Diani Sea Lodge - All Inclusive

Overall this hotel was fine. But it could be so much better. The family room that we stayed in, it was lovely in the main part but the second room for the kids didn't have air conditioning (not great when it is over 35c and you are trying to get your kids to sleep!) Although it is all inclusive, the quality of the products they use are very poor. For example boxed wine, and only one type of lager. There is also no coffee machine in the hotel. Only Nescafe or bad filter coffee. The hotel feels very restricted with times the food is available. Having 2 small children and having dinner only being served at 19:30 wasn't ideal. We actually went to a different hotel for our dinners so we could eat together at an earlier time. It feels like the hotel advertises itself as a 'family friendly' place but it doesn't full-fill. The hotel is basically geared for one type of customer - mainly older couples, which is fine and they do that very well. I feel this hotel needs updating and offering more of a modern standard. The reusable bottles of water in the room are a nice eco friendly option, but the bottles are very worn and would be so much nicer as glass bottles. All of the buffets seems to take a while to get the food. The layout was frustrating and it resulted in you standing waiting for items that didn't need to be cooked to order, then your food going cold. Or bread would be one side and then anything to go on the bread was the other side of the room, this normally resulted in me giving up trying to find what we wanted. Getting towels for the pool was never very clear where you needed to go. The worst part of our holiday was not actually the hotel but the taxi that the hotel booked for our return journey to the airport. It was only just running and didn't have any air con. We got stuck at the river crossing and our smallest child overheated in the car while we were waiting.

(1) there is no spraying against insects - not safe for malaria hotspot. Room C1 was infested with mosquitoes - no idea where they come from as doors closed no windows, maybe through aircon or bathroom/toilet somehow. They got under mosquito net presumably through gap between two beds placed together - net should be over each bed to exclude this. Had to ask for spraying again and again and spent hours waiting. Yet it did not seem to help. In canteen flies are roaming around. (2) I booked asking for seaview room (also to minimize exposure to bushes with mosquitoes etc) was told with upcharge at check-in could be possible. At check-in was offered to go see garden view and had to insist that I would see it only if seaview not available. Ended up spending half hour arguing and an hour waiting. (3) number of lounge chairs at the water front (and their quality too - old rusty and can't sit up to read) for 200 guests is very low, I got up early so usually had one but they are taken from 5:30 am. (4) there is many many many staff members but efficiency is not always correlated to the number, e.g. they enthusiastically nod and then do nothing... Although everyone (appears) nice and friendly. (5) rooms have seen their better days... (6) i am not a foodie but can see how what's on offer can get repetitive, had mildly upset stomach once So, it depends what you pay. I paid USD 125 or so per night for all inclusive. Which is probably fine given that I booked first available thing last minute.

The rudest staff you will ever encounter. They have a manager called Tom Kevin Ochieng who violently insults guests and abuses them, hes in the wrong profession for sure. I booked a room with twin beds only to be given a room with one bed at check in after hours of waiting. Why book in advance when I will not get what I want?! The food is not always fresh and if you leave your things anywhere for even one second, hotel staff collect it and throw it away, books, sunglasses, towels, etc. DO NOT BOOK THIS PLACE, take your money elsewhere, Diani has a lot of beautiful properties that are affordable and with friendly staff, this place is not WORTH A DIME!