Diamonds Malindi — Hotel in Malindi

Freshly back from our vacation at Diamonds Malindi, I would like to share our experience.||We have stayed in 4 and 5 star hotels all over the world, including several times in Africa, so we certainly have something to compare them to. Zanzibar was one of them 4 times, so we know very well that you have to use a different level of classification for African hotels.||Our experience was somewhat mixed. It was advertised as 4.5 stars and a complete renovation in 2024. We had booked a junior suite with its own pool and premium all inclusive. The newly built pool was really very nice and was cleaned and maintained every day. We had room T001, which apparently had not been renovated and for sure not even completely renovated. The bathtub was leaking, the toilet flush was broken, the patio door was broken and so on additionally it was also worn out - for us it did not meet the standard in any way.||What exceeded the standard, however, was the reaction to the shortcomings being pointed out. The damages were repaired immediately and a clarifying discussion with the resort manager Timothy was offered and carried out. He was really present everywhere, as you would expect from a good resort manager asking guests if they are satisfied.|Which brings us to the staff. Whether gardener, pool boy, beach boy, waiter or resort manager, they all deserve a 6-star rating. That is really the highlight of this hotel and deserves absolute admiration. You had the feeling that service is not just offered, service is lived and done with pleasure.||And on top of that there was Sammy, our butler, who was without a doubt unbeatable. If I had a luxury hotel, I would hire him straight away. Exceptional and a huge thank you to him again, we have never experienced such customer-oriented service anywhere else.||The staff also managed to overlook many other shortcomings due to their friendliness and manner. There was no Coke available on one occasion, cocktails were not possible because something was missing, only a limited selection of beer - this should also be worked on, especially since the hotel was only about 50% booked. The availability of goods also did not really deserve the rating. Something can be missing sometimes, but something different every day does not seem entirely logical to me.||As for the food, it should be said that taste is always subjective, the Terrace restaurant and the Onda absolutely met the standard. Excellently presented, very good taste and with great service, both restaurants were really high level. Generally the selection at breakfast could be adapted to the 4.5 star category. No selection of sausage or cheese and what is offered is not really up to par.||The buffet restaurant is also in urgent need of renovation. Starters and salads were served uncooled and in plastic bowls with plastic lids, the entire buffet as such had certainly not been renovated for a long time and did not give a particularly inviting impression. You "eat with your eyes too" so here also the fantastic food taste is clouded by the infrastructure.||But here again, the head chef deserves special mention. He checked that everything was OK in all the restaurants and spoke to us at every meal. 6 stars for him.||There is an urgent need for action with sun loungers and umbrellas. If the hotel is more popular, I can't imagine what will happen. There are 6 umbrellas and a maximum of 30 loungers on the beach, and the pools are not better stocked. Please increase the number urgently.||There are many smaller and larger "construction sites" in the hotel, but anyone who is willing to overlook one thing or another will really feel like a king here.||I would really ask management to try to keep this staff and invest in the infrastructure and availability of goods as soon as possible.||Not at least thanks to the people I have already mentioned and people like Mure, Nicholas, Peter, Honsea, Laura,......we will be back, provided the suites with private pool are really renovated, the standard of the Terrace restaurant and Onda restaurant is kept and the wonderful people are still there.||There was one more point of criticism that I don't want to post publicly here, Laura knows about it, I told her when we left, otherwise my private email adress is also available in the hotel for any questions or picture you want that.||We would really like to see everyone again and also to see whether the guests' suggestions are implemented. Zanzibar standard - that´s what I think - could also be achieved in Kenya, Diamonds Malindi would have the prerequisites...

