Karen Country Club opened its space to the public after venturing into the hospitality industry with an aim of boosting its revenue.
Initially, the club only admitted registered members, their families and elite individuals from different parts of the world, maintaining its top-class status.
Night accommodation at Karen Country Club is reported to range between Ksh19,000 to almost Ksh60,000 depending on room services. High-end cottages charges vary depending on the services offered. Their guests include tennis stars, honeymooners and other tourists.
A large part of the 18-hole course was built on the former coffee estate developed by the Danish pioneer Karen Blixen.
The clubhouse has six stand-alone cottages and three apartment blocks, holding four rooms each built of vintage materials with a rustic vibe and wooden ceilings infusing an element of warmth and freshness.
According to its website, the architects of the clubhouse were Messrs Cobb and Archer while the contractor was Lalji Vishram. They built the state-of-the-art facility by reshaping the landscape and changing the course of the road within the Karen estate.
The course of the Karen Country Club is maintained with greens built to the Professional Golf Association (PGA) standards.
"The setting of our golf course is serene; with the Ngong hills as a backdrop, a rich variety of trees, indigenous forest, flowering shrubs and fauna. The wetlands are a distinct environmental feature of our golf course and also home to thousands of birds and dik diks," the Country Club states.
It has a range of facilities to serve the taste and preferences of different guests. They include casual and formal dining outlets, meeting and conference rooms, and unique event grounds, including wetlands and the Mulwa dam.
Karen Country Club also has a wellness spa, swimming pool, fitness centre and well-managed chilling gardens.
For sports enthusiasts, Karen Country Club has 18 hole championship golf course, driving range and practice facilities, bowling green, squash courts and tennis courts.
The club was conceived in 1933. This is after Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke, on whose former coffee plantation it would eventually be situated, realised that it was impossible to carry on with her Ngong coffee farm.
After a successful acquisition, the historical club decided to introduce membership to assist in running the facility.
"The club is funded from sponsorship, membership entrance fee and annual subscription fees. The sponsorship and subscription money is used in running the club, whilst the entrance fees are used to finance new projects."
With the expansion and opening of the club to the public, it will offer employment in its golf courses, estate, gym, finance and operations.
