Kilima Kidogo Guest House

We were unhappy guests. The hotel cat seemed to have gone days without food or fresh water, and we were very concerned about it. The staff and locals, though I couldn't tell who was who, were noisy at the “restaurant,” loudly watching football and playing pool. It served only a bare-minimum breakfast, with no lunch or dinner. One day they ran out of eggs, and another time there was no milk. Staff hygiene was poor, and they really should use some sort of deodorant. The first room we were given had no working air conditioning, so we moved. Once we had settled into the new room, there was no water, and the pump had to be switched on. We had to ask every day for the water to be turned on.

The pool and pool area were really good, and the cleaning staff were kind. We ended up eating elsewhere during the last days of our stay, though, and wouldn't recommend staying here. The manager wasn't open to our request to shorten the booking after we talked to him on day two, so we had to stay. The hotel has a lot of potential, but nobody seems interested in improving it. On arrival, we weren't checked in or given much information. Our luggage was taken to a room, where we were left. The power was off, so there was no water either, and it took one to two hours to come back. This happened several times. Our room had three separate beds, though we expected a double. That wasn't the main disappointment, but it should be mentioned. There were loud machine noises at night, and we slept very badly. The windows were broken and had gaps that let lizards into the room. The bathroom was the worst part: in poor condition, dirty, with a disgusting shower full of lime, and no door, so it was effectively part of the bedroom. The AC had no remote, leaving the room either too hot or too cold when the power worked. Towels were broken, dirty, and looked like they'd been used for 20 years. Luckily, we'd brought our own. Wi-Fi was extremely bad, so it's not something they should advertise. Food was also a problem. On our first night, the waiter brought one of our two dinner dishes and then told us they lacked ingredients for the other one. The food took so long that we shared what we'd received and went to bed hungry. Several dishes were unavailable on a few occasions. I'd call the food average, okay but nothing to recommend.

We enjoyed our week here, and room no. 5 had an amazing view. It's a quiet, clean, very nice place for a honeymoon, with a lovely pool and helpful, friendly staff. But room rates and the restaurant are sooo expensive compared with hotels of similar quality. The people in charge seem to love money and want dollars instead of local currency, using an exchange rate below the market rate to drain foreigners and tourists. I'd recommend a maximum of three nights. That's enough.

The beautiful beach and quiet setting were appealing, and the swimming pool was nice. The place looked a little run-down, and the air conditioning didn't work. There was no drinking water in the rooms and no beer at the bar. Service and hospitality were average. I might not stay there again.