Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport: Our full report

The Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport initially opened in 2017, as the Lazizi Premiere.

Very conveniently located, this was the first hotel to be located inside the airport secure perimeter at Nairobi International Airport.

So it’s a very short, traffic-free drive from the terminal buildings – and exactly the sort of full-service accommodation that the airport needed.

It became a Crowne Plaza, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, in 2018. Beware of confusing the ‘Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport’ with the ‘Crowne Plaza Nairobi’, which is in the centre of the city, and some distance away.

The Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport is accessed by shared transfer car from the airport terminals. When you make a booking with Expert Africa, your flight details are passed to the hotel and a hotel driver will be there to meet you on arrival. It’s a 3-5 minute drive through the airport area to the hotel’s secure entry gates. You then enter the lobby via a further airport-style pedestrian gate and luggage security check and the reception area is right in front of you to the rear of the lobby.

To the left of the lobby is the Aroma coffee shop and snack bar and the full-service Kitchen 9 restaurant and to the right the Velocity sports bar with a big screen. Porters and other helpers are mercifully absent from the lobby area unless you need their assistance.

The four floors of room and suites are accessed by an elevator that requires your room card key to operate. The hotel’s 144 rooms, all of which can be set up as doubles or twins, include 40 superior rooms, 40 deluxe rooms, and 52 premium rooms (1 of which, on the first floor, is adapted for people with disabilities).

The rooms, some of which inter-connect for families, feature super-sized beds with high-thread count sheets and quilt covers, huge wall-mounted TV/communications screens, tea and coffee making stations, minibars and a well-designed desk. There are plenty of UK-style 3-pin power points, with adaptors for US and European plugs, good lighting and free Wi-fi throughout the hotel. The large bathrooms include spacious and functional walk-in showers (not bath tubs), decent toiletries, hairdryers, double wash basins and a separate toilet cubicle. Rooms from ‘Deluxe’ upwards feature a ‘magic mirror’ glass screen between the bathroom and the bedroom, which converts from mirror to cheeky see-through at the flick of a switch. This feature is the only difference between deluxe and superior rooms, as the latter don’t have this gimmicky feature.

Above the room floors, you’ll find the Euphoria spa (well equipped gym, female and male steam rooms and saunas, lockers and showers and two treatment rooms), a roof terrace with sunloungers and a 10m x 6m (33ft x 20ft), 1.2m(4ft)-deep swimming pool and rooftop pool bar.

Our view

With its attentive staff, stylish rooms, decent restaurant and bar options and included transfers to and from the airport terminals, the Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport is the airport hotel for which Nairobi has been waiting for many years.

It makes the prospect of a late flight arrival – or an early flight departure – no more problematic than at most other international airports and it considerably raises this airport’s game.

Tamara Hoskyns-Abrahall

Kenya expert

Geographics

Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Directions: The Crowne Plaza Nairobi Airport is inside the security perimeter of Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and accessed by hotel cars which will pick you up and drop you back as required. These are not strictly private transfers, as others may be in the vehicle with you if your flight times coincide. It's a drive through the airport buildings of less than 5 minutes.
Accessible by: Fly-and-Transfer

Food & drink

Usual board basis: Bed & Breakfast
Food quality: Reasonably good, international fare is on offer, with a couple of different restaurant options.

Breakfast is served buffet style with an extensive choice.
Dining style: Individual Tables
Dining locations: Indoor Dining
Drinks included: Drinks are not included, but are reasonably priced at around $5 or equivalent.

Children

Attitude towards children: Children are welcome.
Property’s age restrictions: None
Equipment: The hotel is equipped with baby cots and high chairs and offers a childrens' menu.
Notes: The rooftop pool is chilly, but fun for older children under supervision (no life guard)

Communications

Power supply notes: There is automatic generator backup in the case of power cuts.
Communications: Free Wi-fi throughout and good mobile network.
TV & radio: Large, flat-screen TVs are in every room.
Water supply: Mains
Water supply notes: Water is supplied by Nairobi city council and the hotel's own borehole. Bottled drinking water is supplied free of charge in every room.

Health & safety

Malarial protection recommended: Yes
Medical care: The hotel has a nurse.
Dangerous animals: Low Risk
Security measures: The airport is a secure zone, with security checks to enter. The hotel has secure gates and vehicles are checked on entry. Then the lobby itself has further security checks on everyone entering.
Fire safety: All staff are fire-trained and there are fire extinguishes throughout the hotel.

Activities

4WD Safari
Birdwatching
Cultural excursion
Elephant encounter

Extras

Disabled access: In Place
Laundry facilities: Extra charge for laundry service, which can be turned around in 2-3 hours.
Money: Most currencies can be exchanged for Kenya Shillings at Reception
Accepted payment on location: Most international currencies are accepted.