Voyager Beach Hotel Reviews

Travel Date: July 07

Submitted in July 2007 by: Ruth - Yorkshire

Operator: Cosmos

this is our second time at the voyager and we are returning in jan 08. Hope to see you there! I cant recomend this hotel enough. AS a family we have fallen in love with the place and the people.
We have always said the world is too big a place to ever go...

Travel Date: July 07

Submitted in July 2007 by: Ruth - Yorkshire

Operator: Cosmos

this is our second time at the voyager and we are returning in jan 08. Hope to see you there! I cant recomend this hotel enough. AS a family we have fallen in love with the place and the people.
We have always said the world is too big a place to ever go back to the same place, but once is just not enough, i dont even think three times will be lol.

we are just wishing the months away befor we go back to see our friends Matano, bernard, wycliff, carol and martin.
If you get chatting to one of the barmen or animation team say you would love to see the real kenya, if you are lucky one may take you to see their home and family for the price of the taxi, if your daring enough its well worth it.
we will continue to go back each year and stay in touch with our kenyan friends via email and text, my son emails every week the girls in the adventures club.

the hotel has its own travel agents take a look at there trips before booking with your rep you will find them much cheaper as they use their sister lodges you are also insured unlike if you book from the beach boys.
all i can say is go see for your self this colourfull country.

Travel Date: July 07

Submitted in July 2007 by: Helen Lewis - Shorpshire

Operator: First Choice

Just Returned from two weeks at the Voyager and I must stay it was fantastic.

The staff were extremely helpful and friendly, in fact this was the friendliest hotel I have ever been to.

Food was great, high quality, with so much choice.<...

Travel Date: July 07

Submitted in July 2007 by: Helen Lewis - Shorpshire

Operator: First Choice

Just Returned from two weeks at the Voyager and I must stay it was fantastic.

The staff were extremely helpful and friendly, in fact this was the friendliest hotel I have ever been to.

Food was great, high quality, with so much choice.

Pools were clean and well maintained.

Water sports were great, I learnt to dive and was lucky enough to swim with a whale shark - it was amazing.

I would recommend not booking the safari (before you go) with the tour operator (e.g. as a package). If you do you will have to vacate your room at the Voyager whilst your away on safari. We booked two weeks at the Voyager (through first choice). I then booked the safari separately with D M Tours (located in Kenya), we therefore did not have to vacate the room I also saved a lot of money. I can highly recommend D M Tours, prior to booking I contacted them via email, they have lots of different safaris and cater for everyone. We chose which one we wanted, you then usually pay a 5% deposit and the remaining balance at the end of the safari, we however decided to pay the whole balance before we went (I phoned them up directly and paid by card). D M Tours have the best safari vehicles they use large Toyota land cruisers (with a flip up roof), the vehicles have lots of leg room and space. They seat 8 but D M Tours only take a max. of five people on the safari, on our trip there was only my husband and myself. From what I could see whilst out on safari, all the other safari companies use small Nissan mini buses, the people were crammed in with no space - it looked rather uncomfortable, these mini bus style vehicles also struggle on some of the tracks, in fact they could not go on some of the tracks we did in the land cruiser.

Best currency to take is Kenyan Shilling and US Dollars.

We got our visa at Mombassa Airport ($50 each), I would recommend downloading the visa entry form prior to going and filling it in. This saves a lot of time at the airport.

Have fun!!

Travel Date: April 07

Submitted in May 2007 by: Corinne Redwood Chris Leighton - Nottingham

Operator: Other

We spent 8 nights on the Hayes and Jarvis Masai Mara to Coast safari followed by 5 nights at the Voyager Beach in Mombasa during April 2007. Here follows a rather lengthy account of our trip - hope it is useful!

The Journey

We flew out from He...

Travel Date: April 07

Submitted in May 2007 by: Corinne Redwood Chris Leighton - Nottingham

Operator: Other

We spent 8 nights on the Hayes and Jarvis Masai Mara to Coast safari followed by 5 nights at the Voyager Beach in Mombasa during April 2007. Here follows a rather lengthy account of our trip - hope it is useful!

