Giraffe Manor is set in 12 acres of private land within 140 acres of indigenous forest and is only 20 kilometres from Nairobi city centre. Built in the 1930s, this luxury boutique hotel has maintained all the charm of the era and is now famous for its resident herd of Rothschild Giraffe. Giraffe Manor offers you an unparalleled experience of the giraffes, with them vying for your attention at the breakfast table, the front door and even your bedroom window. Giraffe Manor is also home to many characters including warthogs, bushbuck, dik dik and more than 180 species of birds and has a striking view of the Ngong hills.

Giraffe Centre

The Giraffe Centre was set up by AFEW (African Fund for Endangered Wildlife) as a breeding centre for the endangered Rothschild Giraffe, and has now evolved to operate conservation and educational programs for Kenyan school children. The Centre boasts a 1.5 kilometre nature trail meandering through the neighbouring indigenous Ololua and Ngong forests, covering over 100 acres of dry upland. Giraffe Centre has preserved the original habitat intact for the giraffes and a variety of birds and animals including warthogs, hyenas and sometimes a leopard. On the nature trail, you will get a chance to discover different bird species, as you take a stroll through the expansive and varied flora.

Elephant Orphanage

Established in 1977, the David Sheldrick elephant orphanage is a small, flexible charity that rescues and rehabilitates orphaned baby elephants and rhinos. Visitors to the orphanage can watch feeding and bath times each morning within the grounds of the orphanage and enjoy watching the calves playing with footballs and chasing each other.

Accommodation

Inspired by the manor’s original 1930’s decor, we have designed our six double bedrooms with large four poster beds, antique furnishing, striking art decor and spacious bathrooms. The Karen Blixen suite is ideal for families and has direct access to the courtyard which opens onto the giraffe sanctuary.

Dining

Expect to be joined by guests for breakfast; lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served in the sun room, with its enormous windows flung open in welcome of the giraffe that come and join you. Dinner is a cosy affair as the drawing room fire is lit and guests and managers gather for evening drinks. You can either chose to have a candlelit hosted meal in the dramatic wood panelled dining room or at your own table under the stars surrounded by the glow created by lanterns and candles on the terrace.
Our chef will prepare home cooked meals that will make your stay at Giraffe Manor even more memorable. Get a taste of traditional meals with a touch of modern edge such as our Mount Kenya Smoked Trout pate, fillet of beef or watamu red snapper.

What is an Ice Hotel?? A hotel built of ice and snow, would be the most common response. The first and the largest in the world, someone might add. But they have more thrilling stories to tell. Lean closer to your computer screen and we’ll whisper them in your ear. Like most companies, they have a history and a business concept. Their ideas originate from the place they stand on; Jukkasjärvi. The river Torne that flows outside the office windows, the cold arctic climate, The Northern Lights and the Midnight Sun.

Every season allow them to get inspired by the river, whether it is crystal clear ice, rapids shooting on a riverboat or a magnificent, recently caught grayling. This is what they have promised to offer the rest of the world; with Jukkasjärvi and Torne River as a starting point, develop and offer sensuous, inspiring and unique experiences within art, nature, accommodation and gastronomy. That reflects all seasons of the year.

So it is not only a hotel they build each winter, it is an ephemeral art project. And it is not a menu they create for every season, they cultivate the many flavours of Swedish Lapland. Each year, it attract visitors from all over the world to a little village in Lapland, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. Many of them they take further north, explore the high mountains, all the way to the northern Norway to visit the fjords.

Accommodation

At ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi you can choose between several different types of accommodation. The ideal is to combine one cold night in ICEHOTEL with several warm nights in our hotel rooms and chalets.

Inside ICEHOTEL, the temperature is never colder than -5 °C to -8 °C, regardless of how cold it may be outside.Dress in warm thermal underwear, put on a hat and slip into the cozy sleeping bag. You are awakened in the morning with a cup of hot lingonberry juice at your bedside.

Dining