Watamu Beach Club Reviews

The hotel is run by africa Safari Club and is pretty basic by european standards - but posh by Kenyan.

The staff are fantastic - and I am not including the mangement team in this although I could see improvements since our last visit - new manager in charge. The food had improved - it is not great but perfectly adequate and going out to eat is cheap and gives you a break from the hotel. we went for 4 weeks and would have got really stir crazy without having contacts 'on the outside' from our earlier trip. You can go anywhere at night without any worries - it really is a safe location, just be firm if you don't want company and say ";I want to walk alone today"; and most will respect that.

we travelled as a group of women and having been on the hotel safari the year before we booked through local operator Rafiki Safaris - you will find Raymond Kingi Katana on the beach (or in his office just off the beach) and I recommend him because we travelled as a group of women and found him respectful and incredibly helpful. we were really well looked after and his efforts really made the holiday. You get good value and no hassle! I recommend safaris to the masai mara (travelling from Malindi so you don't have that awful journey to the ASC airfiled and getting up ridiculously early) and a full day trip to Mida Creek - make sure you get all included snorkelling, park fees, lunch etc. Some will sell you a half day for the same price. We had lobster, prawsn, octopus soup and coconut rice and barbecued meat and I can still taste it now - fabulous!

After reading the other reviews on the site, we were a little apprehensive about going to the Watamu Beach Club/ASC but as we had already booked there was not much that could be done!

The flight is fine, a lot of people mentioned upgrading, but you only get a couple of inches extra leg room and no other ad-ons in flight - even the people in 1st class didn't have a tv screen in front of them! As soon as you arrive in Mombassa you are approached by guys who want to take your suitcase the couple of steps to the bus and then expect money from you. Get used to this, because while you are in Kenya, everyone will expect / ask for money from you all the time (you will be completely sick of it after 2wks) While it is a long transfer, and the coach is rickety and old it really isn't THAT bad. Do not believe the people that make out that your life is at risk etc etc - just prepare yourself for a slightly uncomfortable journey.

Our biggest shock is the resort - you are struck by the poverty from the point of getting out of the airport, and this certainly doesn't change on reaching Watamu. We may have been a little niave in what we expected, but Watamu is v much underdeveloped. The structures are huts - the pubs/bars that have been mentioned are larger huts.
The hotel is comfortable enough, it is basic, however we were made aware of this on booking. Your bedroom will consist of a fan / aircon, beds, mosquito nets, bedside tables and toilet facilities. Find out who is responsible for cleaning your room, and give them a tip so that they keep it nice and clean for you. We did this 1wk in to the holiday and the difference was amazing. The food gets v repetitive, but is nice. Take a few snacks from home - crsips, chocolate etc as you do not find it in or near the complex and you will be amazed as to how much you will crave a bag of Walkers!

We chose this holiday as we wanted to relax. We just did not feel that we were given the opportunity to do so. Whenever we tried to venture outside of the hotel, we were immediately approached. Even in the sea you are followed in by people trying to sell you anything from keyrings, to wooden carvings, to safaris. EVEN when we tried to do a camel ride we had people trying to walk alongside us asking to braid our hair. You will not get left alone, and as soon as you get rid of one, the other person appears. You will get some that will tell you that there are 'deadly sea urchins' and 'sea snakes' which you could come across if you venture out on your own in the sea- but if you're with them you'll be fine. Do not believe them! You will not come across any deadly sea creatures! If you venture out to the village, again you will be approached repeatedly, and we had the unsavoury experience of being surrounded while store keepers argued about where we should buy our goods from.

We booked our safari through Abdul the Mayor to the Masai Mara. It was bloody amazing and the only really good thing that we took away from the holiday. The price difference was a little cheaper than ASC, and we got to fly from Malindi (15mins away) rather than Mombassa (2hrs away) We saw lions, cheetahs, monkeys, hyenas - it really was fantastic.