The Journey

We flew out from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Nairobi with Kenya Airways on a night flight, which took about 8 hrs and then back from Mombasa, also with Kenya Airways which was a direct daytime flight and took 9 hrs (this flight only operates on a Saturday, all others are via Nairobi). There were minimal delays in both directions and the in-flight service was adequate (2 meals were included and each seat had its own seat-back TV screen). You can book your seats in advance by contacting the reservations office for the country you are flying from (the UK no is 01784 888222). It is worth doing this as there were a number of people on our plane who had been split up from their travelling companions. The check in at Heathrow was open at least 3 1/2 hrs before departure and we had no problems checking in; at Mombasa, we had to queue for ages to get through the first stage of security, but other than that the check in was ok. On arrival in Nairobi, the visa desks had signs saying that they were only accepting dollars that but they did eventually let us pay in pounds. It's probably better and cheaper to take dollars if you can. You also need to fill in arrival and departure cards. We only had to wait a short while for our transfers to and from the airport, which were handled by Rhino Safaris. The transfer into Nairobi took over an hour due to rush hour traffic but the transfer from Mombasa was fine.

The Weather

We knew that we had taken a gamble by going at Easter as the 'long rains' start in April in Kenya. Luckily, the only daytime rain we saw was on the last full day of our holiday and whilst we were at the airport waiting to go home. The rain was in the form of torrential downpours which had everyone scooting for cover! The weather in Nairobi and for the first half of our safari was great - between about 25 and 30 degrees, but as we got nearer to the coast, our altitude dropped and it got hotter and hotter. When we arrived in Mombasa, the temperature was in the mid-30s and it was very humid. This meant that we only managed to do one excursion from the hotel as even small amounts of physical activity were exhausting. We were also only a couple of hundred miles from the Equator so the sun was very strong. The majority of other guests didn't seem to care about this and turned themselves lobster red each day, whereas we made sure our sun beds were always in the shade and we also saw guests swimming with t-shirts on to try and protect themselves from burning.

The Hotels

Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi (jacarandahotels com)

We stayed here for one night before embarking on our safari. The reception area is very nicely done with a high ceiling and comfy chairs. Our room was clean and comfortable - my only criticism would be that the vents above the door and in the bathroom let in insects and noise. We were left two bottles of water in the bathroom which was a nice touch. We had a nice lunch at the pool bar; the food at dinner was also good but took over 45 mins to arrive. There are banks opposite the main entrance and a large shopping centre behind the hotel with a supermarket amongst other things. We felt perfectly safe walking around during the day, but the Rough Guide advises that you shouldn't go out walking at night. The staff were helpful and friendly (although we did struggle to get a porter when we left) and overall we would be happy to stay here again. We did an excursion to the AFEW Giraffe Centre with Rhino Safaris while we were there - this was expensive at £20 per person when we only had about an hr with the giraffes. We could also have taken a trip to the elephant sanctuary - this was about £16 each.

Mara Sopa (website sopalodges com currently under construction)

This was the first hotel we stayed at on our safari and also the first of the 3 Sopa lodges that we stayed at in Kenya. The rooms are not particularly modern, but were large and well looked after, if a little dark. The electricity and hot water are only on at certain times of the day but these times are given at reception and in the info pack in your room. The 'off' periods are generally while you are on safari so did not cause us any problems. The food was very good and I particularly liked the décor in the restaurant. The hyena feeding is worth seeing if you can manage to stay up until 10 - make sure you get there a few mins early to get a good spot - there are good views from the areas either side of the main viewing platform (elevated a good few feet above the feeding area). The shop near reception had some good postcards. The pool area is not very big but we didn't have any problems getting some sun beds. There is a 'Masai Village' in the hotel grounds, just below the swimming pool. This is blatantly not authentic but worth a look if you have 5 mins to waste and don't mind being dragged round their Masai market afterwards. The hotel itself is no more than 15 mins drive from the nearest gate and you pass by a village on the way so the journey is not boring. We stayed here for 2 nights but could have happily stayed for longer.

