Pinewood Village Reviews

Booked with Thomson flying Kenya Airways. Normally we book through the internet or teletext (cheap deals)! However, this one had to be good as it was a special one OUR WEDDING! Excellent airline with good food. Easy to transfer from Nairobi to get the domestic flight to Mombasa, getting the visa did take longer than we expected we were one of the last off of our aeorplane and only had approximately 10 minutes to spare for the next departure. It also takes quite along time to go through the domestic departures security checks. Others who were on later domestic flights did manage to get on earlier domestic flights which was a benefit to them. The return flight for us was not so good. We did know this. We flew out of Mombasa at 1700hrs arriving Nairobi at 1800hrs then not leaving Nairobi to go to Heathrow until 2400hrs. There is nothing to do at the airport except go into a few duty free shops and sit in the hospitality lounge.

When transfering from the airport to the hotel the roads are very bumpy. We did not have to queue for long waiting to get onto the ferry, but it was extremely hot. The hotel staff were very friendly and extremely helpful, they could not do enough for you. The room was very clean, the airconditioning is a must. We had a room with our own personal chef - we did have three different chefs as our first chef went off sick! Then we had a stand in, and finally Evans. They were all great chefs/cooks we were very impressed we left clean plates every night! We were all inclusive but do beware you can have water free of charge out of a glass (served from a water dispenser) but have it by the bottle and you have to pay for it! On our second day we had a meeting with the Hotels Operations Manager to arrange the final details of the wedding - location - flowers - button hole - cake - it was all so relaxed and nothing was a problem. You could choose where to get married hotel grounds or hotel beach - nothing was too much trouble. All the paper work that was faxed out 13 weeks previous was all in order all we had to do was sign. It was so relaxed.

The pool was lovely maximum depths was approx. 6ft. The swim up bar was gorgous. The hotel supplied free of charge pool/beech towels, so you could have clean ones whenever necessary. Hemed organised games - darts, ping pong, beech volleyball, bouls all so much fun. Hemed also organised a couple of trips one a walk up the beach to the reptile farm with snakes, crocidles, and giant turtles (George and Maria) a good morning out for only a few pounds and another to the local school and village - excellent, get Hemed to buy your sweets for the school children. If you have room in your suitcase take some pens/pencils/paper/white school shirts/grey skirts/grey trousers etc. they are extremely greatful. They also love our old T Shirts and football shirts. Hemed was great so he was our witness at the wedding. He organised all the flowers for our wedding day.

Our favourite barman was Joshua or Josh he was so helpful he even joined us on our trip to the local village school it was good to share information with him. We did not venture on Safari as we did not want to get bitten before the wedding! Others did who said 3 nights was enough! Theme nights were excellent the food again was fantastic but beware the entertainers will want you to buy their goods! The Masai Mara dancers were difficult to get rid of! Do barta with them if you want anything! The beach was beautiful, it was so warm you could not cool down in it. You get so much glare from the white sand you need sun glasses on while on the beach. The Beach Boys did not give us any trouble we chatted to them in a friendly manner and gave them time to tell us about theirselves for which i think they appreciated this as from impressions i feel alot of tourists tell them to get lost before they open their mouths. They showed us their goods and their catches none of which we purchased. The crabs on the beach were great fun to watch they came out about 1700hrs go and watch them for hours of amusement!

We made a mistake one night and left our bikinis out to dry, the next morning we only had 1 bikini bottom left the monkeys had stolen one bikini and a binini top!

The wedding was a dream we could not of asked or wished for more. The Masai Mara dancers arrived at our room and walked down to the wedding location - we choose the beach location. The flowers and arches were just so beautiful. Hemed looked great so smart. The cake was a hand made heart. The photographer took over 250 pictures in every location possible. We had a lovely pineapple drink and wooden gifts from the hotel. Evans cooked our evening meal which we ate on the beach - Lobster and Crabs it was 5*+
Other guests were present at the beach bar. All in all i cannot rate this high enough.
The massage, pedicure and manicure was first class, my daughter also had her hair braided which lasted very well.

