Giraffe Manor sits on Gogo Falls Road in Karen, on Nairobi's southern edge, sharing its grounds with the AFEW Giraffe Centre. Built in 1932, the manor has been home to a resident herd of endangered Rothschild's (Nubian) giraffes since the 1970s, when the original owners took in an orphaned calf named Daisy. The giraffes wander the grounds freely and, most mornings, put their heads through the dining room windows looking for breakfast.
It is a small hotel by design — twelve rooms across the original manor house and a newer garden wing — and that scale is the point. This is not a game-drive property; it is the Nairobi stay that bookends a safari, close enough to both airports to make sense on arrival or departure night, and memorable enough to be worth building a full day around.
Giraffes come right up to the house — through the dining room's open doors and windows, and to the first-floor bedroom windows for anyone with pellets on the sill. It is the property's signature moment, not an occasional novelty, and it happens most mornings rather than on a lucky day.
Six rooms in the original 1932 manor, each individually decorated and named after a figure from the property's history, plus six more in a newer garden wing with the same giraffe views.
Nairobi's climate is mild and fairly consistent year-round, so this is not a property with a strong 'best season' — plan around your safari dates rather than the weather.
The one date to watch: Giraffe Manor closes for roughly a month each year, mid-April to mid-May, for annual maintenance. We will flag this automatically if it falls inside your travel window.
Being straight with you: Giraffe Manor is not a park lodge, so it does not sit inside a fixed-day safari itinerary the way a Mara camp does. It works best as an add-on night at the start or end of a trip. Any of these itineraries can be extended with a night here:
Comparing options? Every lodge we book is on the accommodations page. We would rather put you somewhere that suits you than somewhere that pays us more.
Tell us your dates and we will let you know how a night at Giraffe Manor fits your budget alongside the rest of your safari, honestly compared.