Lake Naivasha Sopa (website sopalodges com currently under construction)

This was the second Sopa hotel on our safari and by far the best. The main building is stunning with its cathedral height ceilings, huge windows and open fires with lovely views of the gardens. Our room was equally impressive - large and beautifully decorated. When you arrive, they tell you that you should not walk in the grounds after dark without being escorted by a security guard as the hippos from the lake come out to graze. We were initially a bit concerned that this might be just a clever way to get more tips for the staff, but when our guard arrived, he shone his torch at an area about 10 feet away from us and there stood a massive hippo. There were at least 10 of them in the grounds that night as one of the other guards took us for a walk later to show us. The food at the hotel was great and so was the bar so we were really sorry that we had to leave after only 1 night!

Amboseli Sopa (website sopalodges com currently under construction)

This was the third and final Sopa hotel on our safari and our least favourite for a number of reasons. The paths to the rooms are badly lit and signposted, even if you have your own torch, and the guards were quite pushy about walking you back. The décor was quite nice but the floor was made of concrete and was not nice to walk on. The walls are also quite thin. We were visited by a number of creepy crawlies - this is obviously only to be expected on this sort of holiday but it did give us the impression that the rooms hadn't been maintained as well as in the other Sopa lodges. The main (and only) restaurant is not big enough to accommodate all the guests and we had to wait 30 mins for a table on our first night, only to find that some of the food from the barbeque was still raw. It was also about 30 mins drive from the park gates. The hotel did provide a good picnic breakfast for our first morning there and the views of Kilimanjaro from the pool were amazing but overall we were disappointed with it, especially in comparison with the other Sopa Lodges that we stayed at. As with other hotels, the electricity and hot water are only on at certain times of the day but these times are given at reception and in the info pack in your room. The 'off' periods are generally while you are on safari so did not cause us any problems.

Ngutuni Lodge, nr Tsavo East (rexresorts com/_africa/_ngutuni_safari_lodge/index html)

This was this final hotel that we stayed at on our safari and the only one which felt like a real safari lodge, rather than a hotel. We thought that the wooden architecture, open dining area and rooms were all lovely but the waterhole was the highlight as we were lucky enough to see a group of 10 elephants gathering there at dusk, along with a family of warthogs and a giraffe earlier that day. It was very hot while we were there but the fans in the room were adequate. The food was good but it does get quite dark in the dining room so you might find a torch helpful to see what's on offer. Also beware of low flying insects while you are eating - at least 2 of our party had crickets land on them while we were there. Overall we thought this was a nice little place and we would have been happy to spend some more time there.

Voyager Beach Hotel, Mombasa (heritage-eastafrica com/voyager_beach-resort html)

We spent 5 days here, recovering after our safari. We had paid for a garden view room but ended up in a sea view room overlooking the 'adults-only' relax pool. The room was a little bit on the small side but nicely decorated with good air conditioning. The site is quite large so the 'crew' organise 'tours of the ship' every day, which are useful as they don't give you a map when you arrive. We thought that the food in the main restaurant was very good, especially the puddings and the chefs cooking items to order at each meal. The drinks service was understandably slower when it was busy so we often go around this by getting our drinks from the lobby bar beforehand. The draught Tusker available on all-inclusive was often warm and flat and the wine was rather 'tart', so if you are fussy about your drinks then go half board and pay for the better brands. The lookout bar is nice in the evening due to the sea breezes and is also good if you want to escape the evening entertainment. The animation staff should be given full marks for enthusiasm, but watching them mime to Disney musicals wasn't our idea of fun. They also run excursions to local attractions every afternoon. We went to Ngomongo Villages with them (ngomongo com/) which cost about £10 each for transport and entrance fees and which proved to be an interesting few hours. The excursions offered by your tour operator start from about £50 for a full day so this was definitely a cheaper way to get out and about. The hotel shop is very reasonably priced and the bookshop has a massive range of titles. Apart from a few niggles, we really liked this hotel and would recommend it to anyone.


