Fodor's Expert Review Fairmont The Norfolk Hotel

This grand old colonial lady will take you back to the heady early days when settlers, adventurers, colonial officers, and their ladies arrived in the capital to make their names and their fortunes. Built in 1904, the Norfolk was one of Nairobi's first hotels and quickly became the meeting place and waterhole for everybody who was anybody in the colony. The hotel is now part of the Fairmont chain of hotels, but the original mock-Tudor facade and colonial opulence still remain, so you can easily imagine yourself back in the early days as you sip your G&T—it's always called G&T, never gin and tonic—or an excellent local Tusker beer on the Lord Delamere Terrace or in the leather-chaired bar. If you're there on a Sunday, do not miss the lavish high tea.