Civil servant - having worked in admin and done my Masters to avoid getting a real job. I live in Lo...
Civil servant - having worked in admin and done my Masters to avoid getting a real job. I live in London, and enjoy music, going to the cinema, watching TV, and drinking wine with my girl friends. I am also a shopping addict -especially shoes!
Member since:30.07.2004
Reviews:30
Members who trust:3
*Overall - a disappointing stay. The grounds, pool etc. are pleasant enough and the rooms are fine. It was unfortunately the people that ruined it. As a young woman alone, I felt very much like an object of curiosity to all and often felt vulnerable.*
*I booked through Kuoni and got a cheap deal due to the political situation in Kenya. Kuoni offer a rep who just wanted to sell tours which I couldn't afford, but if you want to do day trips or safaris, do shop around, as plenty of local guys sell similar tours and hang around the hotel. Or just ask the reception staff. Always negotiate the price - bargaining is expected in Kenya.*
Rooms - old-fashioned, but in a nice enough way. For the price you can't complain. The AC is cold (in fact, once I acclimatised I was often too cold at night) if noisy, the bathrooms are clean and work, you get a fridge and TV - reception was sometimes dodgy but you're in Kenya, why would you want to watch TV?
Pool - there is a main pool near the beach, with a pool bar, and another quieter one. This sort of snakes around the grounds, so is narrow but long, which is a nice idea. Pools were clean - obviously leaves, insects etc. get in but staff clean it regularly - and chlorine was not excessive.
Food - all-inclusive is not a bad deal, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Breakfast was OK, snacks by the pool were OK - the calamari is nice, toasted sandwiches fine, but most of the rest is the usual greasy fare i.e. chips, burgers etc. Dinner was pretty bad to be honest, oily, too salty, stodgy
- I ended up going out to eat most nights. Drinks were watered down and you can only get certain drinks on all-inclusive - watered down beer, spirits, sticky sweet cocktails and a liqeur that I couldn't finish as it was like paint stripper. The wine is terrible.
As well as the AI buffet, the hotel has an Italian and Indian restaurant. These are not included, although you do get a discount. I didn't try them, as they looked deserted every night.
If you do go out to eat, the adjacent Bamburi Beach Hotel (just turn right outside the hotel along the dirt path, it's 2 mins' walk) has a nice restaurant overlooking the sea and pool called Fisherman's Cave, which does really good food, and has outdoor tables by the sea or inside in the sea cave themed interior, staff are genuinely nice. There is also a good Indian restaurant in another hotel, also 2 mins' walk, left from the hotel along the main road (braving every passing vehicle honking at you).
Of course, the usual touts hang out outside all the resorts trying to get you to take a taxi, and if you dare say no, as you are only going to the next hotel 2 mins away, they yell abuse after you.
Forget nightlife in the hotel and around - the guests were all young families or older couples, and the hotel bars are dead after 11pm. The nightly entertainment before then is cringe-making, I watched it once, a load of embarrassed local teens dancing as if in the local club to bad disco music, no thanks. Another night "tribal" people came around trying to sell stuff to you at your table (although they did go away if you said no thanks, unlike some people I will get to shortly!
The staff are over-friendly. I got a very odd vibe - one called me "baby" and believe me, back home he would get the riot act for that, but given that this was the barman who could spit or worse in my drinks, I didn't say anything. The rest would ask how my day was, but then seemed disinterested in me as a person. I just got the feeling they were all just after tips. Which is not unreasonable to expect a small tip, but I felt like a walking wallet. One lady I spoke to had been asked by a staff member for 80 000 shillings "to get to a job interview" - about £70!
The beach is just a thin strip at high tide, and you can't lie on it. There are loungers actually in the hotel grounds, separated fom the beach by a low wall. The water is very rough and there is lots of seaweed at this time of year (June) - it is also not clear. No good for swimming or snorkelling, even if you did brave...
The "beach boys" who make it impossible to go onto the beach. It is swarming with them - step onto the beach and about ten descend on you, demanding you buy everything from tours to keyrings to hair braiding. I barely saw any guests on the beach in the week I was there. I tried politely saying that I was just going for a swim and could they leave me alone. One guy demanded I buy a safari, when I tried saying I would think about it several times, demanded a deposit which I said I'd bring later to get away (I know, wimpy but I had said I would think about it about five times) - he then kept yelling up over the fence demanding I go and get the deposit then and there - I had just come from a swim and was soaking wet, my money was in my room!
Another guy got very aggressive and when asked to leave me alone, demanded "Why?" so I said "because I want to swim in peace" and walked away - he then shouted "Hello my darling!" (sarcastically) as I walked back to my lounger. Another came right up to the fence and shouted abuse at me, as I had dared to say No thanks earlier. I have travelled extensively and have never had such nasty hassle. I don't mind if people are friendly and leave you alone when you say no...but this was high pressure sales.
On speaking to other guests, they all agreed and said they avoided the beach. So much for the lying on a beach, swimming and sunset drinks I imagined...also because....
Weather - often overcast at this time of year (I went in June) - well, it is the rainy season - although it only actually rained on 2 days.
Getting around - the hotel is well located for public transport. You can easily get the matatu (minibus) down to the Nova shopping centre, which has various shops and restaurants as well as a bookshop and Internet cafe (the hotel does not have Internet). Costs 30 shillings, about 20p, one way. While it can be a crowded, and therefore sweaty and odorous experience, it's safe enough - I didn't get hassled, and the conductor guy won't rip you off. I wouldn't reccommend it for longer trips, though, unless you can get the cab seat next to the driver, otherwise you will be squashed and have to move every time someone gets on or off - it's a game of "how many bodies can be squished into a small minibus?"
Taxis also go from outside the hotel. Again prices are very negotiable, but you'll have to bargain hard and even then they are not particularly cheap. I'd use the matatu for short local trips.
Trips -
Haller Park is quite a nice day trip and 5 minutes by matatu. It's basically a nature reserve. You're separated from the more dangerous wildlife by fencing, but can get close. You can feed giraffes, which is fun but felt iffy to me. It has a small information centre. Overall though you're in Kenya and can see genuinely wild wildlife, not animals that are dependent on food handouts.
If you can stand it, Mombasa it only 40 minutes by matatu - don't bother with Fort Jesus and the old town, again, the hassle ruins it. Layabouts sit outside the fort with nothing better to do than harrass passing tourists. I got followed in the old town - very scary.
Don't bother going to Ngomongo villages. It is a human zoo where some poor people make a living by pretending to be "tribespeople". There is appalling pressure to buy stuff in the souvenir shop, i.e. a guide and the salesgirl following me around trying to force stuff on me and going on about how the money goes back to real village people. I am not convinced it does, and the irony is I would have bought something anyway without the sales pitch. In fact, I would have spent more. Sadly, Kenyans seem to have a dependency culture and view tourists as no more than a walking wallet.
I didn't feel the hotel offered access to an authentic Kenyan cultural experience, rather, the kind of tourism experience that sees tourists as walking wallets. If I went back to Kenya, and I would like to, I'd travel independently, more in the backpacking style which is what I'm used to anyway.
To end on a positive note, I did like the cute and friendly cats that hang around the hotel.
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