A family of warthogs trot through the pretty gardens. Beyond the fence are rare Rothschild giraffes. The sun dips over the Ngong Hills. All this and you're still in the city, sort of. Set in leafy upscale suburb Langata, Hogmead is Nairobi's newest property, with six large, lovely rooms, flawless roses on every surface and a kitchen serving up sizzling sausages for breakfast and fresh fish for supper. It's part of the Safari and Conservation Company portfolio, which has some serious East African pedigree, and most guests night-stop here between adventures in sister properties from the Mara to Mount Kenya. Others pop in only to scrub up (Hogmead is cleverly converting seven former stables into dayrooms). But it deserves more than the hours to kill between airport transfers. Nairobi suddenly has hotels opening on every street corner, but this is the best of the new breed; it avoids try-hard trendy and sidesteps fusty musty, but nails colonial comfort head on.