Diani Sea Resort Hotel

We have just returned from a wonderful 2 weeks. During our stay we did a half day trip to Mombasa and a three night safari. The hotel gardens were beautiful and extensive. The food always varied and enjoyable. The hotel staff were very friendly and hard working. I wasn't prepared for the saline water in the room though and grubby looking towels BUT everything else was wonderful. The monkeys were no problem so long as you left them alone. The hotel entertainment in the evening was varied and the Mombasa acrobatic team were fantastic. This hotel is situated right on the beach. There is plenty of shade if you want it or you can swelter in full sunshine. Remember this is Kenya so you will need high factor sun cream even if the sun is not shining (you will still get a tan you just won't burn!). A great experience drinking wine watching the Indian Ocean that is so warm to swim in. One piece of advice I wish that I had had. Take clothes, shampoo, shower gel and soap that you can leave behind. We left a huge sack with our rep, Martha, who was going to take it to the orphange for us. This not only left us space in our luggage to take home the many souvenirs but benifitted others. The trip to Mombasa was arranged through Kuoni and was well worth it. The safari was a fantastic experience and we stayed in wonderful accomadation. Our driver, Shavan, was knowledgable and we met some great friends during this time that we continued to meet up with back at the hotel. English money and dollars are widely accepted as payment. All in all a wonderful, wonderful holiday and we thoroughly recommend the hotel and this type of holiday.

We've just return from a weeks all inclusive holiday at The Diani Sea Resort. The hotel is in a beautiful setting amongst palm trees and superbly kept gardens, right on the beach. The rooms are clean and spacious all with air conditioning. The beds i found very comfortable but some people thought they were a little hard. The plug sockets are three pin like in England so you don't need adaptors. Rooms are cleaned every day with fresh towels if required. Mosquitoe nets are supplied being big enough so not to interrupt sleep - having said that i don't think i saw a mosquitoe!The food was OK - not a lot of choice - i think the best choice was for breakfast. There is a main restuarant and snack bar by the pool but they do close at certain hours, so food is not available 24hrs. There are two bars,with the pool bar open until midnight. Evening meal finishes at 21:00 and is always followed by some local entertainment ( take some money for souveniers). There is security at the hotel that are really there to stop the beach boys hassaling you when you go on the beach - they ensure they do not approach you while in the confines of the hotel. There are a few shops at the entrance to the hotel on the main road and if you turn right and take a 10 minute walk there is a new shopping precinct with supermarket that sells almost everything and an ATM (cash Machine). We took a two day safari while we were there booked locally ( awsome !!!)- you must barter for the best price - expect to pay about £100 each for 2 days and one night in a hotel in the national park(do not book anything on the beach). I hope this is useful information - for a relaxing holiday where you just want to chill out i would highly recommend it - i would definately return.

Well i had been looking forward to the holiday for ages and must say i was not disappointed. We found the hotel excellent. I realise this is only our opinion and others may think different, but i would go back at a drop of a hat given the chance. The rooms were fresh and clean, the staff couldn't do enough for you, the beds were to hard for me (as i have arthritis) and we asked if it was possible to change the mattress, they had it changed and bed made up within the hour and that was at 8 o’clock in the evening, i could not of asked for better. The food was varied and we always found there was something we liked (did make things easier that we liked pasta and rice lol) but if there isn't anything you fancy the staff would find you something else, there was also the snack bar by the pool that would serve you hamburger and chips or omlett and chips etc if you wanted something basic. We met some lovely people while we were there and had a right laugh with them. We have even stayed in contact with a couple of the staff (they were so lovely) The pool was great and as you are within spitting distance from either the pool, sea or main hotel there was not much walking to do. Oh and you must join in the 'water poloooo' they are a great bunch of lads. We found we were never hungry or thirsty. If you take a walk along the beach you will get to the Forty Thieves beach bar and restaurant, which do a wicked scampi lol, and on a Sunday lunchtime has live music (we spent a great last day there) We found the beach boy's not to much trouble, some of them just come along for the walk and just make it clear to the others that you do not want to buy anything. Oh and the monkeys... well i found them fascinating to watch and got some great pics of them lol We were only a short taxi ride from the Diani Children’s Village orphanage (just in case you have taken pencils, paper, crayons etc out with you) which we found brought a lump to our throats and wished we could have done more. Any one going, i hope they enjoy it as much as we did and thanks to everyone that made ours so special. Guests and staff. Take care Rachelle & John p.s. Please remember that although the staff are there to serve you etc, a please and a thank you costs nothing. Even a smile when you say 'Jambo' can brighten your day as well as there's lol

I have stayed here twice and loved it, once in December and April 2005. It is a smaller hotel compared to southern palms which is much bigger but it depends on what u prefer. I found the rooms to be reasonable compared to a previous guest who did not enjoy her stay, the beds I didn't find comfortable but thats it. Unlike southern palms who have security guards on the beach this is not so with Diani Sea Resort, so going for the first time u may or may not find it annoying. You have to bear in mind that every traveller have different expectations, so u have to go with an open mind, the ratings abroad are different from the UK. The pool is lovely, not huge but okay. The beach is great and warm, u can see your feet which is a big thing to me wherever I travel to. Not all reviews will be positive, so remember that and don't be put off.

