Plaza Beach Hotel

We booked this hotel in order to celebrate my birthday and to give our two friends their first Kenyan experience.It was success all round. We had been to the resort 3 times before and eacj time had thought we had found the ideal hotel. The Plaza was certainly what we wanted for this holiday. We were allocated rooms right at the front of the hotel,meaning we had the most amazing view of the ocean.The rooms had TV, air conditioning and safety deposit boxes ..all FREE.There was also a mini bar with drinks the same price as the bars!! The rooms are spacious with a double and single bed .The showers are the largest I have ever seen. The food was similar to that served in the other hotels we had stayed in.There was always a choice of meats or fish as well as pasta.The soup got the vote from all of us ,every night it just got better and better.The sweets I must admit always remind us of Mrs Beetons baking but nothing to complain about. The animation team were very friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed our aquarobics in the morning and our little game around 3pm. The staff were very freindly ,as were the guests. Entertainment is the same as other hotels along the beach.A little 30 minute show ,dancing,acrobats,a choir etc We booked our trips with the beach boys.We have done this every trip and never had a complaint. Chico and Harrison for safari and Shone,Muny or Antony for sea trips.These "boys" will certainly take care of you and ensure your trip goes well. We met lots of lovely local friends , visited a school we have been sponsoring for 10 years,a new orphanage, a cafe we have helped with,attended a church service,took 30 school kids to Haller Park as well as a 2 day safari.We really should have been there longer! My special birthday was a great success.The hotel supplied a cake and we had cocktails in the "bedoin" tent outside. I thoroughly recommend this area and particularly this hotel.

Returned from a two weeks holiday from the plaza beach hotel on the North Coast of Mombsa.It was really a time of not to forget. The staff were really friendly and co-operative.Everyone face wears a smile followed by JAMBO,the local word for Hi.The meals were very delicious and the rooms well maintained.It is really a hotel to stay while one on Kenyan coast.One can still roam freely at the beach.The beach boys are very friendly too.The nearby pubs along the beach are cheaper! Ask for ( ALI ) direct of the hotel at the beach as for a priceworthy,cheap and well organized SAFARIS and EXCURSIONS...Voi Wildlife safari lodge was a great place to be as for the ADVETURERS, Ndololo Safari Camp is great. ALI can change you MONEY with good exchange rates to the local currency as for the local banks there rates are DOWN.....Enjoy the pleasure of the plaza and the beach.

We stayed at the plaza beach in sept, 2006. it is a great hotel with simple but pleasant facilities, great staff (although like most places in kenya always looking for a tip!!) nice pool and very good food. I would not recommend booking any safaris or tours through the hotel but use Nelson the hotels taxi driver for trips both night and day. He is extremely genuine and will take you around mombasa, to an orpanage, to the shops... anything you need and you can trust him 100%. If you are prepared to haggle down on the beach you can pick up a bargain, Three bracelets for around 150 shillings! Be warry of the beach boys some people claim they are trustworthy etc but like everyone else they are out to make money and use your instincts! A good safari company are Kenyan Adventures from Diani beach but they will come to bamburi and are again 100% reliable with a British contact to help you organise everything before you travel if you prefer or need to be organised. Don't walk out the back towards the main road at night as it is dangerous with a couple ending up in hospital due to a violent attck during our stay, stick to the beach but use your brain, there are some parts of the UK you wouldn't walk at night!! africa is no different.

Wrote a review of the hotel in february but never got round to posting it so i thought i would share it with you now. A group of 24 including myself went to kenya on the 3rd February this is what i thought of the hotel! : The Hotel plaza despite its lack of amenities is a great place to stay during a holiday in Mombasa, the hotel is in a relatively safe location on the beach in bamburi as the beach is patrolled every night and there are security gaurds at the bottom of the property in place to protect the tourist staying in the hotel and walking along the beaches. The Hotel itself is relatively well managed and despite the basicness of the hotel the staff try their hardest to ensure you enjoy yourself. The hotels animation and entertainment host william works especially hard to get people involved in the activities such as volleyball (played at the severin sea lodge) and water aerobics. The food at the hotel was quite bland and basic.... i recommend visiting mombasa to visit some local resturants (we had a meal in town for 200ksh (£1.60) which included free drinks and a choice of maincourse) or if you can try the street vendors there food in and around the old town was lovely. Around the hotel there are also a couple of bars and resturants, Yuls, a resturant and cocktail bar, was very well priced considering it was in a tourist hot spot. Although, food at Yul's had a more international theme to it. Bars in the hotel are Overpriced considering the prices futher down the beach as it cost 160ksh £1.35 for a local beer (tuskers!) where as a bar further down the beach it only costs 90ksh £0.82 ish! I fully recommend this hotel to people who like to get out and about as it is a perfect place for travellers who dont spend much time in there hotel. The rooms are clean and well equiped and the staff are always friendly! Have a great trip! P.s. im going out again on the 20th Jan 07! If you have any questions please feel free to email me chrisbrighton75@hotmail.com

