Light aircraft leave Wilson Airport for the Mara, Laikipia and Amboseli, and The Palacina is only a short run away, on Kitale Lane in Kilimani, about a kilometre west of State House. Low-rise buildings are set among mature gardens. The quarter around them is residential and quiet, and a night here either side of the bush takes little planning.
Low-rise buildings are set among mature gardens.
Clothes come back from the bush in a state that needs a machine. The free guest laundry rooms see to that, and a dusty bag can be washed and dried before the next flight. Mornings begin with laps in the heated indoor pool, while a second, outdoor pool lies in the garden, and a free gym and sauna cover the rest. On the last afternoon, a massage can be booked before the night flight home.
The day starts with a country-style breakfast at the Palacina Bistro, where the kitchen buys from Kenyan farmers and artisans. Its farm-to-fork cooking leans on Kenya’s standing in organic and sustainable agriculture, with seasonal produce setting the direction of each menu. Lunch and dinner run à la carte, with snacks in between, and room service for anyone who would rather stay in.
Evenings drift between the open fire and the terrace above the garden.
Bed and breakfast is the usual basis, and the rest is left to each guest, whether that means a table in the bistro or supper cooked in an apartment kitchen. Evenings drift between the open fire and the terrace above the garden. A terrace bar takes care of the drink beforehand, and families or small groups can book the Tembo Dining Room for a private dinner.
After a fortnight of shared tents and vehicles, a family between camps tends to want one thing above all: doors that close. The serviced apartments have up to three bedrooms, with full kitchens and separate living areas, so supper can come early at the kitchen table while children sprawl in the lounge. The same space suits longer stays. Suites come with their own sitting rooms and walk-in wardrobes, and the penthouses add a private balcony. Children of every age are welcome, and cots or extra beds can be added to some room types on request.
The interiors are Kenyan to the grain. The woods are locally sourced and the fabrics natural. The furniture is handmade, and the Palacina Boutique showcases homegrown Kenyan design. Dark wood sits against soft neutral tones. There is a lobby lounge and a smart bar, with quiet corners for reading and a veranda onto the garden. Kitale Lane offers no grand views, so the attention goes to the rooms people actually sit in.
A spare morning can be spent with the orphaned elephants of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
Service is polished and unobtrusive, with staff who appear when needed and otherwise leave the garden to its slow pace. Kilimani itself is a residential suburb a few kilometres west of the central business district, close enough for a meeting in Upper Hill or supper with relatives in Westlands. City traffic is the catch, and a cross-town drive at rush hour can take far longer than the map suggests. Plans that keep to this side of the city work best, whether that means the neighbouring suburbs or a quiet evening before the next flight out of Wilson.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is about 20 kilometres away, so after a long-haul flight a private transfer is the sensible way in. One or two nights cover most itineraries, the first to sleep off the journey, the second to ease back from the bush before flying home. A spare morning can be spent with the orphaned elephants of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Its public hour runs between 11:00 and noon, and the afternoon suits the AFEW Giraffe Centre. Both go by private vehicle, arranged before arrival.
accommodation
The Palacina has eight suites, two of them 150-square-metre penthouses with private balconies, and seven studios with kitchenettes. Serviced apartments of one to three bedrooms have full kitchens and separate lounges. Suites include walk-in wardrobes and en-suite bathrooms, and the penthouse bathrooms add a bath with Jacuzzi jets.
activities
On site: a heated indoor pool, an outdoor pool, a sauna, massage and spa treatments, and a free gym for guests. Half- or full-day game drives in Nairobi National Park keep to daylight hours and park roads. A late-morning visit to the Sheldrick elephant orphanage and a few hours at the National Museum can also be arranged by car.
dining
The Palacina Bistro serves a full country breakfast every morning, then an all-day menu by the fireplace under the stars or on the terrace above the garden: avocado tartare, chilli garlic prawns, lamb samosas, butter chicken, grilled beef fillet or red snapper, and the Palacina Choma, a platter to share. Cream tea brings house-baked scones with Kenyan berry preserves, cocktails start from six, and there is live jazz on Thursdays.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
Close to the one the safari flights use. Kilimani lies west of the city centre, about six and a half kilometres by road from Wilson Airport, where the scheduled light aircraft leave for the Masai Mara, Laikipia, Samburu and Amboseli. Jomo Kenyatta International, where long-haul flights land, is about nineteen kilometres away on the far side of the city, and Nairobi traffic, not the distance, sets the time.
The Palacina runs private transfers from both airports on request, and we book them into the trip in each direction so a driver is waiting when you land. If you would rather not wait for a scheduled departure, we can put in a private charter from Wilson, typically a Cessna Caravan or a Pilatus PC-12, timed to suit you.
Very low, though low risk is not no risk. TravelHealthPro, the UK's official travel health service, rates the city of Nairobi as very low risk and advises awareness and bite avoidance there rather than tablets. The CDC in the United States confines its exception to the highly urbanised centre, and Kilimani is a residential district just west of it.
What matters more is where you go next. Both services treat Kenya below 2,500 metres, the parks and conservancies included, as malarial. We are travel planners, not doctors, so whether to take tablets, and which, is for you and your own doctor or a travel clinic, with the whole itinerary in front of them. Long sleeves on the garden terrace after dark do no harm.
For a couple, one of the eight suites. Each runs to more than 70 square metres, with a sitting room separate from the bedroom and a walk-in closet. Two of them are Penthouse Suites of 150 square metres, adding a private balcony and a bath with massage jets, the choice for a first or last night worth marking.
The seven studio rooms, each over 50 square metres with a kitchenette, suit a shorter stopover. The serviced residences on the same property are let for a month or more and are not for a night between safaris. Every room is booked on bed and breakfast.
Yes, and more comfortably than in most city hotels, because the hotel has apartments as well as rooms. The executive apartments come with one, two or three bedrooms, a living room and a fully equipped kitchen; the two-bedroom version alone runs to 158 square metres, and there is a two-bedroom penthouse apartment too.
Children of every age are welcome, and extra beds or cots can be added in some room types on request. A kitchen of your own helps with early suppers and jet-lagged small hours, and both pools, the heated one indoors and the one outside, are kept for guests only. Tell us their ages when you first get in touch and we will choose the layout that fits.
Mostly recover, which is what a night between camps is for. There is a heated indoor pool and a separate outdoor pool, a sauna, massage, and a fitness room that costs nothing to use. The wifi is free throughout, and a business centre is open around the clock.
The most useful thing may be the laundry. Besides the hotel's own laundry service, there are two guest laundry rooms with washing machines and dryers at no charge, and an iron and ironing board in every suite and apartment, so the dust of one camp is gone before the flight to the next.
Breakfast is, and it is a proper one: the hotel serves what it calls a country breakfast every morning. Lunch and dinner are à la carte at the Palacina Bistro, which cooks on a farm-to-fork principle with seasonal produce from Kenyan farms, served by the fireplace or on the terrace over the garden. Room service runs from the same kitchen, and there is a terrace bar.
For a birthday or a family gathering, the hotel also has private dining rooms. After a long-haul arrival, dinner at the Bistro without leaving the garden is usually the right call for a first night.
rated five stars by our clients
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our approach
Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.
Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.
