Giraffe Manor, the beautiful giraffe hotel in Kenya, looks amazing. But is it worth the cost? Here we look at what it's like to stay there.
Is the giraffe hotel in Kenya worth it?
This Giraffe Manor Hotel Review aims to let you decide whether or not to visit one of the most intriguing hotels in Kenya.
Arriving in Giraffe Manor
As the car pulls into the driveway, the gravel scrunches beneath the tyres. The sun settles on the stone-clad ivy and fluffy clouds puff past overhead. The Manor looks straight from Scotland, but the rust red earth betrays the fact that this is Africa.
Well, that and the warthogs, tails upright like lightning conductors.
Giraffe Manor lives on the outskirts of Nairobi amid a 12 acre enclosure that marries sub-Saharan safari with the British National Trust. It’s the perfect stop after the overnight flight from London before further flights and long drives set in.
You may also be interested in The Safari in Kenya That Inspired Pride Rock
Cool white mosquito nets breeze between dark teak cabinets, floors and plum purple rugs. Imposing staircases, open fireplaces and well-stocked bookcases bring a warm sense of grandeur to the place but it doesn’t take too long to spot a motif.
Giraffe mosaics glitter above the bath, giraffe letter holders glint on the desk and through the breakfast and bedroom windows swing the necks of giraffes themselves.
A project to save endangered animals
It may not look like it, but these long-lashed, long legged, long necked creatures are under threat. The Rothschild giraffe, as distinguished from the reticulated giraffe with its “white stockings” and creamier whites and more mocha browns, is critically endangered, with only a few hundred remaining in the wild.
And it was the desire to try to save the species that led to the creation of Giraffe Manor in the first place.
Rothschild Giraffes Up Close
They’re curious creatures to see up close, lolloping in a steady yet ungainly rhythm, knees looking ready to buckle at any moment, necks looking stronger than a steel-reinforced boa constrictor.
Staff here know them by name, calling out to their favourites and showering us with instructions and food pellets to entice them in.
FEEDING GIRAFFES
I’ve never felt to comfortable feeding animals, I’m embarrassed to say. Each time a horse has chomped its lips near my hand, visions of a quick bite and salivary suction hoovering up my hand to the elbow makes me jitterier than a over-caffeinated crackerjack.
With giraffes, it’s different. A little.
First, their heads look less harmful, til they swoop down at great speed, swerving through the window like a velociraptor resurrected from Jurassic Park.
Without a moment’s pause, they’ve found my hand .
And the pellets.
And they’re biting…
…only…
….they’re not.
They are…softly tickling.
Touching the Giraffes
Like the touch of dry, fluffed velvet, the giraffe tongues snuffle up the pellets, leaving a gloopy trail of saliva that would feel at home on a Ghostbusters film set.
Rapport thus established, I’m encouraged to slide my hand along the top segment of her neck, my hand small against the smoky brown jigsaw.
While a giraffe tongue feels soft, their coat feels tough and wiry, more camel hide than smooth, glossy horse. But their eyelashes simply mesmerise.
You may also be interested in 7 of the Best Places to Visit in Africa
And then, pellets exhausted, the eyelashes and the head that holds them swoops backwards up and out and away.
And their gangly, lumbering yet oddly majestic stroll carries these twiglet-twinned creatures away, across the terrace, across the grass and out of site into the grounds of Giraffe Manor.
And I am left, simply watching.
Is Giraffe Manor worth the cost?
In short, I would say yes. This is not a budget option but a luxury hotel with a once in a lifetime experience that's linked to a good cause. Prices vary, obviously, but at the time of writing, rooms cost US$ 875 per adult sharing per night and US$ 605 per child sharing per night. That is an all-inclusive fee, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, transfers, drinks, wifi and laundry.
HOW TO BOOK A STAY AT GIRAFFE MANOR
Giraffe Manor is one of the four stunning safari properties that make up The Safari Collection’s portfolio. You can organise an individual stay here or add it to a bespoke tour of luxury safari lodges in Kenya.
Giraffe Manor is a dream for instagram. Brush up on your sunset quotes and captions here, your hiking quotes and captions here and all round travel quotes over here. Enjoy!
Disclosure – I visited Giraffe Manor as a guest of The Safari Collection. You know the drill by now – I write what I like, no matter what here on Inside the Travel Lab.
More About Travel in Africa
- The best places to visit in Africa: how to build your bucket list
- Namibia and the oldest desert in the world
- The best beaches in Madagascar
- What safari guides really fear in Botswana's Okavango Delta
- The riddle of the Philae Temple in Egypt, 2000 years on
- The sobering secret of this graveyard in Madagascar
- Top things to do in Madagascar for curious travellers
- How the red tsingy in Madagascar are the perfect antidote to travel overload.
- The real pride rock
- Hiking in the Atlas Mountains takes walking to a new level
- The highs and lows of driving in Morocco
- Waking up with giraffes in Kenya
- What you need to know about trekking Kilimanjaro
wow so cute!! great experience… i cant imagine having breakfast with a giraffe
Um, is this place real?! I’m beyond animal obsessed and I can’t think of anything I’d find more exciting than a giraffe sticking its head into the window to say good morning. Abi, you’ve officially added a new destination to my bucket list!
Definitely real and definitely beautiful! Highly recommended (same for other parts of Kenya too.)
Abi – this place is the coolest!!!!! Wow – you are so lucky. I want to go here so bad!! Loved the pics too!!
It’s fantabulousness in all ways! Hope you get there one day x