Luxury Hotels & Holidays Kenya - Virgin Holidays + Hip Hotels

Cottars 1920s

Masai Mara, Kenya

This is the real thing; the authentic canvas safari experience. Not only has the Cottar family provided guests with the highest standard of safari service for ninety years, they also have the distinct advantage of operating a concession near the Maasai Mara in an area untouched by tourism or development.

First registered by Chas Cottar in 1919 as a safari expedition, the camp remains in the family today and preserves a timeless adventure. Dinner is served in a tent designated for dinner – a rustic but nonetheless elegant affair that strikes a delicate balance between linen, silver and crystal glassware and the great outdoors. And with a cheeky wink towards a bygone era, there are butlers on hand to cater to your every need. The bar is the bush, and vice-versa. Drinks following long established tradition are at sundown, and directors chairs are set up wherever guests fancy, in a manner that hasn’t changed since Roosevelt and Hemingway. Guided game activities are available several times a day but there is no pressure to participate if your idea of ultimate adventure is to sit in the library tent with a good book, occasionally gazing out at the timeless beauty of the African bush.

A visit not just to the Masai Mara, but to the golden era of safari – with the spirit of romance, adventure and luxury.

Photos of Cottars 1920s

Prices from:

£1,899 pp

Includes meals and game drives

Giraffe Manor

Nairobi, Kenya

Set in 140 acres of forest on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital, Giraffe Manor was built in 1932 by David Duncan of the ‘Macintosh Toffee’ family. Inspired by Scottish hunting lodges, it earned its unusual name as a result of an effort by Jock & Bette Leslie Melville (who had bought the Manor from David Duncan) to save two highly endangered Rothschild giraffe. They were moved onto the estate and they thrived, as did future generations. So much so that the property is now also home to the Giraffe Centre, established by the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife.

Judging from the four poster beds, the stone fireplaces, the big beams, the leaded windows and the panelled doors, you really could be in a lodge in Scotland. That is, until a giraffe sticks its head through the window and tries to steal your toast from the breakfast tray. This being a manor, there is a dining room, not a restaurant and the bar is a living room with big, overstuffed club chairs and a large stone fireplace. The food is fresh and homemade, like what you would expect from a hunting lodge in Scotland with an African twist.

Giraffe Manor is a legend; a small hotel just outside Nairobi with a big reputation.

Photos of Giraffe Manor

Prices from:

£1,469 pp

Half board

Kiwayu

Lamu, Kenya

Nothing has been done to ruin the exquisite beauty of this sheltered bay at the edge of the Indian Ocean. Hidden by dunes and sheltered by Kiwayu Island, Kiwayu is a collection of Swahili bandas, built from dried palm fronds and mangrove poles, spread along a kilometre of powdery white sand and turquoise water completely unspoiled by any building or structure.

It has been this way for thirty five years because Italian founder Alfredo Pelizzoli (from Venice) and family created the camp and still manage it on a day-to-day basis. Since the very beginning there has always been ice for the gin & tonic, so it may be secluded but it’s certainly not uncivilised. Dining is in a communal banda on the beach and the Italian influence sees fresh pasta added to the moveable seafood feast. There is infinite pleasure to be had from walking along isolated beaches and dunes, and there is snorkelling on coral reefs, sailing the turquoise water and windsurfing and waterskiing amongst the many things to do.

A bikini (or board shorts), a kikoi (sarong) and a hat are all you need to immerse yourself in one of the finest barefoot luxury experiences on the planet.

Photos of Kiwayu

Prices from:

£2,189 pp

Half board basis

Naibor

Masai Mara, Kenya

Naibor is a contemporary tented camp hidden by a grove of trees on the banks of the Talek River, 2 km from where it meets the Mara River. As such, it is perfectly placed for all major crossing sites to witness the spectacle of the annual wildebeest migration. Quite aside from this however, Naibor’s location in the very heart of the Masai Mara means fabulous wildlife viewing year round.

At Naibor, day-to-day life is very much according to the rhythm of a genuine camp, with sundown drinks at the evening camp fire as the focal point. The seven tents with contemporary interiors are large and luxurious with shaded verandas, en-suite bathrooms and safari showers. Meals are created by experienced chefs working with local fresh ingredients and served in the mess tent under the shade of the trees on a long banquet table, surrounded by comfortable floor cushions, rugs and sofas.