Hayes and Jarvis Masai Mara to Coast Safari

We chose this safari because it started in Nairobi and ended in Mombasa so we didn't need to retrace our steps too much and could take direct flights to and from the UK. We spent 1 night in Nairobi, 2 nights in the Masai Mara, 1 night at Lake Naivasha, 2 nights at Amboseli and 1 night at Ngutuni (Tsavo East). The first thing to note about this, and pretty much any other road based safari in Kenya is that the drives between parks are very long. Rough timings with one or two short breaks were as follows - Nairobi to Masai Mara 6 1/2 hrs, Masai Mara to Lake Naivasha 6 hrs, Lake Naivasha to Amboseli (via Nairobi) 7 1/2 hrs, Amboseli to Ngutuni 6 1/2 hrs, Ngutuni to Mombasa 2 1/2 hrs. Also bear in mind that at least half of each drive will probably be on dirt and grit roads so you will be bumping around all over the place. Sometimes the roads were so bad that we ended up driving on the edge of them at a 45 degree angle, which was a bit unnerving. We only got stuck once, in the Mara, and were able to dig ourselves out quite quickly in the dry conditions.

You will get a chance to stop at 'souvenir shops' on the way where the toilets will be conveniently located at the back of the showroom. You will get pestered to buy things but if you say no politely then they will leave you alone. The safari vehicle we had was more comfortable than I had expected, seating only 6 people in the back, but we all suffered from numb bums, cramped legs and overheating at some point. It's probably best to keep your oldest and most comfortable clothes for travelling days if you can. Also bear in mind that there are few, if any public toilets inside the game parks so you will have to ask your driver to find a convenient bush if you can't wait until you get back to the hotel (be careful if you do this as some of the bushes are very prickly - I caught my foot on one of them).

The game drives themselves lasted between 1 and 4 hrs, depending on the park and time of day. We were very lucky to see lots of animals on all our game drives, apart from the final one in Ngutuni. Highlights included a cheetah with 3 cubs, a large pride of lions, another pride devouring a buffalo and lots of baby elephants. We also went on a very nice boat trip on Lake Naivasha where we saw hippos, waterbucks and pelicans. The Mara was our favourite park as we saw the best range of animals there, but we also really enjoyed the picnic we had on Observation Hill at Amboseli and wished we could have had a bit more time in Tsavo. We normally left the hotel at 7am, but did leave as early as 6am on game drive days and as late as 10am when we left Lake Naivasha. You normally have time for an afternoon snooze at the hotels or whilst you are driving between parks (if you can sleep on those roads!).

In terms of luggage - Hayes and Jarvis appeared to have given different advice to each of us about the maximum weight that we could take. As this safari starts in Nairobi and ends in Mombasa, you have to take all your luggage with you. Soft sided bags really are best as the luggage is stored in the boot of the van and suitcases are much harder to fit in. If your luggage is too big then it will have to go in the main seating area so you will be even more cramped. We found it quite difficult to strike a balance between having enough clothes (as they get dirty quickly) or taking too much - but if you can stay nearer to 15kg than 20 then you should be ok. It's definitely worth taking a torch each, mosquito repellent and coils, an MP3 player or similar for travelling days, antibacterial hand gel or wipes for those toilets that don't have a sink, loo roll and, if you have room, little gifts to give to staff as tips - such as pens, clothes etc. Some of the hotels ask you to fill in a form, stating items that you have left as tips so they can be certain the staff haven't stolen things. I made a few of my own on our PC before we went, which was useful.

In terms of money, we found that things were more expensive than we had expected (1 litre of water was up to £2 in the hotels). We were on full board on the safari, apart from the first day in Nairobi, and then all inclusive in Mombasa, but still managed to spend £200 while we were there, excluding the drivers tip (we gave him £35 between the two of us). The safari lodges had very poor exchange rates so it is better to try and change your money before you go or while you are in Nairobi if you can.

Our safari was handled by Rhino Safaris who have offices in both Nairobi and Mombasa. We found that they were a very professional company and were particularly impressed by George, or main driver who really went out of his way to make our holiday enjoyable. We wouldn't hesitate to use them again and would definitely recommend this safari to anyone!

Travel Date: February 07

Submitted in March 2007 by: Sally - Lincolnshire (mid 30's)

Operator: Thomson

This was our first time to Kenya, but after the absolutely amazingly fantastic time we had it will certainly not be our last!

ACCOMMODATION
We stayed in a Superior Garden View room, which had 2 king-size beds, a/c, ceiling fan, tea-making faciliti...

Travel Date: February 07

Submitted in March 2007 by: Sally - Lincolnshire (mid 30's)

Operator: Thomson

This was our first time to Kenya, but after the absolutely amazingly fantastic time we had it will certainly not be our last!

