Revealed: List of Nightclubs Closed in Nairobi CBD

Hunters, Polos, Ibiza, Wallet, Hornbill, Heartz, Verandah, Zeep, Betty’s, Psys, Zigzag, Porter House, Wine Bar and Steps, Mad House are some of the nightclubs that are likely to shut doors.

One stands dismayed what rambling is about but only legends have already deciphered and inferred the trend. All these were clubs located in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD). They no longer exist and many others are soon going belly-up. Nightlife in the Nairobi of the ’90s was in the CBD.

Upon the closure of Florida at Koinange, observers say they knew that it was the beginning of the end for so many others. It was being demolished as people even shed tears; it was such an emotional scene. “We used to start partying from Wednesday when ladies night was introduced, Thursday was tropical night and of course Friday set the stage for the weekend,” the observer said.

 “Generational change has also contributed to clubs shutting. The new generation is different and some of these clubs have been around for decades, there is this new market that they have not yet been able to understand,” he adds. Clubs that had well established themselves suddenly started losing their spark.

Apart from the soaring crime rates and the disconnect with the new generation, there were other factors unseen at the time as  people started investing in estates and around that time there was the advent of one man guitar shows, so the deejays did not rediscover themselves. Residential areas started opening up with various pubs and clubs being opened, resulting in revelers preferring to “drink closer home.”

‘People invested heavily in residential clubs, so it became a matter of choosing whether to go all the way to town or just go to a pub near your estate and enjoy your tipple.”

Club Riviera and Gravity closed shop in 2017 to be replaced with restaurants. Tacos and Seasons shut their doors after surviving for years. But it is not just the convenience of enjoying a drink at a club in an estate that has contributed to the slow death of clubs in the CBD.

Alco blow was the hit of a nail on the coffin; every time you thought about going to your favorite joint in town, the problem was where to pass through. Police had roadblocks on almost all the roads.