Taphe Guest House Resort

The food alone made the five stars feel deserved. Our chef was a master, turning out fresh, varied local dishes every time, and everyone in our group was happy with the meals. Even our guides said they rarely get food of that quality. The place deserves more recognition, though some facilities are quite old and not everything works properly.

The room looked like an old Soviet hospital, and the walls and ceiling were damp and wet. The bathroom door wouldn't close, so there's no privacy if you want to shower or use the toilet. Water stopped completely throughout the hotel, hot and cold, in the middle of my shower. I was left half naked and covered in shampoo while waiting for the staff to fix it. It took 30 minutes. The staff really were kind, and I want to be fair about that, but the rest of the experience was bad. I'd try to avoid this place. If you have to stay, at least avoid taking a shower.

The food was some of the best I've had so far during my week in Kenya, and the staff were always smiling, friendly and helpful. I stayed two nights at Taphe Guesr house without any problems. My upstairs room was nice and clean, with the toilet and shower together, so the toilet gets wet when you shower. Nothing special overall, but enough for a safari stay. Internet was slow and only available in the public area, though I was on vacation rather than a business trip. There was a lovely garden to relax in. Some parts of the resort were still being built, so only the main section was finished. I'll add some pictures to give an idea.

The rooms were clean and decent, if a little rustic, and breakfast was fine. But the Wi-Fi was very weak, so this isn't somewhere to do serious internet work unless you have another connection. I also really disliked that the TV was controlled centrally from reception, which meant we couldn't choose our own channels. We had to watch cartoons because a family with children had been booked in. It was boring, and the old tiny box TV took ages to start and had poor picture quality.