Peponi Hotel

The staff were very helpful and friendly, and the owner was always around to make sure we were having a good time. I also appreciated the sense of safety there. Peponi Hotel is a lovely gem in Shela, in a great spot with breathtaking ocean views. I really enjoyed my stay.

Even when the other restaurants are quiet or empty, this is clearly the place to be in Shela, buzzing in the evenings. There's a huge menu and the food is delicious. Dinner service was excellent and quick. Mornings were different: it took a while to get a waiter. The smoothie arrived fast, though it was warm, about room temperature, so a little ice would help.

This was my first visit, and right away it became one of my favorite hotels in the world. It has a unique, personal, intimate, fun atmosphere, effortlessly cool, like an Ett Hem in Kenya. In response to a recent review below, which seems very much an outlier, the food is objectively excellent. We travel around the world to eat, and I can't think of many places where I'd happily stay and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner for several days running, if any. The menu is varied, the dishes well executed, the value is good, and the service is lovely. On the Octopus ragu with gnocchi comment, I think they were objectively wrong. It was a sensation! Will be back. Hopefully the morning swim club is still running ;)

Guest Services gave us the warmest welcome, the kind you get in Kenya. Kevin did a great job handling my reservation and requests months ahead, and we felt we belonged from arrival through to farewell. The airport transfer was comfortable and smooth. Virginia gave us the best 90-minute massage on our veranda. The food is outstanding, and that's a big part of why people come. The grounds could look better. At first glance, more could be done with the plants and general neatness, and the bathroom could use a refresh, especially the shower's stained small white mosaic tiles. My one extreme disappointment was the unbearable noise at 11:30 on our second night, coming from the restaurant and bar area. After trying to sleep, I went out in my kikoi to see what was happening. With an 11-hour time difference from Canada, it was hard enough to sleep without rowdy, non-paying guests who didn't seem to care about the noise. Management dealt with it immediately, but they could have prevented it by enforcing rules, if any, about late-night noise from outsiders. They apologized the next morning, but the damage was done.