Having read the mixed reviews about this hotel I was a little dubious about going. The main reasons I went was because I have some German freinds who asked us to go on holiday with them and to go on safari.

We arrived after a very long and tiring journey to be greeted at reception by my freinds and an abundance of staff and a tray with lots of glasses of very cold tusker beer. The greeting was tremendous and check in was extremely painless. In fact we did it sat at the table drinking our beer.

Having finished checkin we were shown to our room which was very clean and included a huge double bed with mosquito net and adequate storage space for all our luggage. (safety deposit boxes in room payable extra and covered by insurance. A small deposit refunded when key returned at end of holiday.)

We dumped our gear and went to explore. Every member of staff from manager to gardener spoke to us. We were made to feel very welcome and we soon fitted into the Kenyan way of life.

We soon found out that apart from one other Brit we were the only other brits in the hotel. Mainly Germans a few French, Dutch and Italians.

We soon realised that it was a pleasant change as we had non of the usual winges about rooms with showers that only have very slightly salty water or "I cannot see the sea.""I want my room changing". Yes it is slightly salty water in the room but you don't drink it or clean your teeth with it. And we couldn't see the sea(only 2 minutes walk from room) but the hotel makes up for this by the very high standard of service that they offer.

We didn't have to do a thing for ourselves that we didn't want to. Drinks were brought to us. Our sunbeds were put were we wanted and towels laid out for us.

Food was served to us and excellent it was to. The portions were quite small but if you asked for more you could have it but after 3 excellent meals a day you would have to be an extremely big eater to not be satisfied.

Breakfast was the usual either continental or full English. Lots of fresh fruit and juices, pastries and jams.(eggs were the only thing you had to wait for as the chef cooked them fresh. Boiled or Poached were available you only had to ask.) coffee and tea were brought immediately you walked in and your order for toast taken at the same time. Coffee was superb Kenyan perculated and as much as you could drink. Served as you like it by a very attentive waiter who always seemed to know exactly when your cup was empty and arrived on cue to fill it up again.

Smiles and greetings of Jambo or good morning rang out from all the staff. A good start to the day.

You had a choice of eating in the snack bar or more formally in the dining room for lunch. We always chose the informal snack bar that had a choice of 2 soups and all the usual pastas, sandwiches, pizzas(made to order) and burgers. salads and chips were also on the menu. The menu from the dinning room always looked good but we did not try it so I cannot comment.

Evening meal(7:30pm) was always waiter served at your table with a choice of soup to start or salad bar(excellent) followed by a choice of meat, fish or vegeterian. Sweets were serve yourself. Tea or coffee.

The service was superb and very friendly and again if you wanted more you could ask and it was served to you.

The added bonus was that the red wine was quite drinkable and all your drinks from 10am (morning) until 12:30am (night) were all included.

There was an activity program organised by the animation team and a very enthusiastic Safari (acrobat comedian and all round entertainer) made sure along with the two other members of the team that there was plenty to keep you occupied from boccha, to darts, to arobics in the pool, to water polo, to volleyball to, swahelli lessons. If you wanted to do it they would do it with you. As well as once a week entertain you with acrobatics after dinner.

Night time entertainment included live band to local dancers and masai warriors doing what we could only describe as "pogo" dancing.(how do they manage to jump so high from a standing start)

The hotel could not be in a better spot. All the sunbeds are in the coconut tree gardens which means you can have shade or full sun depending on your preference. And to quosh all the winges about the germans nicking all the sunbeds, our beds were put in the same position every day with matresses and towels by a very efficient crew of garden attendants as were ALL the other holidaymakers.

The very blue and warm sea was straight in front of you and the hot sand was like talcum powder.(take your sunglasses with you as its the whitest sand I've ever seen.)

One slight drawback is that when you go on the beach the local beachsellers think you are fair game. A simple no thanks and keep walking usually stops them pestering you but they sometimes walk with you for quite a long time before they give up.

Security is on hand to stop the sellers pestering you in the hotel grounds. And also to stop the monkeys, who visit daily from nicking anything that isn't nailed down.

The hotel and the insides of the rooms are kept very clean and tidy as are the grounds. The outsides of the rooms could do with some paint but I'm sure this is down to the very hot and humid conditions that they have in Kenya.

Oh and yes it did rain nearly every night and all day on our last day. Their are lots of staff who costantly clean (toilets etc.) The reception staff are terrific as are all the barmen and waiters.

A special thanks to all of them including the manager who gave us a room to get changed and showered in at no cost on our last day. We did have to pay to keep the all inclusive (2800 kenyan shillings

The hotel isn't great. One thing that shocked me was that there is only salt water in the bathroom (shower and basin).
The staff were very good and very friendly.

The hotel caters mostly for the German tourist and the menu's certainly reflects that.

The restaurant will not allow you in unless you have long trousers on in the evening which, considering it's star rating surprised me.

The food was lacking but there is an outside meal once a week. I was expecting more curries but we only had this twice. What there is you get put on your plate and it's not that much.

Having said that, my daughter and I did enjoy our time there. We went to the Masai Mara incl the balloon trip which was truly fantastic.