Hello, we were there at the same time as the previous post! i agree the hotel was very friendly and clean if a little basic. The bar staff especially wilfred were fantastic and really went out of there way to make you feel welcome. I would re itterate the point about not going out on your own on a night, it isnt really safe, could recommend nelson as a good taxi driver/ guide!

just returned from a great holiday in the Plaza beach Hotel.A small ,very clean and wonderfully friendly hotel.The staff were the best you could find anywhere and nothing was too much trouble. The hotel has recently been refurbished and was very pleasant. Not many English were staying there but all nationalities were very pleasant.We met some great people. The entertainments team worked very hard and sruggled sometimes to get people to join in.Our party and some English friends we met there were usually game for a laugh and enjoyed . I have been twice before and stayed at the Travellers beach which was very nice but if i return i would go back to the Plaza. Don't be afraid to book trips with locals on the beach.I can really recommend Shaun and also Danny who operates from nearer the travellers beach who has stayed friends with my family for five years. Book your safari there not with tour operator as you may have to vacate your hotel room while on safari.Tour companies don't pay the hotel for these nights away if you have booked in advance. I can thoroughly recommend Distance Tours in mombasa who have a good web site. Don't have a crocodile holiday(lie in the sun ,go in the pool and lie in the sun)Get out and about ,visit the real people in the villages,in fact every English child should be taken there to see the joy on a small face at being given one sweet or one pen. I will return!!!

stayed at the plaza beach last december05 and enjoyed it so much I am returning in december for 5weeks. its small laid back and not a lot going on, however this said its up to the individual on what they seek. I have stayed at other hotels over the years along the coast but find this one to be my favourite. The staff are very good and helpful the food good, though a little basic.The rooms are very clean along with the rest of the hotel. The beach brilliant, hakuna matata. anyone reading this and going at xmas can find me in my favourite bar the alhoa, or on new years day in Maggies bar outside the sunnsand

Jambo as the locals say. Just returned from Plaza Beach hotel. We had a great time it was fairley quiet only about half full mix of nationalaties all freindly. The hotel has been refurbished and the rooms were nice and clean and furnished well for the standard 3 star. The pool was great not full of noisy kids divebombing each other. The animation team worked very hard trying to get you involved which some of us did and thougroughly enjoyed it. The bars close at about 12 but htere are bars close by if you want to drink later, one just down the road is open 24 hours. Whilst we were there a couple and one of the barmen did have a problem with bandidts and got robbed. They were injured requiring hospital traetment so take the advice given by the hotel staff and holiday reps and use taxi's arranged by the staff for you DO NOT walk out at night in the front of the hotel it is not safe. The beach is well lit with security patrols and lots of people so we didnt have a problem. Book your safari in Kenya not the UK you will find it half the price. The staff were so helpfull you could not find better service anywhere, the food was good and full english breakfast is offered every day. Sunbeds with soft mattresses and clean towells are provided free of charge and the gardens were lovely siiting uinder the palms being waited on by the barstaff is highly recomended. We met some graet folks on our holiday and hope you have as good a time as we did. The only downside was the beach boys pestering you all the time if you went down on the beach but be firm say NO thanks iam just walking and they do get the message eventually. If you want anything we found the beacboys Shaune or Danny to be half the price of the organised tour companies and you can trust them both otherwise ask the staff in the hotel to help they will be only too pleased. We recomend a visit to the real Kenya and go to a villiage and see for yourself the poverty it will break your heart but the people are so nice take the kids some pens or pencils and a some bags of sweets they will love you for it. Have a great time and enjoy.

We have just returned and I must say the staff were really friendly and helpful. The hotel is 3 star and pretty much what you would expect, the pool is clean and they provide towels and matresses on the sunbeds free. Entertainment is fairly basic, food OK with a choice of meats/fish every night and a good breakfast buffet. Safaris much cheaper with the 'beach boys' See Chico or Harrison, avoid Freddy. did 3 day Tsavo/Amboselli for £165, though its worth paying slightly more for Voi rather than Red elephant Lodge which is a bit 'rustic'. You get a better price paying in sterling or dollars. (get any shillings before you go, hotel rates poor). If you fancy a change of menu try 'Il Covo' 200yards down the beach for Italian or Japanese or Yuls about 400 yards away, there are also several Indian restaurants nearby, just wander down the beach at night, no problem. dont trust not getting bitten by the Mozzies, didnt see any at all but DID get bitten and a couple of people got Malaria while we were there so use the nets/sprays and tablets.

The staff very excellent for a hotel for a hotel that does not have much facilities. The swimming pool is fairly small and very few people actually swim in it. The food for nice, but after a while it does get boring. They only have 3 varieties awhere day ( Fish, Chicken and Beef) - Take your pick... The internet facities generally do not work. It taken time to convince them you need the internet. The soft drinks and beers costs alot ( 200 shillings for soft drinks). This is more expensive than london. Entertainment for the night finishes at 11 pm and the hotel bars gneral close by 12. Not idel if you are a party animal. Most of the tourist were from Germany, very friendy. Overally, the staff so hard to make a low resouced hotel run.