Aestus Villas Resort — Hotel in Kinondo ward

We stayed for 4 nights as a family of four. The cottage had two bedrooms downstairs with queen beds and an open-plan attic with two single beds. There were two bathrooms with showers, one up- and one downstairs. There is also a fully-equipped kitchen where a private chef (available 8 am - 8 pm) can prepare meals for the family. ||||The cottages are well-maintained, fully-functional and clean. The beds are comfortable and have mosquito nets, which come in very handy as the area has a lot of mosquitos (mosquito repellant is a must!). There are two fans in each room and no a/c. The rooms were slightly warm in the evening, but cooled down overnight. Hot water was readily available and the shower pressure was comfortable. ||||The resort is resonably quiet, there are only three cottages, so three families staying. There is ample space at the pool. The pool has enough space and depth to swim around. The resort has a small gift shop as well and offers (very good!) massages. They also offer a laundry service at 800 Ksh per 8 kg load which will be returned to you dried and folded. ||||It's a short walk to a great sandy and empty (for European standards) beach. There are a restaurant and a cafe there which take credit cards. If you want to venture farther away, tuktuks are usually waiting for passengers by the main road and it is ca. 500 Ksh to go one way to the little shopping mall around the Carrefour in Diani. ||||Our chef Mary was an excellent cook with a broad range of international and local dishes. Her homemade samosas were better than most samosas we tried so far. The chef orders seafood and shops at the local market for you. Wine by bottle is available at the resort.||||Tips for future stays:||- seafood needs to be pre-ordered one day ahead; if your stay is short, coordinate food orders with the property before your arrival||- bring mosquito repellant and check your beds for mosquitos every night||- all extras must be paid in cash (USD and EUR also accepted), so make sure you have enough, because there are no cash machines in the area (need to take a tuktuk to a bank in Diani)||- you need to give your chef Kenyan shillings to do groceries (it was roughly 6-7k Ksh...

We stayed here for a week on a family holiday in Dec 2021 and I would definitely recommend it. Beautiful little compound with an excellent staff team led by Lucia and Rosie who all made us feel very much at home. There are 3 cottages and we had the largest one with superb chef Saidi!

Booked on Airbnb and flew from Nairobi to Ukunda - all very easy. If you are looking for somewhere to relax and get away from it all this is the place to be. Our kids enjoyed the swimming pool and exploring the beach which was excellent for running as well. Lots of really fresh seafood and fruit courtesy of Saidi which did us the world of good.

The Ukunda shopping centre is a 15-20 min TukTuk ride away so I would recommend taking plenty of cash to pay for food every day or two for the chef otherwise you will have to go back and forth. Make sure you have a Visa card and Mastercard as often ATMs take one and not the other.

We visited in December 2021 and it was clear that covid had made it extremely tough for locals due to the lack of tourism and I really hope this reality will change and improve as more people start visiting again. The beach boys selling trinkets on the beach were particularly persistent which did spoil the experience of being on the beach - it is a beautiful beach!

Apart from relaxing we did visit the local monkey sanctuary and take a glass bottomed boat out to a sand bar organised by Lucia and otherwise we enjoyed a few drinks one evening at the Lantana Galu across the road.

If security is a worry for you the villa compound is down a quiet lane and guarded with a high fence and there a military trained security guard at watch overnight who was very professional.

When you compare staying here versus a hotel for me there is no contest. Similar price but much more privacy and above all excellent fresh and varied food and our friends who stayed in a hotel down the road were not so lucky on that front! Clearly the area has to get back on its feet following covid and so experienced staff are limited. I believe Lucia looked after her team well during this time and so you will have an experienced team to...

The villas are beautiful and well-fitted into the surroundings, very comfortable although in need of renovation in some aspects, for example in the bathrooms. The pool area and gardens are very well pleasant as well. The villas are not as big as they appear in the photos but they were enough for us. There is no air conditioning, just fans in each room and I believe that they should not be possible because there are no windows but just nets to keep out mosquitoes. In September it didn't make a difference to us but in warmer months it can be difficult to bear the heat.||There is only hot water early in the morning and at the end of the day, but I think you can exceptionally ask for hot water to be turned on at other times of the day.||The staff, although few, are friendly, discreet and keep everything in order. There is a chef assigned to each villa who can cook all meals according to what guests request. Just tell him what you want to eat and he will buy what is necessary and present the bill. We had divine breakfast and dinner with chef Hesbone. He made everything with great care and affection and always with a special touch. Tips are optional.||The villas are a 200m walk from the beach but as there are no sun loungers on the beach we are always limited to choosing a beach bar to stay at which requires a minimum consumption. It is possible to lay your towel on the beach but the harassment of vendors is so much that it is impossible to relax. The beach is beautiful, although there is a lot of seaweed in some areas, but the vendors are unbearable. You really have to find a beach bar to stay in the sun. Lucia, the owner of the villas, gives plenty of guidance on how to do this.||The check out time is very early (10 am) and check in is very late ( 16 am). The Wi-Fi doesn’t work very well...