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Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi: Traveler Reviews

4.0 of 5
Cnr. Parklands Road & Msapo Close, Parklands | PO Box 66807, Nairobi 00800, Kenya
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Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi
Ranked #14 of 80 hotels in Nairobi
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222 reviews from our community

    Trip type
Traveler rating
    52
    116
    37
    14
    3
Date Rating
Toronto, Canada
Reviewer
5 reviews 5 reviews
5 hotel reviews
Reviews in 5 cities Reviews in 5 cities
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
“Nice on the outside...”
2 of 5 stars Reviewed October 9, 2012

My wife and I spent one night at this hotel at the beginning of our honeymoon. We were looking for a good nights rest before a safari trip but ended up not sleeping much at all. The hotel grounds were beautiful and the staff were very kind.

We were shown to our room and that's where the disappointment started. The room looked pretty beat up and in need of some TLC. It had a pretty bad smell as if a quick coat of paint had been applied to a heavily smoked-in room. My wife immediately asked me to go exchange the room but I made the mistake not to pursue it, we were exhausted from our travels and just wanted to sleep. Looking back, I should have asked for a different room, I'm sure they would have helped us out. My wife was able to fall asleep while I prepared the luggage for the next day. While she slept, I encountered a nasty white worm(?) crawling up the wall. If she would have seen it, that would have been the end of our stay there. I didn't mention the worm until we left but I told her that I did take care of it so it wouldn't follow us in our travels.

Other than the room experience, the hotel had great service at the restaurants and the food was good as well. If they can clean the rooms up this would be a very nice hotel.

  • Stayed August 2012, traveled as a couple
    • 2 of 5 stars Value
    • 2 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 2 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Ipswich, United Kingdom
Senior Contributor
24 reviews 24 reviews
13 hotel reviews
Reviews in 14 cities Reviews in 14 cities
15 helpful votes 15 helpful votes
“Lovely hideaway”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed October 7, 2012

Stayed here 1 night before and 1 after safari. It is a lovely hotel, friendly staff and good breakfast. I wished we had booked our last 3 nights here too. There are 2 pools to chose from, one being very quiet and one by the restaurant. I highly recommend.....

  • Stayed September 2012, traveled with friends
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Australia
Senior Reviewer
9 reviews 9 reviews
5 hotel reviews
Reviews in 6 cities Reviews in 6 cities
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Just Great!”
5 of 5 stars Reviewed October 1, 2012

My wife an I stayed here for 3 nights. When we arrived the reception staff were happy and helpful - right from the entrance to checkin - most accommodating. We were given a lovely room on the first floor with a private balcony. It is a very relaxing and peacful place, well laid out and has most immaculate lush gardens and fish ponds tastefully designed as you walk around the grounds. Both pools were clean and inviting. All the staff were interested in our stay and very keen to assist with advising and arranging site seeing tours. The room was large, clean and really comfortable - no problems whatsoever. The restaurant has a great selection for both breakfast and dinner and the pastry chef and egg chef were efficient and amazing - really nice food. Although there seemed to be a lot of local business conventions, meetings etc taking place we felt we were treated as privileged guests and did not feel isolated by the general 'hum' as people moved about. They have a small but crammed gift shop that has great staff and 'good value' items - I bought a couple of nice shirts that I saw no where else in my travels. We felt safe and comfortable here - it was one of the best choice hotels we booked on the strength of Trip Advisor and friends recommendations and I can recommend this Hotel with confidence.

Room Tip: Ask reception what room facilities you want
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  • Stayed September 2012, traveled as a couple
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
Was this review helpful? Yes 1
Ask AustraliaBeachbum about Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Senior Reviewer
7 reviews 7 reviews
3 hotel reviews
Reviews in 4 cities Reviews in 4 cities
7 helpful votes 7 helpful votes
“Quiet working stay in Nairobi”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed October 1, 2012

A good business hotel in the sense that you have the quiet space to work and the facilities to hold meetings within the hotel. A decent level of privacy if its necessary for your work. I had issues with internet connectivity throughout my stay, which is bad for business.

I found the service at the Oasis rather slow and the hotel grounds are rather expansive making room service even slower. Service at the Spur restaurant was much faster and the quality of food much better than Oasis, even though neither are memorable.

Room Tip: Choose a room towards the front of the hotel, they seem better furnished or recently refirbished. Av...
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  • Stayed September 2012, traveled on business
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 3 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 3 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Teweli about Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Contributor
13 reviews 13 reviews
7 hotel reviews
Reviews in 9 cities Reviews in 9 cities
16 helpful votes 16 helpful votes
“Tranquil hotel”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed September 24, 2012

We stayed here for the night immediately before, and after our safari. A colonial style hotel, with a tranquil atmosphere. After our overnight flight we wanted to get a few hours sleep, unfortunately only one of our rooms were ready, so we had to wait over an hour before we could get to our rooms. We were astounded when we got to our rooms - it looked like giant marshmallows for pillows, they were incredibly comfortable.
We ate at the restaurant by the pool for each of our meals, and the food was delicious. I was most impressed that the lunchtime waitress remembered what we had ordered and enjoyed when we returned a week later. All of our meals here were good, though more expensive than we had anticipated.
The grounds were beautiful, I particularly liked the fact that many of the trees had labels with Latin and common names of the trees on them. We didn't find the frogs troublesome, in fact it was one of the quirky elements we enjoyed. The area around the pools had building work in progress, so there was some noise here. Our second room overlooked the main road, but we were not troubled by noise (maybe because we were so tired?)
We had been told that there was free wifi in the business centre (we wanted to inform family we'd arrived safely), but when we asked at the business centre, we were told there was a charge. Surely guests should have free wifi, even if it's only for a limited time?
We didn't venture outside of the hotel as we were there such a short time, so cannot comment on this aspect

  • Stayed August 2012, traveled with family
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 5 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 5 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 5 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Followyourdreams342 about Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi
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Additional Information about Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi

Also Known As:
Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi Hotel Nairobi
Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi Hotel
Holiday Inn Nairobi
Nairobi Holiday Inn
Address: Cnr. Parklands Road & Msapo Close, Parklands | PO Box 66807, Nairobi 00800, Kenya
Phone Number:
Region: Kenya > Nairobi
Amenities:
Business Center Fitness Center Free Breakfast Free High-Speed Internet Free Parking Restaurant Room Service Suites Swimming Pool Wheelchair access
Hotel Style:
#8 Luxury Hotels in Nairobi
#11 Family Hotels in Nairobi
#16 Business Hotels in Nairobi
Price Range: $$$
Hotel Class:4 star (4*)
Official Description (provided by the hotel):
SOUTHERN SUN MAYFAIR IS ONE OF NAIROBI'S BEST KNOWN LANDMARKS THAT FIRST ENJOYED ITS HEYDAY IN 1940'S COLONIAL KENYA. IT HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY REFURBISHED TO PROVIDE MODERN FACILITIES, YET RETAINS THE UNDERSTATED CHARM AND ELEGANCE OF YESTERYEAR. THE HOTEL IS SITUATED CLOSE TO THE CITY CENTRE AND ONLY 20KM FROM JOMO KENYATTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. WE WELCOME GUESTS TO EXPERIENCE THE TRADITIONAL WARMTH AND HOSPITALITY FOR WHICH BOTH KENYA AND SOUTHERN SUN ARE RENOWNED. ... more   less 
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Southern Sun Mayfair Nairobi
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