Guests usually choose Parklands for a specific reason: a hospital appointment, an office in Westlands, a family visit. Then they arrive and find they are staying in an actual neighbourhood rather than a strip of hotels, and start wondering what is around them.
This is a guide to that. What Parklands is like, what is nearby, and the practical everyday things people ask us about once they have settled in.
What Kind of Place Parklands Is
Parklands sits north of Nairobi’s city centre and is one of the older established residential districts in the city. It is noticeably calmer than the middle of town, which is much of its appeal: leafier streets, less noise, and a pace that makes it possible to sleep properly.
Much of the character comes from what sits at street level. Parklands is dense with small independent businesses: grocers, bakeries, pharmacies, tailors, hardware shops and a great many restaurants, a good number of which have been in the same place for decades. Very little of it is chain-branded, and it is busy in the ordinary way that residential districts are busy rather than the way tourist areas are.
The effect for visitors is welcoming and unshowy. It is a working neighbourhood rather than a tourist one, where the shops are open because people nearby need them, and that is exactly why the practical things you want on a longer stay are genuinely close by rather than an expedition.
Healthcare, Which Brings Many People Here
Parklands is one of the most significant medical districts in Nairobi, and for a large number of our guests that is the reason for the trip.
L’Aziz Suites sits opposite Aga Khan University Hospital and near MP Shah Hospital. That proximity does real work for anyone attending appointments over days or weeks: early starts become manageable, and it is possible to return and rest between a morning consultation and an afternoon procedure rather than waiting it out in a corridor.
If you are coming to Nairobi for treatment or accompanying someone who is, we have written in more detail about what an extended medical stay in Parklands actually involves.
Everyday Essentials
On a stay of any length, the neighbourhood you actually use is the one within a few streets. Parklands does well here.
City Park Market is close by and is where a good number of our guests go for fresh fruit and vegetables, which makes restocking a short errand rather than an outing. Pharmacies, shops and the ordinary run of everyday services are near at hand, which matters a great deal when you are staying long enough to need shampoo, a phone charger, or something for a headache.
This is the quiet advantage of staying somewhere residential. You are not planning a trip every time you need something small.
Green Space
Nairobi is unusually well provided with green space for a city of its size, and Parklands is well positioned for it.
City Park is close, and Karura Forest, a little further out, offers walking and cycling under proper tree cover. Both are genuinely restorative if you are here for a demanding reason. Guests visiting relatives in hospital, or caring for someone through treatment, often find that an hour outdoors somewhere green is the most useful thing they do all day.
Eating
Parklands is one of the better parts of Nairobi to eat in, and it is one of the first things guests remark on.
For a residential district, the concentration of places to eat is unusually good, and the range is wide: casual everyday spots, bakeries and cafes, takeaway counters, and a number of more formal restaurants for when the occasion calls for it. Many are long-established and independently run. Westlands, a short drive away, adds a much wider choice again if you want to go further afield.
That said, one of the reasons people book serviced apartments for longer stays is precisely so they are not eating out every night. Every suite here has a full kitchen, and most guests staying more than a week end up using it for at least some meals. Families in particular tend to settle into a rhythm of cooking some and going out for others, which we have written about in our guide to family suites and longer visits.
What Is Nearby
Parklands is well placed for a number of the places visitors need to reach.
- Westlands, a short drive away, is the nearest major business district, with corporate offices, shopping and a wide choice of places to eat.
- The United Nations offices in Gigiri are within easy reach, along with the diplomatic and international organisation presence around them.
- The city centre is accessible for anyone with business there, though as with everything in Nairobi the journey depends more on the hour than the distance.
- Karura Forest and City Park cover the green space, as above.
Getting Around
Most visitors move around Nairobi by taxi or ride-hailing app, both of which are widely used and straightforward once you have a local SIM and mobile data.
The one rule worth internalising is that journey times here are governed by the time of day rather than the map. A trip that is quick in the evening can be slow during the working day, so if you have somewhere to be at a fixed time, leave more room than seems necessary. Locals do.
Who Parklands Suits
It suits people staying a while. Visitors attending hospital appointments, professionals working out of Westlands or Gigiri for weeks at a time, families visiting relatives, and anyone who would rather be somewhere residential and quiet than in the middle of the city.
It suits people less well if what you want is to be in the thick of Nairobi’s nightlife. That is a fair trade, and most of our guests make it deliberately.
Come and See It
If Parklands sounds like the right base for your trip, check availability and tell us your dates. Let us know why you are coming and roughly how long you expect to stay, and we will help you find the right fit.
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