Hotel Hippo Buck — Hotel in Homa Bay

First off, the advertised rate of $24 is misleading. That is without taxes. True cost is closer to $40.|They advertise air conditioning and an airport shuttle. Not true, they have neither.|The lower priced room they offer is in the older part of the property, down a dimly lit narrow hallway. The room is dark, though adequate, and has a definite “dungeon” feel to it.|We opted for a more “American” style room with a balcony, costing 7,200 Kes (about $55 and included breakfast).|We stayed 2 nights (Fri/Sat). First night power went out / no power, No water.|We had the windows open and thank goodness they had screens in the windows. We did ask for a fan and an electric kettle. They brought us an upright pedestal fan which worked well when power was restored.|Our 2nd night (Sat) was quite a different story. I started hearing music about 5 pm, thinking it was coming from a gazebo near the restaurant. I asked the staff and they said it came from a disco across the road from the hotel. At first, it was just noticeable annoyance. A very loud driving disco bass beat. But it seemed to get worse as the night went on. We had the windows open since the room would be stifling hot if we didn’t. I picked up the phone to complain to the front desk. The room phone was dead / not even a dial tone.|The next morning we complained to the front desk clerk and asked to speak with the manager. He was off property, but they would call him. He called back and explained it wasn’t their fault since the noise occurred “off/property”. I asked for a full refund for that nights rate. He offered a 10% discount on a future stay and a late check out. There won’t be a future stay.|Overall, the property is nice, though older. The staff is nice as well. There are better choices in the area.|Also, the rate they gave us was for “pool view”. There was no pool - just an excavated pit where a proposed pool was supposed to...

Arrived late at night and were well received. For the affordable cost of 3000/- we took the basic room. Immediately impressed how clean the room was, and in the morning, we found all the amenities to follow suit. There was Wi-Fi in the room, which is rather seldom in Kenya. One usually has to resort to the lobby. That said, there was no signal the next morning as we sat in the beautiful open air, bird chorused dining area. The breakfast was good enough, so was lunch. We spent 4 hours rebooking some of our trip, and some small online business. The management refused any type of extra payment since we were undecided and did not depart from our room till 3pm. We looked at the other rooms, for 5,000/- the rooms had a TV, larger bed (ours was a twin), balconies and larger rooms. It was evident that the staff were treated with respect, and later confirmed by our waitress. She was the only staff in the past twelve days (7 accommodations) of travel which were released for Christmas. There is lots of garden space and a decent modern playground. Now the one bummer, the hot water did not work. Located 500 meters from the highway, it was quiet and serene. If we come by this way again, I would look forward to...

It's really a shame. The hotel is nice. It has a nice garden outside with seating areas that are cozy and great for some outdoor relaxation. The basic rooms are, well, basic, but clean and the water is actually really hot with good pressure. For the resident price, ksh2500 breakfast included, it was a good value and a nice change from the more basic hotels we 've been staying in along the way. They didn't have many guests so they do give resident rates to all, if they don't do it ask for it. I read that the turist rates are something like 7000ksh, definately not worth it. |And now, the food. If I could rate the restaurant alone, I would give half a star. Or no star at all. They brought us re heated yesterday's food. It looked awful and tasted even worse. We returned it and they told us, ok it's from yesterday but you should be safe. Oh thanks, that's a relief. No appology, nothing.|So, good place to stay on resident rates, avoid the restaurant. Turist hotel down the lakeshore has great dishes, try...