Serena Beach Hotel Reviews

Travel Date: January 06

Submitted in March 2007 by: Tina Lee

Operator: Other

the serna beach was one of the best hotels we have ever been to the staff where very friendly and helpful, we stayed for 10 days and did a safari in the middle of our stay, we went to amboselli for our safari time ,going to stay in different lodges each nig...

Travel Date: January 06

Submitted in March 2007 by: Tina Lee

Operator: Other

the serna beach was one of the best hotels we have ever been to the staff where very friendly and helpful, we stayed for 10 days and did a safari in the middle of our stay, we went to amboselli for our safari time ,going to stay in different lodges each night, i could not fault it we saw the big five and we where stunned at the animals and the scenery, back to the hotel the food was loveley the beach was clean although the boys on the beach did hassle you a bit but not to take anything away from the holiday you must go and look at the butterfly the boy who looked after it really knew what he was talking about , you do have to look for this though,

we will be going back

Travel Date: February 05

Submitted in March 2005 by: Denise Halson - Wirral (55/56)

Operator: Other

We have just returned from our third trip to Kenya - and again another fabulous holiday. This year we booked to stay at the 5 star Serena Beach Hotel at Shanzu and this hotel certainly lives up to its 5 star status!

Overall accommodation - it is al...

Travel Date: February 05

Submitted in March 2005 by: Denise Halson - Wirral (55/56)

Operator: Other

We have just returned from our third trip to Kenya - and again another fabulous holiday. This year we booked to stay at the 5 star Serena Beach Hotel at Shanzu and this hotel certainly lives up to its 5 star status!

Overall accommodation - it is all beautifully and tastefully done and meticulously maintained. The gardens are magnificent. Although the rooms in the Village Wing are on the small side, they are very comfortable, have satellite TV and mini bar, a well equipped bathroom sheets and towels (big, fluffy and white!)
changed daily - your beds turned down at night. Lovely little touches - e.g. plentiful supply of toiletries, bottled water supplied daily, mosquito repellant wipes provided daily for use before you leave your room at night.

Food and Service - half board basis - all meals are taken in the main Fountains restaurant - you will not be disappointed!
The quality and variety of the food was exceptional - a terrific range of high quality and well prepared options for breakfast - you can even have champagne too! Dinner is a real experience - candlelit and in the main taken out on the terrace overlooking the gardens and the sea. Normally 6 or 7 courses (you'll never get through all courses!!) with a great range of options - all of top quality. Once a week the hotel puts on a fabulous seafood buffet out on the main terrace - again standard is exceptional. You will rarely if ever need to have lunch - althought there are plenty of options available on the terrace or at the pool bar. There is a separate seafood restaurant - Jahazi Grill - which is great for a special night out during your stay but it is expensive.

staff are a credit to the hotel. They are so helpful, nothing is too much trouble and are very friendly - many have been working at the hotel for 10 plus years - so there is a good 'family' atmosphere around the place. Night time entertainment is fairly low key but a good range of quality dancers, groups, etc. This place is not for night owls or those looking for wall to wall entertainment, but if you are looking for a bit of pampering in an unstuffy yet classy hotel - this is the one for you.

Although we did not go on safari this time - we would recommend it to anyone - its one of those experiences that should not be missed! For first time visitors, the degree of poverty can be unsettling but if you accept that this is the way it is and that the tourism industry is very important to Kenya - then do not be put off. The Kenyan people are welcoming and friendly - the country is beautiful and there are lots of great experiences to be had - enjoy!!

Travel Date: December 04

Submitted in December 2004 by: Dave McKerchar - Reading

Operator: Other

All the reviews had said ";excellent"; so we thought - can this hotel be that good? Well it can and it was. Lovely gardens leading onto the white beach; plenty of sunbeds; a very attractive pool with swim-up bar and fantastic surroundings (even the monkeys ...

Travel Date: December 04

Submitted in December 2004 by: Dave McKerchar - Reading

Operator: Other

All the reviews had said ";excellent"; so we thought - can this hotel be that good? Well it can and it was. Lovely gardens leading onto the white beach; plenty of sunbeds; a very attractive pool with swim-up bar and fantastic surroundings (even the monkeys seemed friendly)

The ";Swahili Village"; bedrooms are very unique in their setting and have all you need for comfort and relaxation. We found the food to be very good with a varying selection every night for dinner (5 courses normally) and it wasn't all ";European"; dishes.Enjoy the buffet breakfast and it will set you up for the day ahead (plenty of choice and all good quality - even the lunchtime hamburgers were better than most) Try the Jahazi restaurant at least once on your visit and go for the lobster or the king prawns.

