MAIYAN LUXURY RESORT, NANYUKI — Hotel in Laikipia County

I take reviews very seriously, so I’m going to try my best to be as detailed and honest as possible. I’ll start with the positives: the rooms and villas are tastefully designed. The views and location are gorgeous. The staff are very friendly. If the price point of Maiyan was more reasonable, I would have given it four stars. However, there were quite a few negative experiences that I had during my 2 day/2 night stay. The service is slow, to say the least. It wasn’t uncommon to wait an hour for a meal. The A la carte food was extremely subpar, but the buffets are really great. The rooftop jacuzzi and pool are an atrocity. The jacuzzi water doesn’t get any hotter than lukewarm, and on the second night when I requested it to be hot, I waited nearly 4 hours just to be told that it’s not working. Doing research now, I noticed that even up until 4 months ago, other reviewers complained about the same thing. The rooftop pool wasn’t cleaned the entire time I was there, it was filled with bugs and feathers. Not that it matters- it’s not heated at all so you can’t even enter the pool without getting hypothermia. The spa experience was disasterous. Despite booking a spa package for my friend and I over 2 weeks in advance, there was only one woman working the entire spa. A third person from our party joined us, and so 3 signature packages took 7 hours because the poor woman had to do it all alone. One other small annoyances: There is a 1000 shilling ($10 USD) tray charge on all food delivered to your room. It seems a bit irrational, considering how expensive the hotel is already, it seems a bit shameless to charge guests $10 every time a tray is brought to their room. I will end this by saying that this was voiced to the management at Maiyan. The tray charge for the first night was waived, and I was given 10% off one night of my room charge after the disappointing jacuzzi experience. My friend received 10% off of her spa package. Do I appreciate this gesture? Yes. Do these small savings amounting to less than 3000 shillings ($30) make up for a subpar experience at a hotel where we spent over 100,000 shillings ($1000) for 2 day stay? No. Long story short, I expected...

In this moment (pic) it feels amazing .. But I know there are many negatives to this place. That could so easily be fixed (but never are, probably never will) so here goes.

The entrance gate; they don't listen. They leave you parked up on the street outside before they decide it's ok to let you in. They bust my central locking system. By opening car doors without permission. Plus the other times they pick and choose how much to take off you at the gate. 2000ksh.. 3000ksh 🤦🏻‍♀️

The restaurant; 😂🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Laughable. Such a shame. Staff again, do not listen. Your happiness and satisfaction is NOT their priority. Food takes forever to be done and often many mistakes. Wrong salad brought out. Plates missing. Chips are ready but fish fingers will take another 10 minutes. Its not ok that 3 people out of a party of 10 sit waiting for their food. I had almost finished by the time theirs was brought out. Severely overpriced buffet lunch when visiting during busy periods. Staff walk around aimlessly. I was asked once .. "is everything ok madam?" "No actually, it could have been better". Respsonse- he smiled (smirked) and walked away. Why ask if you don't care! To eat here IS A CHORE .. NOT A PLEASURE.

The pool; personally the only thing I go for. It is the warmest cleanest pool in the area! Although lots of dust in the bottom today which isn't usually there. Tractor working beside the walls of the pool area. Creatimg noise and dust pollution. Staff by the pool side bar are always helpful, to a degree. He did not know and couldn't find out what the soup was today. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Towels are brought out by staff upon arrival. Lovely view and very relaxing.

Parking is fine and in shade.

Never been in the rooms so can't comment.

Roof top terrace with Jacuzzi and small pool. Freezing.

Upon exit, be prepared to walk through the dining area again to go get a car pass from reception otherwise the staff on the gate will be forced to use their brain for a solution to your...

Maiyan is truly a beautiful place, it has the infrastructure for a 5 star hotel, but the owners have gone cheap and hired cheap/untrained labour or service providers. First advise, hire a professional chef, food is really bad! Overcooked, over served and too mundane! It's like eating bad, overcooked, overserved wedding food! The portion sizes are too much and food too oily and cooked horribly! The rooms are poorly cleaned! And thes are COVID 19 times I.e., not sanitized, cleaning is pedestrian and attention to detail poor! Nothing works, not the much advertised/hyped jacuzzis or the rooftop "heated pool"; bathroom showers have no pressure, as in taking a bucket bath would work better; then the the toilets have a stench of a poor sewage system and very weak (low pressure) flushing system! Waiters wear protection masks on their chins!!! Do not give confidence of food safety at all. Overall, horrible experience! I would never recommend especially if you are one to value attention to detail and look for value for money! Place is over priced! Hotels need to realize that service and attention to detail is what makes a place 5 star! If you have to stay here, only pay for B&B! The rooms are beautiful, as in well built and so are the gardens; but, that's all there is to this place! So you would rather stay at Le Rusique in Nanyuki town! If I owned Maiyan I'd overhaul the management completely! And be more present! Supervision is lacking, or rather, supervision that know what good quality food, service and cleanliness looks like and demands it...