Just returned from 2 weeeks at this great hotel. what it lacks in 5 star attractions it more than makes up for with its super staff and good food. The gardens are stunning, the pool a delight.

Kenya-South Mombosa, we spent xmas/new year 05/06 here with a large family, brillaint valve for money ,good food, excellent hot weather, friendly people. We chose to do a 4day safari booked with virgin hols-wow its was best ever the lodges/animal sightings and setting were better than we thought it would be our youngest son 10 loved it. We would go back and recommend it to others. Sitting watch the watering hole with the sun going down was surreal. We had doubts but was proved wrong. If you like to rest in the sun,but also enjoy something different this is a good choice. Fun to bargain for hand carved goods too.

Hotel was fantastic, staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. Monkeys are a great bonus, hilarious to watch and the Colobos are something else. Some hassle from boys on the beach but you have to be firm with them. Rooms fairly basic but very clean. Hotel food was really good. No complaints and can't wait to go back!

Was initially a bit apprehensive after reading the review from the member in Gloucestershire - but now we have been cannot understand how they could justify writing such a review. The rooms were immaculate, towels & sheets changed every day, room cleaned to a high standard. The food was really varied and good and the staff were really friendly. There's no real problem with the beach boys - it's not a good idea to book safaris or trips with them as they are generally more expensive than elsewhere as they have to take their commission and pay the tourist police. Once you tell them you've booked a safari or dolphin boat tour, they don't bother with you. The only ones that still bother you are the ones that want to you visit their shop - a firm 'no' works fine. We booked our safari with Malibu who are located at the Diani Beach Shopping Centre (turn right out of the hotel and walk for about 10 minutes) we went to Tsavo East & West for two nights and stayed at Voi Lodge and Ngula Lodge. We paid £170 - after a bit of haggling - found it to be amazing value. The lodges are really good, especially the Voi which was our favourite. We went to Mombasa by arranging a taxi through Rashid, one of the waiters. We paid 3,000 shillings for the day plus a tip for the driver and waiter, we went to the old town and shopping in the Moi Avenue area. We went around on our own and felt quite safe. We also went by taxi from the shopping centre to the village of Ukunda which isn't to be recommended. After about five minutes we were followed by youths telling us that it wasn't safe there and that we had to pay them protection money. We didn't give them anything but they continued to follow us for some time saying nasty comments - couldn't wait for the taxi to return to pick us up. We gave all our books, old snorkals, pencils etc to the eye charity shop in the Diani Beach Shopping Centre. The only downside for use - and this will only affect a minority of people, is that the sports facilities i.e. tennis & table tennis were a bit shabby. There was only one tennis court in use so it was problematic booking it in the second week of our holiday. The balls were almost bald - they did manage to order some for the last day of our holiday. The table tennis bats had the coating hanging off of them but the manager did say he would order new ones. All in all we had a wonderful holiday.

My husband and I spent three weeks at this hotel and had a great time, we think the lunch and evening meal times need to be extended and perhaps a more varied menu but apart from this it was great we have just booked to go again this christmas for three weeks so what does that tell you?

We do not know were the complaint from the trip advisor member from Gloucestershire comes from. We we stayed at the hotel from the 1st January 2006 for 2 weeks and ate al a carte every night, quality beef, pork, venison and chicken on a 3 week non repeat menu. You could even have a 3 course lunchean as well if you wished. There was also a Buffet on offer every lunchtime and evening for the non adventurous types, e.i The fish and chip man. The rooms were excellent. o.k. The T.V's did not work well, but do you fly all that way to watch television. The critisisims of this resort are uninformed. We are a family of 3, with a insulin dependent diabetic and a very fussy 11 year old daughter and have travelled around the world and although this resort is not 5 star, it provides excellent service and food and although there is no childrens club children are very well catered for. The evenings entertainments are low key but good fun and there is always something to do. Oh!!! and by the way Don't worry about the monkeys there are not tribes of them and unless you are stupid enough to feed them, which by the way is against the law and you can be arrested, they will leave you alone. The beach guys are fine if you buy something from them early in the holiday they will leave you alone, if our daughter went onto the beach on her own she had her own beach boy looking over her to make sure she was safe, he did not bother her just stood close by. By the way everybody, go and see the Diani Childrens Village, a local childrens orphanage, the contact is Yvonne, use John the local taxi driver, just ask for him outside the front gate, mention our names (Ian Liz and Charlotte) and he will know where to take you. Take with you plenty of pencils and meet the children, they are so polite and are trying so hard to be self sufficent. Also speak to Joseph a waiter at the hotel or Beth one of the waitresses. Make sure when you go that you do not use your tour reps to book tours you will pay twice as much and the money will not go to the local people, which they desperately need. Now lets get down to the rooms at the hotel, everything was cleaned immaculately everyday our room guy even ironed our daughters nighty each day and placed her teddy on her pillow. We stayed all inclusive and will be booking for February 2007, this resort is about as good as it gets and we will not be going anywhere else in the future. You do have to a put a deposit on your towel and security deposit box at the hotel, which is fully refundable at the end of your holiday. The gentleman from Glous does appear to be misguided our 11 yr old daughter was taught to windsurf by one of the locals and also had a free scuba session in the pool. PS The fishing is good, visit ---- Akumamatata (no problem) Ian Liz and Lottie.