There is a process that goes along with writing about a hotel, and the photos we present on the site are a big part of it. We always strive to use original photos that we personally took, but because the most important thing is to show the hotel as accurately as possible, this travel writer also peruses the website of the property as well as the rest of the Internet to see if there is something that would better accomplish that goal.
So with a story in mind about the Giraffe Manor Hotel in Kenya, I made my way onto social media to look for some good photos.
Yet the problem most of the time with stock photos of hotels is that they don't represent reality, typically involving dramatized situations, like a woman whipping her hips across the edge of an infinity pool, a rose-petaled bedspread, or a picture of a random plant. They try to tell a story, but you can just feel the phoniness. The same goes for a hotel's social media pages since most hotels just repost whatever is on the website.
When I began to browse the Giraffe Manor's Facebook page, the interaction between the guests and the giraffes seemed so overdone. Until I looked up towards the right hand corner and realized the photos had all been posted on the hotel's wall by guests.
When I figured out that they are real and taken by a regular person and not a photographer hired by the hotel, I had trouble holding back a smile. I am not a big supporter of zoos or animal captivity, but it helps that the manor was originally set up as a breeding center for the endangered Rothschild Giraffe.
Today, it is a conservation center with 12 acres of private land and 140 acres of indigenous forest. Far from wild animals, the giraffes are extremely engaging and interactive, even sticking their heads in the windows of the hotel, albeit because the Manor allows guests to feed them. The hotel has 10 rooms and a nearby giraffe educational center.
Check out these photos below, all taken by guests. As far as novelties go, a stay seems like it would be an absolute hoot.
Rates at the Giraffe Manor start at around $562 during this summer's high season.
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