Diani Sea Lodge

Travelled with Thomson Holidays on a late booking in December 2005. Flight poor, but apparently long haul has been upgraded to provide more space and entertainment. About 1.5 hours transfer time, but the journey is worth it. Beautiful views of Diani beach, pure white sand and turquoise sea. Temperature in mid 30'sC. Water lovely and warm. Did three trips. A full day in Mombasa arranged by Thomson. Visited Fort Jesus, Spice market, Old Mombasa and wood carving before lunch. Had lunch (amazing food) on Tamarind Dhow, whilst cruising around Mombasa harbour. Afternoon spent at the Bamburi Nature Trail (fantastic). Well worth the £45 charge for the whole day. Second trip was organised by the hotel to see a local snake farm. This is run by a man who collects snakes from the local hotels and either releases them or keeps them in homemade tanks in his back yard. £2 entry fee. The man who runs this has vast experience of snakes and enthusiastically gives information on each species in excellent English (he also translated what he was saying into German for the other guests with us). Collection includes Green Mamba, Cobras and Boomslangs. You also get the opportunity to handle some of the safer varieties. The final trip was on a glass bottomed boat to a sandbar that becomes exposed at low tide, costs £10. This has to be one of the most beautiful places around. You get the opporunity to snorkel before reaching the sandbar. The Captain dived into the water to feed fish by the glass bottom and retrieve sea creatures from the seafloor. One downside of holidaying here is that the beaches are public and you get hassled on the beach. Be firm and say no if you are really not interested, they are persistant. Hotel is a 2/3 star property and so do not expect luxury, but it is functional and comfortable. Beautiful surroundings and wonderful helpful staff (one of the gardeners risked life and limb climbing a tree to collect us a fresh coconut which he then opened and decorated) . Monkeys are frequent visitors here and they tend to time their visits with afternoon tea. I found them a nuisance, but my wife loved them and spent every opportunity in videoing them. Had a great time. This is probably one place in the world we will return to.

please avoid this sad place full of old germans people that drink all day long. the towels, pillows amd matresse stink. i had to slleep in a bed so dirty that the morning i discovered somebody had pissed in it and it was brown and yellow. bleah!! the windows can not be open so all the rooms stink. the manager of the staff are ridicoluopus: you have to dree well foer dinner!!! you can't seeat next to the swimming pool! you have to eat alway at the same table!!! dinner is served only at the main restaurant and only two days a week in the garden, why? the management is a mix between german and kenian: a disaster!

I would recommend this hotel to a couple or group who is interested in visiting the Diani Beach area, but doesn't desire a totally all-enclusive experience and doesn't want to pay the high price for it. The resort provides you with a safe, clean sleeping room with luxuries such as a pool, lounge chairs, breakfast, snacks and a beach bar if you need to take a break throughout the day. I enjoyed staying at this resort as it had character. We tended to use the resort as a place to sleep, relax and regroup with our co-travellers before either exploring the Diani area or going out to excellent neighbouring restaurants for dinner. It was good value for that purpose, plus offered a beach and a home base. We didn't rely on the all-inclusive dining or entertainment services offered by the resort. If we had stayed at one of the more expensive resorts along the Diani strip we would have wasted our money as we weren't looking for an all-inclusive experience. Our bungalow was very clean and spacious. We slept under a four poster bed with a mosquito net, which was romantic. Preferable to a droopy net that hangs across your face, which we frequently encountered. The front window did not open which disapointed me, however the air conditioner worked well. We had a cute little front porch that was frequented by small monkeys and cats. The hotel was very cat-friendly, which impressed me. In every courtyard there was a small cat hut, sheltering their food dishes from rain. The reception staff was friendly and accomadating, as were the waiters and co-ordinators. They had a charming small beach bar, connected to a small eatery where food was available most of the day. We only ate dinner once at the hotel during our 4 day stay. It was a barbeque buffet which was good, with some fun musical entertainment (a man and woman singing cover tunes of Elvis and Kenny Rogers, backed by a 4 piece band). The music was a bit silly, but a crowd pleaser. There were a few problems, however. They have to improve on their towel cleaning facilities. They had big fluffy towels, that appeared clean however smelled of mildew. I suspect it was a matter of not having access to proper machines or bleach. This was not the first time I encountered smelly towels in Africa. I suspect thin towels are the way to go here, where they can dry quickly in the sun. My other complaint was the quality of alcoholic beverages. The beer was average, but served in thimble sized glasses. The spirits were low-grade (a brand called 'Safari'). I ended up only drinking a type of mohito drink or white wine spritzers, in order to disguise the fact I was drinking plunk. Oh well, that's what you get at all-inclusive resorts. There were a lot of hecklers on the beach, but this seemed to be a common problem throughout Kenya. At least the 'vendors' weren't permitted on hotel property so you could relax and sunbathe on the hotel's raised area above the main beach. If visiting Diani again, I would go back to the Sea Lodge. If dining in the area, we loved Ali Barbour's Cave Restaurant and the African Pot. Forty Thieves was a great bar/restaurant right on the beach where you could lounge arabian style, listening to the surf, on large pillows surrounding a low table. This bar got a bit busy with younger travellers later in the night and the music was dated, however we still had a great time here.

