Blue Post Hotel in Thika is among the oldest hospitality locations in the country. The iconic establishment was built in 1908 and has been in operation for over 100 years.
The hotel is a fan-favorite among residents of Thika Town, Murang’a, and the larger Nairobi Metropolitan Area. Blue Post Hotel has a nature park and museum.
Elspeth Huxley in her book The Flame Trees of Thika, wrote that Blue Post Hotel got its name from the low-roofed, thatched hut whose verandah posts were painted blue.
It was built by Captain Ward whom Huxley described in her book as a “military-looking, sprucely dressed man with a bald head and a long moustache, who had the misfortune to be very deaf”.
The hotel also served as a post office for farmers from the surrounding farms. Next to the original hut was a stone building with three accommodation rooms.
Blue Post Hotel also had stables for horses. David Kuria, an employee of the establishment since 1982, reveals that white settlers would come on their horses and tie them to the blue posts at the hut and proceed to enjoy themselves at the bar.
There were laws prohibiting riding “under the influence”, and apparently each horse knew their way home.
Kuria reveals that before the hotel was built in 1908, a military camp existed in its place since 1902 to guarantee safe passage between Nairobi and Nyeri.
Africans were not allowed to patronize the hotel, Kuria said.
Captain Ward sold Blue Post Hotel to Edward Sergent who later relinquished its ownership to a prominent Kenyan family in 1978.
The original hut still exits at the hotel and is known as the “Sergent Bar” and the “blue posts” are covered with hemp and timber.
Facilities, Amenities & Activities
Blue Post Hotel is located just off the Busy Thika Super Highway about 5 Km away from the industrial town of Thika. The property is spread over a 32-acre piece of land and sits between two rivers and two natural waterfalls
The hotel boasts over 51 rooms, modern conferencing facilities, childrens’ playground, a museum and a nature park. The Nature Park has four crocodiles, tortoises, monkeys, ostriches, guinea pigs, birds and snakes among others.
The hotel also offers horse riding.