ACCOMMODATION
We stayed in a Superior Garden View room, which had 2 king-size beds, a/c, ceiling fan, tea-making facilities, tv (which we never had time to watch), fridge, hairdryer, shower (no bath), and mosquito nets (which we used every night, but really there was no need to). The room was kept immaculately clean by the chamberman, George.
The whole complex was always spotlessly clean and well-maintained. A team of gardeners and cleaners were always very busy. Public toilets were inspected on an hourly basis and were always really clean. All staff were extremely friendly and very hard-working.

MEALS
The food was very varied and never became boring in any way. We very much liked the idea that the hotel is based on a ship which docks in a different country each day, and the menu in the main buffet restaurant tries to reflect at least some dishes of the country. There are also basics (eg salads, rice, breads, pasta) every meal. Many of the dishes are cooked in front of you to your liking.

The restaurant staff are all very helpful and very well-presented - every day they wear a different uniform, again representing the country of the day. A lovely lady called Janet (who cooks omelettes and pancakes at breakfast) asked my name on the first day, and remembered it right til the end - always greeting me each morning with a very friendly ";Jambo Sally";.

ANIMATION TEAM - ENTERTAINMENT
There are many animation staff at the hotel, each dealing in different aspects. For example, most of the female staff are for the children's Adventurers Club. Though we don't have children, I did notice that they seem to do a very wide range of activities and the children are very well supervised.

The male animation staff were all extremely friendly (especially Bakari, Martin and Dominic). They don't force anybody to join in if they don't want to, but still take the time to chat with you, especially if they notice you're sitting alone. I normally never get involved in entertainment activities, but I found the boys to be so much fun that this time I did and really enjoyed it. Other activities
organised by them were Beach Walks (handy for walking along the beach without being hassled by the traders, and to gain useful local knowledge), quizzes, bingo, memory game, etc. I attended several basic Swahili lessons - this may sound boring, but if you try a few words on the staff they seem to love the fact that you're taking an interest in their language.

Evening entertainment consisted of a mixture of performances run entirely by the Animation Team, and of local acts such as African bands and acrobats, which were all very good. During the fortnight, the Animation Team put on 4 musical shows - Cats, Wizard of Oz, The Lion King and Joseph. I personally found these to be really good, though some people complained they were too amateurish. Generally the entertainment finished by about 10pm, then there was dancing til about 11pm. The all-inclusive bar was available until midnight.

If you want to get away from the main entertainment, there's a quiet bar round near the snack bar which is open until midnight. Also, the lookout bar overlooking the sea is very quiet, but only serves until 10pm. However, you can order plenty of drinks before then, or get them from the other bars until midnight and carry them over. So you can always get away from the entertainment if it's not to your liking.

SAFARI
We booked our safari with Mustafa on the beach. We did a 3 day,2 night safari to Tsavo East/West and Amboseli. The price should have been £250 each, though we got it for £240. This includes all meals. (With the Thompson rep, a 3 day, 2 night trip to just Tsavo East/West would have been £281 each - and the tour companies use the same accommodation). He sold a wide range of trips, including air trips to the Masai Mara, all much cheaper than the tour companies, and allegedly fully-insured.

Initially I was somewhat wary of handing over so much money to a man on the beach, but there's no need to be. The same beach boys are there everyday, and rely upon the tourists at the hotel for their living. They know that if ever they ripped somebody off, word would spread and none of them would do any business. We gave him £50 each deposit, then paid the rest the evening before we went. You can pay in either KSH, £ or US$. He even ensured he was at the hotel gates at 5.30 am to ensure we got on the transport ok, which I thought was very good service.

The transport was a 10 seater minibus, but the company accepts no more than 6 guests for each trip, ensuring everyone gets a window seat. Once in the parks, the roof lifts up and it's great fun standing up as you drive along with the wind whistling past you. You do get extremely dirty though, so take some old clothes. You don't really need a hat as the roof shades you, and it'd most probably blow off. Take some wrapped boiled sweets or lollies, and some cheap biros on the bus with you - when you pass through some of the villages or stop off at a ";service station";, the children will jump for joy if you hand some out. And as you pass through the Masai Villages near Amboseli, people will be trying to sell things and accepts pens, t-shirts, etc in part-exchange!

