Looking beyond Kenya? Read our guide to star beds in Africa.
A star bed is a bed set out in the open, on a raised platform or a rooftop, so you sleep under the night sky of the African bush. Kenya has the best-known examples, and only a handful of properties offer them. This page sets out the ones we use, what each experience is, and how to choose.
Where to sleep out in Kenya
Loisaba Star Beds, Laikipia
Loisaba is on 58,000 acres in northern Laikipia, and its Star Beds are part of the Elewana Collection. Guests sleep under the night sky on the Starbeds. Travel editors describe handcrafted four-poster beds on raised platforms that can be rolled out onto a deck, with a nearby bathroom, and staff keeping watch through the night. Loisaba’s own site gives few details, so we confirm the current set-up when we quote. See also Lodo Springs and Loisaba Tented Camp at Loisaba.
ol Donyo Lodge, Chyulu Hills
ol Donyo has eight deluxe suites and one two-bedroom family suite. Each suite has its own star bed on the rooftop, and the star bed experience is included in the nightly rate. The lodge is on private land on Mbirikani Ranch, between Tsavo and Amboseli, and flights from Nairobi Wilson and road transfers from the Chyulu airstrip are included, with a two-night minimum stay. The lodge does not publish a formal children’s policy, so we confirm it in your quote.
Segera Retreat, Laikipia
Segera’s Bird Nest is a treehouse-style sleep-out beside a river, designed for two guests and sometimes used by a small family. It has a sheltered level and an open top deck, an en suite bathroom with solar-heated water, a sundowner, a picnic-style dinner and a picnic breakfast. It launched in 2017, so we confirm that it is available and how it is offered before we quote.
Ishara, Masai Mara
Ishara offers a Starbed, an open-air sleeping platform, alongside its suites on the Mara River. See our page for the camp itself.
How to choose
- For the best-known sleep-out, with a full camp around it: Loisaba.
- For a star bed on your own suite roof, included in the rate: ol Donyo.
- For a single, secluded night in a designed structure: the Bird Nest at Segera.
- For a Mara stay with a night out under the sky: Ishara.
Practical notes
- Sleeping outdoors depends on the weather, so we ask each property what its wet-weather arrangement is and plan the night with some flexibility.
- What is included differs by property. At ol Donyo the star bed is in the nightly rate, so we confirm the inclusions at each property in your quote.
- Kenya is a malaria area, and sleeping outdoors makes mosquito protection worth planning. We cover malaria and yellow fever guidance in every itinerary.
- Children: policies differ. Some properties welcome families on the platform and others do not publish an age limit, so we confirm before quoting.
- Privacy: star beds suit couples and small private parties who want a night away from the main camp.
Plan a star bed night
Tell us when you travel and with whom, and we build the route around one or two sleep-out nights, with the rest of the stay in the camps that suit you.
Last checked against the properties’ own information: October 2026. Details change, so we confirm them again when we quote your itinerary.