Editor Pick
Management? - Malignant Management
- December 18, 2008
- Rated 1 of 5 by
Harv_y from LONDON, United Kingdom
I booked what appeared to be lovely accommodation with a beach bar that we had used back in 2004(the staff here are all excellent with the exception of the manager) that led directly on to the beach on the 17th November for the night of the 22nd November 2008. It was booked on a Room Only basis and there was a day room where we could leave our luggage on the Sunday as we were travelling on the train from Mombasa-Nairobi (1 a day, departs in the Evening!) and an early check-in was arranged as my flight was arriving early. The cost of this was a princely 2500 Shillings (£23 at the time) and a Confirmation of this was received by email which was printed and put with all the confirmations and official paperwork for this holiday.
We arrived as planned early at the resort where once we were in one of the Askaris (Security Guards) had to go and find the manager who immediately claimed there was no availability. Once shown the confirmation he became more amenable and said that the people in our room had yet to check-out but we could put our cases into his office where they would be locked away safely whilst we waited for the room to become available.
After a short while the manager appeared in the beach bar where we were having a soda while waiting for our BOOKED & CONFIRMED room to be ready and proceeded to try to deny the booking so once again I showed him the confirmation. At this point he informed us that the prices on the website were for Kenyan Nationals only ( I have searched the website thoroughly and there is no mention of this that I can find). My wife then pointed out that she was Kenyan and still resident in the country and would he like some proof –not necessary he said, however as it wasn’t she who had booked the room tourist prices would apply, not only that but the room booked was no longer available but they did have a (surprisingly!) room available which was a little more expensive (about £5 more expensive) which we would have to share a kitchen with someone else who we didn’t know. As soon as my tired wife accepted this appalling offer he proceeded to raise the price a further 500 shillings (another £5).
As my wife had asked me not to argue with him, I reluctantly agreed (with my fingers crossed behind my back) with absolutely no intention of keeping to this ridiculous charade, on the grounds that if they weren’t going to honour their agreement, there was no need for me to keep to this one as the man had no honesty or honour. As soon as he was out of sight and earshot I told my wife we wouldn’t be staying there and while we were apparently "waiting for our room" I would go up the beach and find somewhere else to stay. (Read Kenya Bay Beach Hotel). Whilst waiting for me to find other accommodation my wife spoke to several people including staff and people staying there and found that this "gentleman" had driven several guests away throughout his period in charge. Later on we also discovered that he & we shared a personal friend who confirmed this was his way and had done this at several other places too.
However I can’t say this place is all bad because the beach bar is still excellent to have a beer or soda in and is probably the cheapest on the beaches on the North Coast, the staff are cheerful, efficient and friendly. The pool looked adequate and what we saw of the new buildings were fair.
Although we’d never actually been able to check-in when we went to "check-out" we found our "safely locked away" cases and bags in the unlocked "reception" area-it looked pretty much like a shed to me!
Overall the place looks nice but until the present manager is removed from his post I cannot recommend this place as anything else than somewhere to have a snack and a drink.