Description: I booked this hotel on the 23rd December as I'd only booked the flight on the 22nd to visit the wife. The advantages were that it was available at a good price and was near to Mombasa Train Station, a surprise Christmas present for the wife (see the review). Also, they were willing to let us check in early due to the early morning arrival of the first choice flight.
We arrived at the hotel at approximately 8am to find that whoever had booked the room had got us arriving a day before and the hotel had us as no shows; however, it was soon sorted and they found a room. We checked in and went to the room. We had ordered a double room with a double bed and found there were two twin beds (we're effectively newlyweds due to visa problems.) They sorted out this problem very quickly and had two very tired but happy customers. When we checked out in the morning, they were happy to let us leave our cases in the reception area for free and without a time limit to come and collect them. Another advantage for the Manson Hotel.
We also booked again at the last minute the night before I flew home—this time we arrived at 5:30am (the coach arrived ahead of schedule). We were checked in by the receptionist, who didn't bat an eyelid and gave us a better room for our money because we had come back. We mentioned that later on we would need a net to be put up. We then went off to visit a relative in hospital and when we came back had to remind them about a mossie net and book an early breakfast. The mossie net appeared at about the fourth time of asking and for once in Mombasa the hoteliers gave us a net without holes.
For dinner we went round the corner to a place called Pistachio—my wife, sister-in-law, and myself all had a good dinner and the bill didn't even reach a tenner for the three of us.
In the morning we came down for breakfast at 5:30, as I had to be at the airport to check in at 6:30am. It wasn't ready—reception hadn't told the kitchen. They weren't going to do it, but they then relented and said breakfast could be ready in 20 minutes. Unfortunately this left me with no time to eat breakfast as by that time I would need to be on my way to the airport.
So overall I would recommend the Manson if you need to be central and on the island, are on a limited budget, or of course are a businessman that just needs something functional.
If you need something done go straight to the appropriate department—reception doesn't appear to be good at passing on messages.
And, yes, if necessary we would stay there again. Two and a half stars is fair.
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