The service throughout the hotel is first class and you never need wait for a drink or help with anything and the staff are really friendly and chatty. One small moan - the evening entertainment was a bit naff at times and we felt we had seen it the night before) Tusker beer for a 4/5 star hotel was good value at £1.75 pint but we did often visit the bars up the road for a pre-dinner drink (to watch the live football and chat to the locals -beer is cheaper and the ";girls"; will only chat up single men) Try the Safari Bar where a 500ml bottle of beer is 100 Kshs -about 80p and the Masai warriors play table-football)

Whatever else you do you must go on safari - it is one of those things that every person should do once in their lifetime. We went on a 3 day(2 night) trip to Tsavo East and West and it was a stunning excursion. We would recommend Pollmans Travel as they knew the route; were more responsible and the driver went out of his way to make sure we saw the lions, although the cheetah proved a bit more elusive. But watching an elephant walk in front of your mini-bus and give you the ";once-over"; before strolling off is not only a fantastic sight but is also a bit scary too!

Anyway,we have no hesitation in recommending the Serena Beach Hotel - it is top quality but not stuck-up and is very friendly and just the place to unwind and relax in the sunshine.

Travel Date: March 04

Submitted in August 2004 by: Jo Chris

Operator: Other

We chose Serena Beach for our Honeymoon on March 04 as Hayes and Jarvis were offering two weeks for the price of one of the date we wanted to go.
We flew BA overnight to Nairobi and then flew onto Mombasa. We had a private transfer to Serena Beach of 1/...

Travel Date: March 04

Submitted in August 2004 by: Jo Chris

Operator: Other

We chose Serena Beach for our Honeymoon on March 04 as Hayes and Jarvis were offering two weeks for the price of one of the date we wanted to go.
We flew BA overnight to Nairobi and then flew onto Mombasa. We had a private transfer to Serena Beach of 1/2 hour.

The hotel was only 1/3 full even though March is one of the best times to go for good weather. All Kenyan resorts are suffering after the terrorism a few years ago. The hotel knew we were honeymooners and chose a very secluded, quiet room for us. They delivered a glass of sparkling wine to our room at 6:30pm on the dot every night and after we tipped them a small amount they started bringing whole bottles!
The hotel is in beautiful grounds and a tribe of monkeys come and visit a few times a week. They were very cheeky and stole sugar from the pool bar. The babies were very sweet although we were told not to get too close as they do bite.

The hotel organised afternoon entertainment in the grounds a few times a week which consisted of local tribal dancing. It was lovely to lay by the pool listening to the tribal music.
Serena Beach has a Butterfly farm which we enjoyed visiting. We don't think many of the other guests knew it was there.

The pool at the hotel is the cleanest we have ever swum in and most of the time we had the pool to ourselves. Each morning we would have our towels laid out for us, and after we tipped the towel man he saved the same beds for us every day, gave us three towels each and wouldn't let anyone else sit there! A few times a week staff would climb the very tall coconut trees (with a rope round their feet) to get the coconuts down which was excellent to watch.

The food at Serena was very good. We stayed half board but lunch was good value and of excellent quality. Dinner consisted of seven courses. We could only eat three or four courses before we were full and when we said we did not want a main dinner the waiter offered to get chef as he thought we did not like the food - he couldn't have been further from the truth!

Each Friday, the staff would go to tremendous effort to set the tables for the evening meal outside by the ornamental pond with a wonderful Kenyan buffet. When a guest had a birthday the staff all sang Happy Birthday and shook plates and cutlery like nothing we had ever seen before.

The hotel parrot was the most memorable part of our stay. He speaks in French, English and Swahili, sings songs, swears, and wolf whistles at ladies as they pass! We could hear him from the pool and he make us chuckle each day. He was rescued and is very well looked after.

Most of the people we met at the hotel were return visitors which says a lot about the standard of quality at the hotel. Some members of staff had worked at the hotel for 30 years and it is considered to be the best hotel in Mombasa. We got to know all the staff by name and they knew us by name too.

The evenings were rather staid for us. The bar was empty by 10:30 and the DJ was left playing to no-one! We stayed in the bar late several times and I think the bar staff were grateful for the company.

We went on an excursion to the Masai Mara for two days. Flew (took 2 hrs) and stayed at Governor's Camp in a luxury tent. We were greeted with a bottle of sparkling wine and soapstone hippos with a personal message from the camp. We sat outside the tent and saw warthogs, baboons, elephants, giraffes and gazelles. Dinner and lunch was served in a gazebo overlooking the plain and the food was of very high quality. We were the only couple in the jeep for the first safari. Unexpected problem for me though as I suffered motion sickness in the jeep. That night we didn't sleep very well (but didn't mind!) as we had hippos snuffling right outside our tent. Next morning at dawn we took a hot air balloon trip. After an amazing hour in the air we landed in the middle of the plain and were served a champagne breakfast, with vultures circling overhead! Saw all the animals you would expect on safari including a leopard and loads of lions.

Also took the Tamarind Dhow excursion. As we were honeymooners we were placed on the Lovers deck, I got flowers, we had to do a first dance and we got featured in the local Mombasa newspaper.

I would thoroughly recommend Kenya for a holiday of a lifetime. Our honeymoon was superb, but the Serena Beach really made it for us. I don't think anywhere we ever stay again will live up to the standards of this hotel.