Relatively (and indeed sometimes very) last-minute rooms can be available at Giraffe Manor. Last year, 3 months before arrival, I booked Salma’s room in the Garden Manor. This year, less than a month before arrival, we booked Jock’s room in the Main Manor. We had booked a refundable room at a Nairobi hotel, so just cancelled it and took Jock’s room where we fed the giraffes from our windows in the morning. Great fun! The cancellation policy says “More than 120 days before arrival, the 20% deposit is refunded, net of bank charges” so availability may occur leading up to that time or indeed leading up to the other critical dates for when increasing amounts of money are lost when a booking is cancelled. The rooms in the Garden Manor are normally only available if you book another of their properties, but they become available to anyone 4 weeks before the checkin date. So that’s another time when you might get a booking. I watched the online availability calendar and rooms in both buildings became available more often than I had expected. So if you are diligent in checking the availability calendar and can be flexible (eg book 2 or 3 refundable nights at a Nairobi hotel), you may find that you can get a room at Giraffe Manor. We were blown away to be able to get Jock’s room at such short notice. It also became available on the night previous to our stay at even shorter notice. Tripadvisor won’t let me include the link to the availability calendar that I had included in the review. However, you can get it by googling Safari Collection availability at Giraffe Manor. It’s great fun staying there. You only need one night if you arrive before afternoon tea (5 pm when the giraffes are fed on the lawn) and leave the next morning after (say) 8 am. The giraffes start coming to the breakfast area around 6 am and are gone by around 9 am. We arrived about noon and left the next day at 8 am and that was plenty of time with the giraffes. The 5 pm Sheldrick elephant sanctuary visit for those adopting an animal directly conflicts with the 5 pm Giraffe Manor feeding of the giraffes – so don’t book that unless you’re staying for 2 nights (and are content to miss the afternoon giraffe feeding). However, there are probably less expensive ways of visiting Sheldrick without paying for a second night at Giraffe Manor. Also, if you’re arriving late at night after the 5 pm giraffe feeding, it could be a bit of a waste of money to stay at Giraffe Manor. Our flight arrived around midnight and we decided to stay at Ole Sereni that night and get to Giraffe Manor close to checkin time the next day. Jock’s room actually became available for the night we were staying at Ole Sereni but we decided that it would be a waste of money to take it when arriving so late. If laundry is left in the laundry bag by lunchtime, you get it back that same night. We gave them our laundry about 1 pm and it was back that night – and they wash women’s underwear (yippee) unlike the safari camps. We were impressed with the quick service. The one very large black mark is that Giraffe Manor has started charging for sparking wine. They told us that they were going through so much of it, they decided to start charging for it. I expressed dismay and told them that’s all I drink. Because I was a returning guest, they let me drink it for free. But I think it’s poor form that someone needs to pay for some celebratory sparking wine at what for most people will be a once in a lifetime experience.…
Excellent encounters with the Rothchilds Giraffes - a dream come true for my wife Very characterful manor but the bedroom we had is in need of some TLC Beautiful location with access to Giraffe Centre
My husband and I are on the trip of a lifetime through 9 African countries. Giraffe manor was high on my bucket list. We booked two nights in Daisys room which has the balcony over the breakfast room. I can’t begin to tell you how magic and perfect every moment was ! The staff went way above and beyond to help us with pictures, telling us about the giraffes and their personalities and accommodating absolutely anything we needed. We enjoyed two amazing breakfasts and two tea times with the giraffes. The first night we were a little tired and enjoyed an absolutely stunning private dinner on our balcony in our bathrobes. Peter was our waiter/ care taker and made us feel like family. In the morning we had 6 giraffe right at the balcony eating from us with our coffees in hand. The grounds and manor themselves are absolutely stunning , well kept , clean and out right gorgeous. The staff is friendly and really good over and above to make you feel like a princess. It was honestly like living in a fairly tale for three days. Special thanks to Peter, Edmund for the great service and amazing photography, to Edgar and Tony for your exceptional customer service and smiling faces and Julius - our driver who never rushed us, made us laugh and told us the best stories. Thank you giraffe manor for making my dream a reality and managing to make it far better then I ever hoped. - Maya and Cory …
From arrival till departure we made wonderful memories. The rooms and grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Service is outstanding and the interaction with the giraffes are a lifetime memory! Every minute there was pure pleasure.
It would definitely be difficult to replicate a facility that can offer this type of premium experience where one can interact with the wildlife, properly supervised, within luxurious and colonial settings. The prepared meals were imaginative and delicious
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