WE were married here on october 11 2006, staff couldnt do any more to help us, beautiful setting, extremely friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere. This may not be a plush as other hotels but the atmosphere is sooo relaxing and the management team are only interested in ensuring you had a wonderful time, we will return to diani beach and it will only be to this hotel, one of the cheaper hotels but do not be put off by this, this hotel excels at the small touches for example, a crescendo of drums to inform you the dining room is open was a nice touch and also wasnt present at it's sister hotel diani sea resort. we cannot commend this hotel and staff enough as they made our wedding day and our entire holiday a sublime experience and the unspoilt view of the ocean which hasn't been artificially enhanced was superb. the food was quite good although not amazing but there was always more than enough options and the restaurant and snack bar were extremely clean and the service perfect. we've never been to a hotel where all the staff including gardeners, mangaers etc are all so proud of their hotel and genuinely want you to enjoy yourself without you feeling they are trying to extract as much money as possible from you. A wonderful hotel, wedding and destination, just relax and watch the ocean lapping up the beach.

I got married at this hotel, and i could not have wished for a better day. The hotel staff were wonderful and the manager took care of everything for us, from putting garlands around my door to hunting for 2 days for the flower colour that i wanted !!. He even recommended we barter with the photographer, and we ended up buying all our wedding photo's for 150 quid - and they were of great quality and beautifully presented !! The sea was unbelievable, and clean. The food was done 'al fresco' some evenings, and it was a real suprise to see the fishermen bring the crates of fish direct from their boats to the resturant !! The rooms were basic, but clean, although i would bring your own towels as the ones provided were not very good. I didnt venture much out of the hotel at night as it was not advised by the rep, but the entertainment in the hotel was good. We danced with a hired Masi Mara troop, and watched amazing acrobatics peformed by a group of locals. The hotel organises trips to see local villages and snorkalling, and to the game reserves. It has some great pool games, although i wouldn't recommend the dodgy Bingo! There were a couple of down sides though, the beer stopped being served at 11, and the hawkers on the beach were very persistant, but if you barter with them you can get beautiful carvings for less than a tenner ! Lovely place to go for a chillout.

