Hotel of the week: The Norfolk Hotel, Nairobi

The Norfolk is Nairobi's most venerable hotel, says Frank Partridge in the Independent. It was opened in 1904, when the city was little more than a railway station; and over the years, "everybody who was anybody" stayed here on their East African expeditions.

The "distinctive half-timbered Edwardian exterior" and the "lush gardens of the central courtyard" survive, but the interiors were redone last year, after the Fairmont group bought the hotel.

A "soothing New England aesthetic" now prevails in the deluxe rooms and suites, with mattresses on the king-size beds "so deep you almost have to climb into them".

Double rooms start at £172 per night. Contact: 00 254 20 221 6940; www.fairmont.com.