Kilifi Bay Beach Resort Reviews

We have just returned from 2 weeks at Kilifi Bay Beach Resort (over Christmas and New Year), booked through First Choice. From our arrival at the resort until the day we left we experienced problems which were not rectified - which include, but are not limited to: electric shocks from our shower; generally poor standard of electrics throughout the hotel (including bare wires stuck directly into sockets); lack of aircon in the room; glasses of water filled straight from the tap and not bottles; food which ran out early or was cold; sheets which were only changed once a week; and no tea and coffee facilities in the room. The ";safety deposit box"; is simply an envelope stapled shut and put in the hotel's ";safe"; in a room behind reception. However, when we asked to see the safe our request was refused.

The First Choice brochure states this hotel has two restaurants, a snack bar, and 3 bars. This is incorrect - there is one buffet restaurant and a snack bar (which is only open until 6pm and has a very limited menu). The A La Carte restaurant simply does not exist. The ";Beach Bar"; is no more than a counter, and all drinks are obtained from either of the other bars by a waiter, and brought to you half an hour after ordering, by which time they are warm.

The quality of the food generally was poor and repetitive and was often cold (so much so that we ate outside the hotel for the last 5 nights of our stay). The hotel's website states that there is normally one barbecue and one theme night a week, however, there were no barbecues or theme nights during our stay. During our stay they held a ";Gala Dinner"; on both Christmas and New Years Eves, but on both occasions the food was cold and it ran out very early on Christmas Eve.

The main pool was out of action for 4 days of our stay, and the second pool was green and stagnant until the day before we left. The TV room did not have a television in it, although there was a TV situated above the bar in the Pool Bar, but this shuts at 6pm.

The evening entertainment is actually not that entertaining, and on one night consisted solely of a game of Musical Chairs!!! The daytime entertainment is fairly average, although very repetitive - beach volleyball, aqua aerobics, water polo and Swahili lessons. Water sports are not available at the hotel.

The First Choice rep at the hotel was not very helpful, and only visited three times a week for half an hour each time. The majority of First Choice guests made several complaints whilst in the resort, and asked for several things to be rectified. However, we felt as though the rep believed the hotel manager over the guests

On the plus side, the staff were very friendly (although grossly overworked), the rooms were generally clean, and the location on the beach is fantastic.

In our opinion, this hotel does not merit the 3* plus rating given to it by First Choice (although it has only been used by First Choice since November 2005), and needs a lot of work to bring it up to an appropriate standard.