This hotel although very basic in design it was very clean and tidy - the only thing that I had a problem with was the towels which all smelt like rust so I ended up buying my own. But having the monkeys roaming about the place all the time and sitting on our porch was one of the best bits of the room. The food was very good although small portions when served up for you but there were many buffets which were very nice. Entertainment was not too bad and there was something every night. The staff were really really nice and friendly, although at some points we did feel a bit like we were repeating ourselves several times a day! The other thing was that we were the only 4 English people at the resort as the hotel is run by a German company so all the guests were German - most of them were really nice but we found alot of announcements were in German only and some of the people gave us funny looks and stared alot for no reason?! The drinks in the resort were OK but the beer - supposedly Tusker Beer Kenya's own beer - was crap and we were told by one of the local people it was just dregs of Tusker Beer and dont drink it - they did sell the beer by the bottle in the hotel but it was cheaper outside the resort and well worth buying for about 70p per large bottle!!! The main problem was there was a fantastic beach with white powder like sands for miles which were just at the bottom of the pool area but it was constantly guarded by local people selling things so you were unable to sit or walk along the beach without being constantly approached by sellers or have someone accompanying you along on your romantic stroll! We did manage to make friends with some of them which helped keep some of them at distance but my friends who did not want to buy anything from the stalls were really put off from going onto the beach which was a shame. We were even asked several times about if they came to England would the Goverment give them money, house and car etc for free and they wouldnt have to work!!!! The best place we found to eat and drink (as we got bored after a while) was a 2 minute walk along the beach to Forty Thieves Bar - dont bother eating in the cave as the food is the same but more expensive - they have live bands good alcohol and great food. The place is open onto the beach and has a sandy floor no dress code and reasonable prices - dont miss it!! I would stay in this area again but probably in bed and breakfast as its so cheap everywhere but if you fancy this hotel its very nice and I would recommend it.

we went to kenya for our honeymoon ,and stayed at the diani sea lodge,and we thought it was fantastic.we're sick and tired of reading poor reviews about the lodge.These people seem to forget your staying in a third world country,if you want luxury go on holiday in america or somewhere!?! the hotel was everything we expected for the money we had paid,it was clean,tidy,lovely food and the best staff and people you probably ever likely to meet.The rooms all have air-con and are set out in cute little bungalows,the beds are big and comfy.The showers are salt water,but dont panic!,there no-where near as bad as they sound! Infact after one shower we didnt even notice it anymore.Remember these people dont even have fresh water to drink,so abit of salt won't harm anyone! we can honestly say,you wont be disappointed with the diani sea lodge,and as cant tell you how lovely the staff are.Not to mention the beach!!,you do at first get a bit of hassle from the beach boys,but once you buy something off them ,they let you roam the gorgeous beach hassle free,my husband actually loved doing the whole ''bartering thing'',i think he was actually hassling them in the end!!! so please rest asured,the lodge is great,the beach is great,and kenya is a place you'll want to visit time and time again!!!!

We stayed at the Diani Sea Lodge for Christmas and had a wonderful time. The Kenyan people are really friendly and the workers at the hotel could not have worked harder to make our stay enjoyable. There was an excellent choice of food (although mostly European dishes) and the portions were adequate. I read one of the other reviews that suggested the portions were small, especially for the ladies!. We did not experience this problem. I was in a group of 3 women and 2 men and we were offered equal portions, as much as we wanted and could go for a second or third helpings if we wanted - although with food offered throughout the day, not many people did. I can only imagine that the Diani Sea Lodge was coping as well as it could in March of this year following the food shortages that affected East Africa, when it was estimated that 11 million would die of starvation. Our rooms were cleaned daily, including sheets and towels, and we had no problems with wake-up calls on the mornings that we had organised trips. (In fact, the staff diligently returned again if they thought we were not going to be ready when the bus was nearly ready to leave. The showers worked ok. They weren't the most brilliant showers I've come across, and they did taste salty - presumably because sea water is used. Personally. I think it seems an ecological thing to be doing in a country where water shortage is a recurring problem. The animators who were responsible for the organised activities could not have been more enthusiastic. We played water polo, beach volley ball, table tennis and darts with them and they taught us some Kiswahili and took us for walks along the beach and into a local village. I loved that the accomodation was arranged in small lodges, rather than hotel rooms. The lodges were basic and lacked many facilities found in more expensive places, so if you go to Africa to watch TV, then you will want something more upmarket. But these lodges represented good value for money. My biggest complaint would be the very hot dining room, but hey, this is Kenya! Would I go there again??? Most definitely.Some of the guests that were there when we stayed had been returning year after year. And my daughter, who was 16, when we were there, hopes to be able to go out and spend a significant amount of time in Kenya because she enjoyed it so much.