Although it's a long drive back from Amboseli, it really is worth going the extra distance from Tsavo. There is far less vegetation in Amboseli, so you can see for miles and therefore stand much better chance of spotting lots of animals. We saw far more big herds of animals there
than in Tsavo, and was more how I imagined Africa to be. You also get good views of Kilimanjaro from Amboseli, as well as seeing typical Masai villages.

On our safari, we saw 4 of the big 5. We didn't see any rhino, despite going to the rhino sanctuary in Tsavo West. It's so overgrown that the rhino manage to hide well away from the roads. We did, however, see a leopard there.Our safari driver, Ali, was excellent and always tried to move the vehicle to where we could get the best views. He gave useful information about the animals, and was happy to stay at each sighting for as long as the guests wanted. Don't forget to take your binoculars though - they aren't provided on the trip.

The whole safari experience was amazing. The only downside was that it was an awful long drive back from Amboseli on day 3, but if you go prepared for that and make the most of looking at the scenery and villages as you drive through, it won't be too bad.

BEACH SELLERS
The men and women selling goods on the beach can be quite intimidating to start with, but if you do take an interest in their goods they'll initially quote a very high price. Try bartering - it's actually really good fun once you get into it - and you can normally buy things for about a third of their starting price. And if you're willing to trade a pair of men's dark socks or some pencils
or pens, you'll get an even lower price. We ended up buying quite a few wood-carvings.

INSECTS
I'd been very worried about mosquitoes, but at the Voyager we hardly saw any insects at all. The lovely lizards must do a great job! However, the lodge in Tsavo West did have loads of flying bugs, so best to take a good repellent and long sleeves and trousers with you for the evenings.

TIPPING
Normally I'm really tight when it comes to tipping, but here all the hotel staff are so lovely that I wanted to treat everyone! Obviously that's not possible, but there's a box near reception where you can put tips that will get shared amongst all the staff. And on the last day I also gave a few shillings individually to the staff who'd been most friendly and helpful. And the nice thing is that none of them actually expect it.

However, the airport porters on arrival were a different matter and basically ask for a tip. If you haven't got any small KSH notes, they will accept £1 coins. Our porter accepted US$1 notes, but others were turning their noses up at them! (Strange really, as the airport duty free mainly trades in US$.)

A FEW BITS OF ADVICE
Entrance Visa - don't bother buying one in advance. We printed a form off the website [----] and filled it in on the plane. (Otherwise, you'll need to fill it in at the airport, and therefore have to wait longer). You then hand it over with your US$50. It's not much quicker if you've bought one in advance, and you'll only have to wait on the transfer coach for everyone else.

Customs on entry - I was alarmed when a customs official asked if I had a video camera, thinking I would have to pay. This wasn't the case, they just note it in your passport as evidence that you took it in with you. However, they were charging people who took in cigarettes.

Drinking water - at the hotel, drinking water by the glass is free at the bar, but you have to pay for bottles. However, there are drinking water dispensers around the pool during the day, so if you take a couple of empty bottles you can fill these up there.

Money - there's a cash office near reception where you can exchange currency or traveller's cheques. The rate is slightly lower than banks at home, but no commission fee is charged.

Safes - there's an electronic safe in each room. The fee for using this worked out at about £20 for the 2 weeks.

Beach towels - are provided.

Electricity - British style 3-pin plug sockets are used, so there's no need to take an adaptor. (And my 2-pin mossie burner went into the socket with no problem, but there was really no need to use it.)

FOOTBALL SHIRTS - Gents, if you have any old season football shirts that you were planning on getting rid of, please take them with you to give to the locals. They love them and don't care how out-of-date they are. Also, any old t-shirts you don't want, take them and the locals are so grateful for them.

That's all I can think of for now. In summary, this was a wonderful hotel (worthy of far higher that the 3+ stars in the brochure), with extremely friendly staff, delicious food, and high-class accommodation. I would certainly recommend it to anyone, and hope to return in the very near future.

