Bamburi Beach Hotel — Hotel in Shanzu ward

I stayed at Bamburi Beach Hotel for two weeks and whilst all staff were friendly and helpful the whole hotel is in dire need of a complete refurbishment, plus there are some serious issues with the fabric of the building posing a threat to health & safety.||We arrived in the early hours and was met by Matthew and given something to eat and drink. My friend wasn’t able to get into her room as the key did not work and was moved to another room.||I had read the reviews on Trip Advisor so I wasn’t expecting a luxurious room but I wasn’t expecting it to be so shabby. Taps and shower-head were full of limescale, with the tap on the shower coming out of its seating. I had to move room the day after arrival due to patio doors not locking, phone not working, AC having no remote control, no plug in sink e.t.c.||The safe’s are analogue, I wouldn’t say they were that secure and are in open view. There are no cupboards for your clothes and belongings, just open shelves. The fridge in mine and my friend’s room were very old a noisy. The bed is hard and so are the pillows. The towels are old and tattered and not very clean despite requesting fresh ones daily..||The whole room is dimly lit, with big gaps under the entry door allowing insects and mosquitoes to get in easily. There are no mosquito nets and rooms are not sprayed so please ensure you take an insect repellent plug with you.||My friend moved rooms three times. She had water ingress on the ceiling and after it rained she noticed water dripping from the ceiling, while the hotel tried to fix this, the water got into the electrics which plunged her room into complete darkness when she switched the light on when we came back from an evening out.||On the day I checked out I had no cold water, and couldn’t shower in my room. Lots of water was pouring from the one above me, which was my friend’s old room !||The hairdresser and spa at the hotel is closed and doesn’t look like it’s been in use for a very long time and the main restaurant is very hot with only a few ceiling fans, so it can be unpleasant to eat in there.||The food is quite bland and repetitive and the wait to get an omelette or fried egg can be significant, you can’t help yourself to fried bacon and no scrambled eggs are on offer. We ended up going to Yuls next door and paid for some decent food and wished we had found it earlier.||Another issue we had during our first week was the very large delegation from Nairobi (over 60) who stayed at the hotel for a full five days and dominated the hotel. That amount of people all going to breakfast, lunch and dinner at the same time doesn’t work. We tried to get something to eat at 2.00pm and there was no food left. This delegation were allowed to play water volleyball for 2.5 hours and were noisy, with no consideration for other guests. Their team building exercise on the beach ruined any peace and quiet and disrupted people watching, as well as trade for the beach operatives. Whilst I appreciate that the delegations are the bread and butter for the hotel until tourist numbers pick up the hotel should rethink how it manages its conference rooms and the impact of large delegations on those who have booked a holiday staying at this hotel.||The entertainment was good and varied for the first week of our stay sometimes with several acts in one night. This all changed the second week where it was reduced to Acrobats for 30 minutes each night and then music streamed by a member of the Animation team.||The bar by the pool is the one which is mainly used, the other bar next to the main restaurant is mainly empty with some watching sport on the TV. ||We felt safe walking on the beach, most of the beach boys are licensed so it’s safe and you can have a good banter and if you don’t want to buy something just say no, and they are fine with that.||The Management Team are not visible and there doesn’t appear to be good management of this hotel. Some of the feedback we got from staff/ beach boys, is that there are constant changes with no clear direction.||If it wasn’t for the warm hospitality from the staff I would not have enjoyed my stay at this hotel at all.||Big thank you to Daisy who helped both me and my friend move rooms. Thank you to Matthew for our warm welcome when we arrived and Joseph the Security Guard who helped us to our rooms and Joshua who looked after us at the bar||Thank you to McFish and Omari from the Dive Centre for...

I spent a few days here mid April 2024 and I can say it was overall an appreciable experience. My sister and I went with the all inclusive package and each had our own separate rooms.

The good: Awesome service staff. Ultra quick and responsive to requests. Friendly and kind.

The food! To die for! Different menus all 4 nights and 5 days we spent here. Breakfast was the one that had some bit of repeated menus but I'm not complaining! Cooked great! Tasted greater! Dined greatest!

The facility was flexible to us having our own soft drinks in our rooms. And they also allowed me to carry my All Inclusive meal to my room when I wasnt feeling too well on one occasion. This kind of flexibility and consideration is highly commendable. As I have been to so many hotels on the coast of Kenya and they tend to be rather rigid with such kind of small favors.

The beach front accessibilty goes without mentioning how this makes BBH a perfect location.

The two pools. A smaller one which was more private during our stay. And the larger one where all the masses prefer to hang out. Pick your flavor.

Room size. Rooms were massive. And mind you, we got two standard rooms. Each room had a 4x6ft bed and a 3.5x6ft bed. Well spaced out with side stools, a small coffee table and a seat. Bathroom decent size, extremely hot water available for shower and sink, hygiene acceptable. I loooove the option of two heavy blankets given. I'm generally a cold foot person and this came in really handy for me esp during this rainy April season at the coast. Large wardrobes, quite decent even for more than two people for short stay.

The gym. Well equipped small gym for a hotel for short stay. All equipment modern and fully functional.

The bad: My toilet blocked twice and my sink leaked once on arrival. However in all fairness reception did send service staff to attend to these issues in no less than 5min both times.

Room service not at the same time daily. Can be an inconvenience if you have things planned to do in privacy in your room.

The room drapery is rather old and stained. Even if clean, not sightly nor esthetically appealing.

The ugly: Oh my the Flies! The flies! They are literally every where every time. In the dining, in the rooms if you open your balcony door, at the pool side, at the bar. BBH please do something about this housefly infestation. There were a few floating dead in the small pool where I spent an entire afternoon. I appreciate at the dining area that the staff would bring us a candle for our table to ward them off whenever we requested but man, this is a real infestation that needs to...

We’ve had a terrible experience at Bamburi beach hotel.

Rooms: 2 of the rooms smelt like damp. We told reception and they aired it out twice, unfortunately the smell was coming from the air con. We were not offered new rooms. We continued to stay in smelly rooms for 11 days. My fridge did not work for the 11 days I was there and never replaced. The tv did not work for the 11 days I was there. Bathroom door was broken and did not close.

Food: The food was the worst part of the hotel. The food was the same everyday. The salad, fruit and cakes were occupied with flies the whole time. Flies for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The salad was never really topped up and it would become soggy and warm in 30 degree heat. We ate a lot at the Sarova White Sands next door and the salad was kept on a cold plate with ice and it would be served by a waiter. The cakes and fruit were in a fridge so it was very fresh. We spent most of our time eating out even though we had paid for an all inclusive package.

Hotel: There are two pools. We spent a lot of time at the pool at the back as it was much quieter but there were no drinks at the bar. Not even water. You would have to order the drinks if a waiter was around and wait a very long time! It was very busy and over the Easter weekend they did not have enough space in the common areas or even during eating times. The sun beds were never cleaned in the morning. We had to clean them ourselves. The entertainment was good. There was always a performance followed by some music which we did enjoy.

Staff: Reception were unhelpful - very poor customer service. Chef Denis and Florence were great always checked to see if we needed anything. The cleaners for our rooms were great.

I’ve stayed in a lot of places in the last 10 years and this has got to be the worst stay I have experienced.

If you are looking for a hotel on Bamburi beach, we highly recommend Sarova or Travellers Beach Hotel & Club. Do not stay at Bamburi...