Check in was great: chilled drink, cooling face towel, efficient and friendly . Then - record scratch - the dream holiday ended. We were booked on an All Inclusive basis, staying in a Garden Village room with pool view. The rooms are in dire need of maintenance and redecoration, and I notice that on recent Instagram posts they post other grades of rooms but not these - there’s a reason! Various maintenance issues in our room, some of which were fixed when reported, some not (broken taps, in room telephone not working, poor air conditioning etc) The beds were like laying on concrete they were so firm! Mind you, higher rated rooms and suites are not in great locations - some near reception so constant noise, others near staff maintenance / storage areas, roads or the bars, and the private villas aren’t really that. Some are open (eg: next to Terrace restaurant) and they have interconnecting paths so you can walk across them all. Generally though, the gardens are well maintained, and the beach view is lovely (be prepared for a tough sales pitch if you go anywhere close to the wall though - we counted 37 beach hawkers some days, all just for Diamonds!)|There was never enough furniture in public places like the beach area and pools, so if you didn’t get a sunbed by 10am, it wasn’t worth trying. (We saw beds reserved with towels the night before) Onde restaurant menu very limited during our stay (out of around 7 items on the menu 4 were never available; 3 varieties of pizza and the calamari) and there were never enough seats for the beach tables which ended up standing empty, or you could drag chairs from inside the restaurant to that area if you wanted but the staff weren’t always happy for you to do this.|There never seemed to be enough beach towels, towels in the room or toiletries, and we found ourselves constantly asking for them. After asking for beach towels one morning, I was told “30 minutes” as they had not been washed & dried due to a power cut in the night. I asked again over an hour later and was told “I told you already, 30 minutes”. When I asked for a third time after lunch I was told “just stop asking, we have no towels”!|The Terrace was our preferred restaurant for breakfast - felt like a very civilised start to the day! The staff there are also great - helpful and friendly. |We went on safari at Kudu Camp, which was the highlight of our trip, and the food there was excellent - the best meal of our holiday. Thanks to Diego and Rodgers for organising. |All in all, this wasn’t the best holiday we have had, but it wasn’t the worst. Would I recommend Diamonds? Probably not, and I probably wouldn’t return in a...

We stayed at Diamonds Malindi for two weeks and sadly, it fell far short of expectations for a hotel marketed as 5-star. Having travelled extensively, including across Africa, I can say this resort does not meet that standard.||Positives first: the location is excellent, the outdoor areas are beautiful, and the Terrace Restaurant was outstanding – both the food and the staff were superb. These were the highlights of our trip.||Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives:||After our first night, the air conditioning in our room leaked badly, flooding the floor. Despite maintenance being called, it got worse. We were refused access to the manager and offered a child’s room instead. Across the holiday, we were forced to move between three different rooms, and our son had to move between two, which ruined the start of our holiday.||Even in the new rooms, maintenance problems continued: air conditioning broke twice, the shower handle came off, the door handle came off, and even the in-room telephone didn’t work.||Basic service was poor: towels were often missing, beach towels were never available (staff even told us we “didn’t need them”), and we had to reuse the same towels for five days.||Severe shortage of sunbeds: only 4 at the Terrace pool, 10 at the Garden pool, and 12 at the Beach pool. Even by 8am, no beds were available at the beach.||Bars were badly run: service ranged from 5–45 minutes, and staff often disappeared. The pool bar rarely had ingredients for the menu, forcing staff to fetch drinks from Jahazi. At Jahazi, staff constantly disappeared into the back. On one evening there were no glasses, so we were served pints of gin & tonic and rum & coke. Coca-Cola was also unavailable at times.||Onda Restaurant had a very limited menu (three of the items were pizzas), yet for the first week pizzas and calamari were not available at all. For such a small menu, this was unacceptable.||Many areas are in poor condition. The pool by the Terrace Restaurant is missing many tiles, and the rooms are very tired and in need of refurbishment.||This said there are some superstar staff working at the hotel and include Terrace Restaurant staff (Raphael. Nancy, Magdalene and Shukubu) and other staff of mention are James, Laura, Julius, Charles and Laurine. ||Overall, this was a very disappointing holiday. The location and some staff (particularly at the Terrace Restaurant) were excellent, but the constant problems, lack of facilities, poor service, and refusal by management to deal with issues meant our stay was not what we paid for.||Diamonds Malindi is sold as a luxury 5-star hotel – in reality, it is...