Travel Date: January 07

Submitted in February 2007 by: Rachel Natalie (Both 20)

Operator: First Choice

First and foremost i have to say how fantastic our entire holiday was. We really needed a break from everything, and at this time of year finding guarenteed heat and sunshine is the hard bit. First choice were fantastic on the 9 hour flight, which flew by w...

Travel Date: January 07

Submitted in February 2007 by: Rachel Natalie (Both 20)

Operator: First Choice

First and foremost i have to say how fantastic our entire holiday was. We really needed a break from everything, and at this time of year finding guarenteed heat and sunshine is the hard bit. First choice were fantastic on the 9 hour flight, which flew by with all the movies and games.

When we arrived in the resort we couldnt believe what we had got for the amount we paid. The hotel is based on the theme of a ship, and sticks to it, it works really well. so every different day they are docked in a different place, Eg, Mexico, China, etc.. and the food and activities reflect this. Its an excellent idea as it means the food and scope for activities (if unlike us you actually want to get off your sun lounger) isn't going to get repeative.

Our room was lovely, a lovely spacious balcony, overlooking one of the 3 pools (which we hadnt even requested, or paid extra for) all the rooms seem to have superb views. the blocks are never more than 2 storeys in height, with a thatched roof. The room was clean and simply decorated, with great air conditioning, plenty of built in cupboards, and a gorgeous marble based shower.

There is plenty to do, with 3 pools... 1 adults only infinity pool where silence/relaxation is encouraged, 1 pool by the sports bar, and one fun pool with music playing where all the acitvities happen. there is no squabbling for sun loungers, there is plenty to go around, and towels are provided at the pools.

The weather in january (we arrived 6th jan, left 13th) was perfect, the temp ranged between 32c-39c. First thing in the morning (about 8am) there was often a few clouds, but by 9am the sun had burnt through. In the morning there was little wind, but by early afternoon a nice strong breeze had picked up... lovely for getting a great tan without feeling scorched, and also there was many watersports avaliable which benefited hugely from the wind.

There was plenty to do for kids and adults, there was a kids club, but we didnt hear or see anything of them. the pool had many acitivies such as water aerboics and water polo... there was a watersports place with lots of NON MOTORISED watersports (most of which are included in the all inclusive) There is even a glass bottomed boat, which is def worth it, as stops to allow you to snorkle. there was the facilities for motorised watersports such as jet skis, just at neighbouring resorts, but you are collected from our resort, and returned to our resort.

The beach was beautiful, sand like sugar.... and turqiouse waters. if you like walking on the beach, then the beach is fantastic, as the sand is white it reflects the light, and so doesnt get hot, its also very compact so walking on it isnt like usual walking in sand (ie, not hard work!)

The staff is what really made our holiday, they could not have been better. literally nothing was too much. our rooms were cleaned daily... every time you walked past someone they said jambo (hello) and the pace of life is lovely and slow..... nobody is in a rush, which means you relax into holiday mode almost immediately.

The food was fantastic, each meal had enough to cater for even the most fussy people (my friend is usually impossible to feed, but wouldnt stop eating) including fresh stations where things were cooked to your taste, eg. pasta, or fish.

The all inclusive really is ALL inclusive. We spent about 50 pounds each, but purely out of choice.

We both had a massage in huts over looking the indian ocean, 1 hr aromatherapy massage.... for the equvivlent of 10 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, the general advice in kenya is not to leave your hotel too much. especially in the evening. however some of the hotel watersports staff, once proving themselves to be responsible showed us outside of the hotel. it really is worth trying to see the surrounding area. i would say one thing though... dont use anyone but the taxis called by the hotel, they are much more expensive, but will get you where you want to go in one piece.... the driving in kenya make europeans look tame.

I cannot tell you how much my friend and i enjoyed this trip, we shed a little tear taking off, and have been experiencing kenya-with-drawl symptoms!! (we also didnt realise how tanned we were until we got home)we are already thinking of booking for the same week next year!!!

ps, one word of warning. Being that the equator runs through kenya, the sun is much much stronger than anywhere i have been before (ive even been to tunisia, which is africa too) so beware. i would usually use a SPF 20, but had been warned so many times that i bought a SPF 35 with me as well.... after the first day both my friend and i turned to the SPF 35.. and trust me, you will tan through anything in kenya- that is if you tan.

Enjoy!