The last day of the holiday brought some rain (rainy season was just beggining) which also brought some insects! for 9 days we had not seen, heard or been biten by anything until the last night!
We had 10 days of heaven, we were lucky none of us suffered even an upset stomach. It will defineately be a wedding/holiday to remember, i would reccommend it to any one.

Just returned from a 2 week holiday in Mombassa - stayed at the Pinewood Village in a suite with chef, what can I say - amazing, worth every penny. The suite was lovely though when you book do tell them you want a refurbished room, our chef Evans was fantastic and the actual resort is beautiful, very small, just what my partner and I like. We will definitely return.

Booked this holiday with Q Holidays, so much cheaper than some of the others.... Flew with D.M Tours (highly recommended - Denis and Lilian - pat on the back - you run a very professional outfit) to the Masai Mara for a 3 day safari, stayed at Governors Camp, again the right choice. Saw all the usual, and even a cheetah kill, but sadly did not see Leopard or Rhino (Rhino are not on the side of the river where Governors is located) next time if poss would probably do 1 night at Governors and the 2nd night at the Mara Safari Club as they do have Rhino in their vicinity. I did think 3 days personally for me was enough.

Back at Mombassa went to the reptile farm (15 mins down the beach) and for a few pounds each this was well worth the money - hands on with snakes, lizards and baby crocs - they even have 2 giant tortoises!!! My only complaint about this holiday is ";Wet and Wild";, this is a company that is located in the ";Aqualand"; building in Pinewoods grounds - when you pay 310 euros to do a mangrove safari on jet ski for 90 mins, I expected the word safari to mean stopping to view the wildlife, be told what they were and have the opportunty to take photos, we had an underwater camera with us. Well the 310 euros ended up being a jet ski play which my partner and I could have done on the sea for a lot less money. We complained and tried to get our money back, but no use, what they wanted was another 155 euros to take us back (buy 1 get 1 free) to take the pictures that we should have been able to take in the first place - the phrase throwing good money after bad comes to mind!!! I don't want to appear to biased it was beautiful and an Irish couple we were out with enjoyed it, but it really wasn't what I was expecting and for the cost of that we could have spent a night at Pinewoods tree lodge in Shimba Hills or had an additional 1 night safari in Tsavo - mmmmm!!!! I've never felt ripped off on holiday before, and it's just taught me a valuable lesson - make sure you know exactly what you're getting before you hand any money over...

we chose the Pinewood Village for our wedding in 2005 and 5 members of our familys came with us. I can honestly say it was a fantastic holiday and resort - so much more than I expeced of Kenya.
After booking the holiday we started to have second thoughts after reading different reports about Kenya and even thought about changing to Thailand - so pleased we didnt!

The rooms were really spacious and the air conditioning a god send - the temperatures must have been well in the 90s. We had our own chefs, although they were good dont expect them to know what clam chowder is or mussels! The grounds of the hotel were fabulous, really green and lush and lots of flowers.
The staff were incredibly friendly especially John the pool boy he never stopped the whole time we were there - he got a good tip at the end of the holiday though!

Our wedding ran like clock work and nothing was too much hassel for John the manager there. He organised a hairdresser, cameras, flowers and pretty much everything else too. It was an amazing day.
The beach was just paradise to look at, and I've never experienced ocean temperatures like it. It literally was like walking into a bath, it certainly didnt cool you down.
Everyone other than me and my now husband went on safari - unfortunatley i took ill the day after the wedding and spent 3 days in hospital. Apparently just a travellors sickness but horrendous none the less. No-one in the party got away with feeling ill some of the time so be warned.

Apparently the safari was fantastic though. Saw lions, buffalo, giraffe, gazelle. The lodge was brillaint and the food great, the only down side were the insects everywhere regardless of jungle formula!!
All in all a fantastic holiday and not once did we feel threatned or scared for our safety - try it you'll love it!