Christmas in Kenya

Mombasa is a city and beach destination steeped in Arabic and Portuguese history

Quick Tips:

Don't go to this hotel.... sorry

Best Way To Get Around:

Don't go to this hotel.... sorry

We were there over the Christmas week in 2005 and although we accepted a one bedroom unit, we didn't expect it to be on the top floor at the back of the hotel. However, in the hotel's defense, I believe local Kenyans take their holidays at this time of the year and probably being the owners of the timeshare they were entitled to stay in what they had bought!

The room we had was a one-bedroom unit sleeping four in total. Initially it was just my husband and I who were going but at the last minute, our daughter who lives in the UK decided to join us, so there was space enough for her on a double bed in the lounge. At first glance, the unit was not what we were used to (being owners of timeshare at Sun City Vacation Club).

 The lounge, dining area and kitchen were all in the same area (no problem with that) but the fridge made a terrible noise and was very disruptive with our daughter sleeping there. The air conditioning in the lounge was also not working, so we asked for the fridge and air conditioning to be fixed. The fridge was replaced quickly enough but the a/c even after being repaired wasn't effective enough for the size of the room. The kitchen itself left a lot to be desired and I wouldn't have cooked there. We generally don't cook when on holiday anyway, but even if we had wanted to, the little shop on site wasn't up to scratch as far as provisions were concerned and there was nowhere else to buy food and drink etc.

Two bathrooms - again not up to scratch; tiles broken, very little water coming out of the taps and shower, shower curtain seedy looking and grubby, towels were years old; in general very run down.

There was a large patio surrounding the unit which would have been nicer had we been on a lower level. I have put the price per room per night in, but I honestly don't know if this is correct because we paid our exchange fee through RCI.

Best Things Nearby:
There's absolutely nothing nearby unfortunately. In order to get to the resort from the main road, there is a 3km drive down a very dusty and uneven road (I know - it's Africa) and this road bordered two villages where very the poverty had to be seen to be believed.

Best Things About the Resort:
The 'general' staff (not management though who were not friendly at all) were the best we have ever encountered - friendly, willing to assist - "Happy" - one of the waiters was always 'happy and smiling'! The hotel had two swimming pools, both of which were very nice with palm trees around both. This was were we spent all of our time unless we were on a prebooked tour.

Resort Experience:
RCI markets this hotel as a Gold Crown resort which to my mind should border on 5-star. Unfortunately this is not the case with this resort.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Fair
• Unit Satisfaction: Poor
• Family Friendliness: Fair
• Service: Very Good

I can only comment on dining in the hotel because that's where we spent all of our time eating (except for the one night on the Tamarind Dhow). The food didn't live up to expectations although the hotel did try hard on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve when they laid on a very substantial buffet dinner. When you are stuck in a hotel miles from anywhere else, you would expect to have more than one choice of restaurant. So basically we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner there and the food was basic to say the least.

I don't know why the hotel is called a 'beach' hotel because you can't go on the beach. We are used to leaving a hotel and going on to the beach to either swim in the sea, to go for a walk or to just lie on the beach and sunbathe. None of this is possible in this hotel.

As most people who have been to Mombasa will know, the 'beach boys' are very irritating and will constantly bug you until they get you to accept one of their 'tours' or to buy something from them, so it wasn't possible for us to just have a leisurely walk along the beach. I think the hotel could be doing a lot more in this area. To just put guards on the perimeter of the hotel overlooking the beach and to take notes of who is coming and going is not enough.

A private area of the beach needs to be set aside for guests who actually wants to enjoy that stretch of beach. Other hotels further south have done this and in fact when we were on the bus going to the Tamarind Dhow dinner cruise, we stopped off at one of the hotels south of us to collect passengers and going into that hotel was like being transported into another planet! - There was so much activity going on; camel rides, boating etc. Compared to our beach which was completely desolate 24 hours a day.

One day Tsavo East National Park Tour stopping for lunch. (3.5 stars). We heard only afterwords that guests normally do the Tsavo Tour as an overnighter and our poor driver had the misfortune of taking us back and forward there in one day (the main road from Mombasa to Nairobi which is how you get to Tsavo East was an experience we will never forget!).

We boarded the Dhow at sunset and after being seated, we sailed off down the river and had a lovely evening of eating seafood and being wined and dined. We sat next to a lovely family from London (Pinky, Sammy and their daughter).

The tour operator Distance Tours with driver George was ok. The van itself could have been cleaner, but as the same vans go into the national parks, it must be difficult to keep them dust free. Just don't sit on the seats with white slacks! The tour itself took in the city of Mombasa, the Arabic building, the tusks in the centre of Mombasa, as well as a tour of Fort Jesus and the carving factory. Good to see how this part of Africa lives and works.