more reaction from a hotel in this price range.
Overall the Chester House Apartments are pretty good. They still suffer from the deep base coming up from a nightclub next door, so sleep quality is not great, but that seems to be a common problem everywhere in central Nairobi. The rooms are big and comfortable, and when the power is on, Chester House is a good place to stay in central Nairobi.

Chester House Apartments are located in the city centre of Nairobi – good location with Uluru and Central Parks just a minutes walk away, and restaurants and shops aplenty nearby. The apartments are roomy, with separate lounge, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The kitchen includes a range of utensils so you can cook up a storm if you want. The place was in decent condition and kept very clean.
Just a couple of negatives: the TV looks like it is from the 1980’s! Given this is over $100 AU per night, it really should have better. The WIFI was great, but it dropped out every now and then – this might be more of a problem with internet access in Kenya than with Chester House in particular, but it was frustrating.
But the biggest problem was the neighbours! There is a nightclub right next door, that literally goes all night, closing up around 5am, at which time the deep-bass music finally stops only to be replaced by the hordes of drunken party goers spilling out into the street! I was on the 8th floor and the noise was still unbearable – I believe it is even worse if you are lower. If you are a light sleeper like me, this is a real problem, and unfortunately one that the management at Chester House probably cannot do anything about.
So the room was decent, but there were a few problems that I would not expect from an accommodation in this price range. Not really value for money...