We visited the Diani Sea Lodge as a group of 10 for a wedding and felt that we had paid far too much for what is a very basic hotel. Our first room was very poor and the floor was filthy, although the bathroom had been refitted. After 2 days we left for a 4 day safari and our wake up call, booked for 4.15 arrived in the form of a very apologetic gardener banging on our window at 5am, just 10 minutes before our safari bus was to depart. On our return to Diani Sea Lodge we were given a different room, which was better but still very basic. The drawers do not close, there is no door on the wardrobe, no TV or telephone and slow-running salty water in the shower. The beds are large double 4 posters with mosquito nets over and look lovely but are very uncomfortable. The pillows are tiny and after our numerous requests for more being ignored we resorted to folding the blankets and towels for headrests. Like all the hotels at Diani, the sunloungers etc are on the raised garden above the public beach and not on the sand. The beach is nice and the water beautifully warm - it is a shame that the seaweed is not cleared away regualrly as they do at the neighbouring beach bar. We did not have too much trouble with the beach boys - of course they want to sell their wares, but they are for the most part very pleasant and polite with it, and are after all only trying to earn a living rather than begging. Once we had bought something from one of them we simply told the others the name of the one we had bought from and they were quite happy. The staff in the hotel were also very pleasant, but there are some strange management policies - you have to sign for everything, even a small glass of water, for which you often have to queue for some time as the barmen are so busy writing out everything they dispense. You have to sit at the same table for every meal and it took them several days to find our group a table together, even though we had been booked for over a year. When we did manage to sit together it was at a cramped table with the same burnt and dirty tablecloth for the rest of the stay and in an uncomfortably hot annex to the restaurant. The snack bar was a much more pleasant place to eat. The lunch buffet was generally the best meal of the day, although the chefs put the food on your plate and only ever offer the ladies one small slice of whatever meat is available - the gents sometimes fared slightly better. In the evenings there is a menu of 3 choices - a meat, a fish and a vegetarian option - which are served to the table in incredibly small portions. I don't think we are large eaters but we were glad to fill up on the salads and pasta, which fortunately you can help yourself to. Drinks are brought to the table by waiters but again take ages to arrive. The Diani Sea Lodge may be good for a cheap deal (about £500 max for 2 weeks I would say) if you are happy with a basic all inclusive with little in the way of facilities or entertainment. We had paid a lot of money and expected far better - thank goodness the wedding took place at an excellent safari hotel and not at the Diani Sea Lodge.

We originally booked ourselves into the Tiwi Beach Hotel but unfortunately got bumped into the Diani Sea Lodge. We were highly disappointed with everything about this hotel except for the service. The Kenyan people are wonderful. Here is what you should be aware of if you are planning on staying at the lodge. Be prepared to sleep on foam (there are no mattresses), be prepared to shower in salt water (there is no fresh water anywhere including salt water in the pool), the food is substandard and portions are extremely small, there are no phones or tv's in the rooms, a wake up call consists of an employee running around and knocking on doors, do not expect fresh towels everyday even if they are dirty, you can see through the sheets on the beds and I don't believe they were changed the entire time we were there. There is only one pool to swim in so if there are rowdy people jumping in over and over again, you can't even enjoy the pool. Be prepared however to wear nice clothing at supper time, which is hilarious, as everything is substandard but they expect you to dress as though you are staying at a 5 star. Overall I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. Pay an extra couple of hundred dollars/euros and stay at another hotel, you will be far better off.