Emerge from your night under canvas in the African bush for breakfast by the river watched by a pod of resident hippos.

Photos of Naibor

Prices from:

£1,599 pp

Full board basis

Olarro

Masai Mara, Kenya

Olarro is situated in south west Kenya, 200 kilometres from Nairobi, at 6,000 feet above sea level on a 40,000 acre private concession, along the corridor of the annual wildebeest migration. Olarro’s concession is surrounded by a much larger conservancy called Maji Moto Group Ranch – owned by the Maasai people. This indigenous community is employed in all roles within the lodge and with permission from the local chief guests can visit the local homestead.

Constructed with local materials, 7 cool white cottages with thatched roofs and en-suite showers are powered by state of the art solar and wind power. With its unusual string of small connected swimming pools and its freeform sweeping organic shapes, Olarro is like a series of beautifully interlinked platforms built with 180 degree panoramic views to allow the guest to best appreciate the great African outdoors.

Olarro, the Maasai term for buffalo, is a stylish organically shaped, exciting piece of bush architecture in the Loita Hills of Kenya.

Photos of Olarro

Prices from:

£1549 pp

Full board basis

Shompole Hotel

Masai Mara, Kenya

Framed by the Nguruman escarpment in southern Kenya, Shompole offers vast bush platforms, dedicated to allowing the visitor to enjoy the surroundings in as laid-back a fashion as possible.

Disturbing the environment with intrusive ‘mod cons’, such as air-conditioning, glass or concrete, was however not an option. Fresh spring water runs down gullies, cascades down the back of the bed and eventually empties into a personal plunge pool. The water keeps moving, so there is no need to add in chlorine – the presence of water, in conjunction with a slight breeze, acts as a natural air-conditioner, without that annoying humming.

At night, the open pavilions sport enormous zipped mesh tents. You maintain the sensation of sleeping in the great outdoors, with only a roof of thatch over your head, while you are in fact neatly cocooned in a mosquito-net marquee.

Shompole is unique because it offers a very stylish, ‘back to nature’ experience in a completely untouched part of Africa.

Photos of Shompole

Prices from:

£1210 pp

Winter Safari Getaway

Tortilis Camp

Amboseli, Kenya

From its elevated position Tortilis camp is perched like an observatory of Africa’s highest peak (and the world’s highest freestanding mountain). Named after the flat-top umbrella thorn tree (acacia tortilis), Tortilis camp is also distinguished by its local elephant population. There are more than a thousand elephants within Amboseli, including some of the largest ever seen in Africa. Big seems to be a keyword for this camp – big scenery, big elephants, big mountain and big adventure. With a private game concession of 30,000 acres as well as complete access to the surrounding National Park, guests at Tortilis camp are guaranteed a spectacular wildlife experience.

Guests are housed in tents, and each tent is housed under a hand-crafted roof of makuti – traditional thatch made from palm leaves. The effect is simultaneously romantic and reassuring. This is what you want a safari camp to look like.

The sudden enormity of Kilimanjaro sticking out of the African bush never ceases to amaze.

Photos of Tortilis Camp

Prices from:

£1,539 pp

Full board basis

Tribe

Nairobi, Kenya

The philosophy is; one planet, one tribe, we share in the things we want, especially when it comes to travel. We want comfort, security and peace of mind and we want personal service, but we also want things to be fun and different. All these things is what Tribe strives to be.

Set in Nairobi’s leafy diplomatic suburb of Gigiri, ten minutes from the city centre, Tribe has the unparalleled advantage of being next door to the Village Market. It is ultra luxurious and comfortable, and equipped to the eyeballs with all the high tech gear any traveller might desire. But it is also so different that it will put you under the African skies at night while dining on epic food seated at islands in a vast swimming pool. It will give you and your wife a cosy fireplace to take the chill off the night, with the one difference that the fireplace is in the swimming pool. Expose yourself to the exciting dynamic side of East Africa instead of hiding away in a boring multinational brand name.

Tribe is a place that has flipped the conventional business hotel on its East African ear.