The Giraffe Manor, built-in 1932 by Sir David Duncan, is situated on 120 acres of land just a few miles from the center of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. In 1974, Jock Leslie-Melville, grandson of a Scottish earl, and his wife Betty, who founded the African Fund for Endangered Wildlife (AFEW), bought the Manor. They moved five endangered baby Rothschild giraffes to their property where they were successfully reared and now have their own babies.
When Jock died, Betty decided to open her house to visitors. Exclusive, spacious and giraffe Manor Hotel elegant, it is the only place in the world where you can feed giraffes from your second-floor bedroom window, over the lunch table, and at the front door.
Guests can feed and photograph the giraffe and the warthogs at the manor and wander through the adjoining forest to view the bushbuck, dik-dik and more than 180 species of birds.
Accommodation is in four double rooms with baths, as well as one double room with a shower. One bedroom is furnished with Karen Blixen’s (“Out of Africa”) furniture that she gave to Jock’s mother when she left Kenya.
Meals are prepared by a gourmet chef and include tea, wine and cocktails. Many famous people have stayed at The Giraffe Manor, including Walter Cronkite, Brooke Shields, Johnny Carson, Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall.