Manyatta Backpackers — Hotel in Nairobi

The hostel is located a couple of km's from the Modern Coast bus station, which is actually quite central compared to many other hostels in Nairobi.||As you enter through the corrugated iron gate, our first impressions weren't good. It was really quite rundown. The yard was grotty looking, with a muddy floor, scattering of plastic patio chairs and tables near a run down outside kitchen area. The reception we got from staff was a bit curt. ||We stayed in the 8 bed female dorm. There were no window screens, just bars, and the mosquito nets were ill fitting and had holes, so weren't much good. The shower room was adequate, but quite dirty from people going outside on the dirt then traipsing into a damp shower room in their muddy shoes. ||We were dreading staying as it all just looked dirty.||In the evening, the atmosphere changed completely. Fellow backpackers chilled in the yard around a fire pit with a beer or two from the little bar area. Florence cooked delicious lentil stews/curries and chapatis in the kitchen area for a dollar or two. She also cooked a great breakfast in the morning. It gave you a taste as to how amazing the place could be if it was tidied up and given a bit of TLC.||We booked our 3d/2n masai safari through the hostel for $300. It was exactly the same tour as you get offered in Nairobi at a similar price (we were offered the same kind of safari for $260 in town, but we wanted to travel with the others in the hostel).||Honestly, with a bit of money thrown at the place, a lick of paint, a paved outdoor area, clean indoor furnishings, this place could be amazing. As it is the only pace near to the centre, it has rested on it's laurels. ||On our return from the masai, we were going to book into the private room for a bit of privacy, peace and quiet, but it cost $40, which was only $3 less than we ended up paying for a good value, highly rated mid-range hotel slap bang in the city centre.||Nairobi needs a couple of new hostels to open up in order to get the current places to...

Manyatta Backpackers is a small, old-fashioned, friendly, family-run, ultra-basic hostel that could do with a facelift and ideally a young, dynamic, travel-savvy management. The hostel is clean, but does not seem to have seen a bricklayer, plumber, house painter or electrician since Kenya’s independence. Almost everything is either old, broken or improvised. Free WiFi is available, but is so slow that it is almost unusable. Contrary to descriptions the signal covers only the main building and not the entire compound. The single rooms in a shed-like annex are glorified chicken shacks, only minimally larger than a single bed. No fan, no mosquito net, not even a nail in the wall to hang your clothes, and no lock on the doors (you must bring your own padlock) which are crudely made of wood planks with wide gaps between them. At USD 25 per night the single rooms are absurdly overpriced. It takes 20 minutes to walk to Uhuru Highway or 30 to almost anywhere in the city centre. The nearest bus stop is less than 10 minutes away (corner Valley Rd./Ralph...

This backpackers is a bit of a dump and reminds me of backpacker places in India in the mid-1980s. I bought the hotel room on the price (US$40 twin room per night) and don't really have anything to compare it with, in Nairobi; so maybe I'm being a bit harsh. However, the place was clean, as best it could be, but the whole building needs a major refurb starting with the roof. The manager/cleaner/receptionist/cook was Ester who was wonderfully helpful and made up for any downfalls in the physical attributes of the property. ||The bed was lumpy and the pillows hard. The showers were fairly poor and one of the doors to the two shower cubicles didn't lock, you had to jamb a piece of paper into the door to keep it closed. The breakfast is basic, as too the dinner but then it's only US$1.00 for rice and beans. The property has a high fence and a night watchman for security. On a lighter note, they have cold beer and only US$3.00 for a half...