If you haven't yet read how my daughter & I ended up at the Panari Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya a couple of weeks ago, you might like to read this post first. In a nutshell, we were 'stranded' in Nairobi for the day whilst awaiting our connecting (night) flight to Johannesburg & thanks to the outstanding service provided by Kenya Airways, were provided with a complimentary day room (pictured above) at the Panari Hotel in Nairobi by them. 
The Panari Hotel is situated on the outskirts of the city of Nairobi, between the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and the city itself, so it's location is ideal if you are short on time or need a hotel within close driving distance to the airport. It prides itself as a '5 Star Hotel' although - to my knowledge - there is no international star grading system in Kenya (or Tanzania, for that matter).The hotel was built in 2005 and is a modern/trendy hotel which I would not usually have stayed at (we prefer the older, more traditional type of hotel) but it was wonderful to see & experience nevertheless. Lots of brightly coloured glass, chandeliers, marble, leather and striking bedroom decor - stark white, black and shades of purple and imitation animal skins/carpeting (like bold Zebra stripes) scattered here and there. The photo above shows the reception area on our floor - each floor (there are 12 floors, with a total of 135 rooms) had it's own and each had a different decor theme.
The views from the hotel were stunning. As you can see by the photo above, our room looked out on part of the hustle & bustle of the outskirts of the city of Nairobi, yet just beyond the buildings, you can see endless plains of African bush & scrub trees.
Here, above, is another view from our bedroom window. Most of the main areas of the hotel are built to face this view - with huge floor to ceiling windows, it has quite a dramatic effect.
This was the view to the right of our bedroom window - of the Ngong Hills. If you are familiar with the book "Out of Africa", you will know that Karen Blixen's coffee farm nestled in the foothills of the Ngong Hills, which are so named as 'Ngong' means 'knuckles' in the local language and if you look closely (you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it) they look like a set of knuckles on a closed fist.The Panari Hotel has it's own boutique shops, bank, bureau de change, ice skating rink, gym and movie theatres as well as a coffee shop ('Amber Coffee Shop'), a bar ('Crystal Bar') and a delightful restaurant called 'Red Garnet' where we enjoyed a wonderful buffet lunch which consisted of an amazing selection of salads, soups, main courses, desserts, cheese and biscuits and included beef, chicken, pork, fish, vegetarian and seafood main course dishes aswell as Indian curries, Italian pasta's and sauces - and a dessert table to die for, with desserts so beautifully crafted they looked like they'd just popped out of the pages of a gourmet food magazine (no, I did not take my camera into the dining room, else I would have posted a few photo's !)
The food was outstanding, the rooms spotlessly clean (with lovely piping hot bath/shower water), quiet and very secure and the service excellent, too - from reception staff to security staff to waiters and chefs, we were treated like royalty by everyone we encountered and I would not hesitate to recommend the hotel - especially if you've had an adventurous flight (like we did !) and are looking for a quick stayover en route to your next destination, which has everything you need without having to drive in to/stay at a hotel in Nairobi city itself. You certainly won't be disappointed !