I will certainly NOT come back to Kenya - while the people are friendly, they always ended the conversation in a way which asked for money or for us to purchase something. I can not recommend the safari experience enough. If you have the money, fly in to the one of the camps (the one that Abdul put us in was fantastic) and make a holiday of it there for a week (2weeks is too long)

Check in at Gatwick, fine, flight fine. Worth upgrading to economy plus. Bus to take you to the hotel needs to go to the scrap yard, which made a very interesting journey, as the roads were very bad.
On arrival at the hotel everything seemed fine, however the rooms were basic which we were expecting, but ours had dirty stained pillows and bedspreads, the bathroom had odd tiles on the walls, to replace ones that had fallen off and plaster was flaking off the walls and there was mold on the tiles.
The switch for the air con was hanging off the wall and was bound together with tape, and a blue flash came out of the back when you switched it on and off.

When i went to the rep to complain and to request to change rooms, his reply was they were full up so i would have to stay in room 133, and then pointed to his head and suggested that i should ajust myself, he was just rude and not interested.
The main hotel building itself is quite nice and comfortable, and the hotel staffs are pleasant and helpful, however the food is ok and does get a bit boring.Venture out, it makes a pleasant change.

For the second week we had booked a 4 night safari, we were collected at 6 in the morning the driven to mombassa (2hrs away) to collect another guest,we were then driven to tsavo east, which took another 4 hours (tsavo was only a couple of hours form out hotel) so we spent 4 hours in a mini bus on bad road which was not really nessasary.
We arrived at crocodile camp that evening, which is way better than the hotel, the following afternoon we left there and took a flight to the Kilamanjaro camp, which is like butlins in the 1950's, just awful, rooms were dark and dingy, smelt musty and damp and just wanted to get out of there, also they just seem to drive you round in circle, never been in a game reserve before with sigh posts.

After that we took another flight to Buffalo camp, situated just outside the Masai mara, a bit better but not much, still old pillows and bedding, but the camp itself is in a nice location.
The next moring we went on a full day safari and quite a full people started to suspect that we were not in the game reserve itself (for which we had paid entrance fees to ASC)we looked at guide books and maps and became more convinced, however we asked the new manager who came out to meet us at lunch, when you meet up with the other jeeps (which also ought to be sent to the scrap yard)and asked the question, he said he would discuss it with us back at the lodge, but then cleverly avoid us, or kept saying he would see us later, it never happened.

On arrival back at the hotel we were sent to another room, which was slightly better than 133, but the air con didn't works, but was fixed that day.

The trip back to the airport was on a better coach, but the driver drove like a mad man.

Flight back was fine.

I would not go back to Watamu Beach Club, infact would not travel with ASC again, we just had the feeling that the whole set up is being run into the ground, everthing old and tired, and no re-investment.If you were there a few years ago it was proberly fine.

If you are going there, do not book your safari with them, but go outside the hotel and if you lool over slightly to your right there is a row of shop second of the left, go in and ask for the man they call the major, and book with him, you will stay in really nice lodges, and he has far better jeeps.

We have been on quite a few safaris in other african countries and stayed in some wonderful lodge, ASC lead you to believe that all of them are like their's they are not.

Also if you do use this hotel, and when you get there they say you are in room 133, refuse if there and then, but don't complain to the rep, because he couldn't care less.

Infact don't use ASC, there are better companies out there.

the flight to mombasa was long not help by the cramp conditions on the plane. our bags arrived within a short time but the que out was long as the majority of passanger were getting their visa on arrival, we has planed in advance for this as this was our second visit to kenya.

two vans arrived to collect us to take to our hotel, a well equip and modern van, too the passanger that that paid the extra upgrades and something that looked liked it was made in the 1950s for the rest of us, for the two hour trip to our hotel, it was long and painful, following the eight hours on the cramp plane.

we were met at the hotel, with warm towels, drinks and a quick booking in system, oh and a collecting from the driver before we left the bus.

the hotel was clean and basic, we had no air conditioning in our room, i had expected a fridge but was told that this would cost us an extra £30 per week, the safe cost use £30 for the two weeks, a good investment as my husband had his pocket pick in the hotel, but only a £50 travels cheque got stolen.

we had to pay our drinks by signing a slip, the charges were in euros, if you are not familar with euros, you will end up spending more than you think, we did.

the food was basic, very very basic and in fact a group of people put in a complain to the manager at the start of dinner on night, they were told what did they expect this was africa!

