Kampala Serena Hotel

The Kampala Serena Hotel is the city's best-known luxury address, a five-star hotel on Kintu Road between the central business district and the diplomatic area of Nakasero. Its great asset is space: 186 rooms and suites are set in 17 acres of landscaped gardens and water features, which give the hotel a calm, green feel unusual so close to the city centre. All rooms and suites are non-smoking.

Room categories run from Deluxe and Superior Deluxe rooms through Club Premier rooms and several types of suite to the Royal Suite and a 372-square-metre Presidential Suite. Families are well looked after, with interconnecting rooms, extra beds, cots and babysitting by arrangement. There is a concierge, a 24-hour front desk, and airport transfers by shuttle or limousine on request.

Dining is a strong point. The Lakes Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, themed dinners and an a la carte menu from 06:00 to 23:00. Explorer Italian Bistro serves handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza and risotto from noon, with tables overlooking the water gardens. The Pearl Restaurant and Champagne Bar offers evening fine dining with a Ugandan touch, live piano music and a 12-seat private room. The Ssese Patisserie, The Mist Bar and a pool bar complete the line-up, and the kitchens can cater for vegetarian, Jain, Indian and halal diets.

For downtime there is the Maisha Spa and Health Club, with Swedish, hot stone and aromatherapy massages, a gym, sauna and steam room, and an outdoor pool supervised by a lifeguard with a separate children's pool. The Kampala Serena International Conference Centre, a two-storey hexagonal venue, seats up to 1,500 people, so the hotel is busy with conferences and weddings, and garden weddings are popular.

The hotel suits business travellers, families who want a pool and gardens, and anyone who wants a quiet base in the middle of the city. Most central sights, the National Theatre and the restaurants of Nakasero and Kololo are a short ride away, and the hotel can arrange city tours and visits to Ndere Cultural Centre. Its sister property, the Lake Victoria Serena Golf Resort and Spa, is about 20 minutes away if you want a lakeside stay.