Construction of the infamous ”Lunatic Express” reached Nakuru in 1901. A railway station was erected and soon a hotel catering for 1st Class passengers was established.
Initially known as the Nakuru Railway Hotel within the British East African Protectorate, the Midland Hotel preceded the colony and eventual country of Kenya!
The hotel lay within the square mile that was Nakuru. It’s temperate climes and fertile volcanic soils drew many a Settler with its natural beauty. Nestled between the 2nd largest caldera in the world, the Menengai Crater, and the pink flamingo rimmed soda lake in the heart of the Great Rift Valley, the setting was truly stunning.
Farming and early industrial activity grew around the market town where farmers could rail their produce of wheat, wool, maize and pyrethrum to local and global markets. Several commercial entities were born in Nakuru including Unga Limited, a company now listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. It held its first ever board meeting at the Midland Hotel in 1908.
The Midland Hotel quickly established itself as the social hub of the growing settler community and latterly of the cosmopolitan populace of Nakuru town.
A visit to The Midland takes you down memory lane. Many will reminisce with pride about the hotel as an unforgettable highlight of their road trips as children.
The Midland Hotel has witnessed 2 world wars, Kenya’s independence, the departure of the settler community and much more.
Still, we remain a much-loved meeting place where friends come to rest, connect, and enjoy ‘le joie de vivre’.
Today, The Midland Hotel has been rebuilt and lovingly restored to harken back to the period in which it was born. A melting pot of people whom the years have brought together from all over the world.