i did not have too much of an issue with the food, the choice was beef or fish, i lost weight, but not a bad thing.

the beach was fantastic white sand, the the tide going out, which meant that you could walk out to the coral reef most days, be prepared to put up with continual hurrassment from the beach boys, do not tell them your name. however we did get a tour of the coral by a couple of them, their knowledge of the beach and the wild life was worth the couple of pounds that we then had to pay them. the villages were friendly but again the hurrassment at times was too much.

the staff were friendly and there were lots of activities layed on to keep you entertained.

our room was clean every day and bed changed every two days. it rained one day so we took the opportunity to visit the reptile farm and some of the historical sites around the area. we taxi driver was very friend, but again we were taken to place were he wanted us to go, he got commission from, each place that we visited and spend money.

we have made friends on our holiday not only with holiday makers, but some of the locals as well and will be corresponding with them.

the villages appears poor, but their standard of living on insight did not seems that bad, in comparison to other places i have visited in kenya. we left clothes on departure, take things that you don't mind leaving behind.

our journey back to the airport, was in a older bus in worst condition than we arrived in. the driver stop on route and told us that he had a fly in his eye, this was after bumping the road side and giving us a fright. he then told us that he needed an eye operation and would be greatful for contributions. that was the the most frighten ride i have every had, and that included the rides at alton towers.

but our biggest shock came on departure, at the airport, we were charged £5 per kg for excess, we paid £60. on checking my receipt on board the plane, they had only receipted for £20.00.

all in all we did enjoy the holiday, but i think that we would not be traveling with african safari club again

the last point i book our holiday with last minute.com, i met other on the holiday who had book a year in advance with other travel agents and who paid half the price that we did, shop around.

We had a wonderful holiday here but expect a long transfer to the hotel from the airport about 2-3 hours(longer if you have to pick up a fellow traveller who went to the wrong hotel)On arrival at Mombassa you can expect it to take some time to get through imergration so if with young children take a drink from the plane with you as the arrivals hall is hot and stuffy with long ques. The transfer by the holiday company was well organised but the roads are bumpy it is an underdeveloped country after all and the journey hot so buy some water at the airport before you get on the bus.

The arrival at the hotel was lovely and the staff greet you singing a welcome and checking in was very quick we had a beach frount bungolow with shower and toilet lovely seperate area for the bed with mosquito nets and a seperate bed by the window for my little boy with his own net. There was air conditioning in our room but the bungelow rooms on the hill did not have aircon.The main problem experienced by most people we met was mosquito bite and this seemed to be worse the futher back from the beach you were. we took tesco insect repellent and this worked fine we had only about one bite each. (you need several cans for a two week stay.
The staff were very helpful and friendly they couldn't do enough for you and the entertainment staff were also excellent.

The restaurant was fine and the food was ok but a bit samey after two weeks. we went to hemmingways one night for dinner for a change and had a fish supper which was very good. I can also recogmend the pizza restaurant across the road from the hotel.

The beach is brilliant and the sunrise is not to be missed also when the tide goes out you can walk out a long way and explore all the little islands and rock pools. but expect the beach boys to follow you they can be a bit of a bother but they do stay away from the frount of the hotel. we found Mambo very helpfull he is a beach boy and he said if you said his name to the others they would leave you alone which seemed to work.
it is also safe to walk arround the village but again the locals will try to sell you anything and everthing.
If staying with children ther is no kids club but the pool has games each day there is a mini golf course and a tennis court and a bowling alley they can also get games from the sports desk. There were only a few children there when we stayed but they made freinds and had a very good time.
The walks organised by the entertainment teem are worth doing and take couple of hours,the beach walk was excellent.

The Red Elephant 2 day safari was so good words are hard to describe it and staying at the crocodill camp was an experience not to be missed.WE saw so many animals in the two days I was awe struck. It is a long two days with early starts but well worth it and my 7 year old found it so intereting he was quite most of the time a rare event with a 7 year old.

The holiday company are very well organised and efficient I had read some negative reports before we went but I found them untrue when we went I cant fault the service and care they gave us I would recogmend them to anyone. all I can say is go go go and enjoy but remember you are in africa and it's a different world you will have an excellent adventure