Footprints House — Hotel in Ukunda ward

When looking at the reviews for a place to stay in Diani we found Footprint house and it sounded like the perfect place for us. Maybe our expectations were a little too high, because clearly this is a very simple B&B and not a hotel.||||If you know that, it may be a good choice and we did enjoy our stay, especially because it was not fully booked. However, after working in the hospitality industry for a while, we are really critical and we noticed a few things that were disturbing the good impression.||First of all the room was bland and lacked some basic amenities -  a second night stand or a small table to put some stuff on, or some chairs would have been nice features - the small vase with fresh flowers was a nice touch on the other hand. ||||While the public areas were nice and a good place to chill, with a water dispenser and a fridge to be used by guests, and some dogs and cats lying or wandering around, which was fun, the garden was really neglected, everything looked abandoned, the deck chairs falling apart, the pool was a decent size and good for swimming but the surroundings were completely empty, no chairs, no beach umbrellas, no plants or color, grass between the terrace tiles, just uninviting - this area could be absolutely fantastic, but at the moment it is dull and mediocre at best.||Same goes for the breakfast, of course it was basic, after all you pay a very small price and cannot expect a huge buffet, but why not present the items you offer in a nice way, the jam was put on the table in its original metal tin, the margarine in the plastic packaging, where every day every guest would just use their own knife to spread it - not very hygienic, the sugar was in lumps as it came out of the fridge, as did the honey.|| I understand the necessity, but then you need to think about a different dispenser, possibly one that works! You could choose your breakfast items by ticking them on a list, but after a few days it got quite boring.It was always toast, eggs, sausage, potatoes, beans and fruit -nothing wrong with that, but why not offer a little change, maybe some cereals, a glass of juice, add a different fruit from time to time, or maybe some pastries on Sunday...? ||Everyone was friendly and if you asked you got the information you needed, but it was never volunteered - for example we read that it was possible to eat in, but no one ever told us about it.||||Arranging a transfer in advance went well, even with a last minute change, but almost everything was arranged via email. ||Fortunately there were hardly any guests, because it got really loud when someone was in the public area, you heard everything in our room and also had the lights shining through a window above the door. ||||What's the verdict?||Honestly we left Footprint house disappointed, what could have been an outstanding experience, scoring full points, only was average for us, we were also wondering about reviews raving about the lush gardens, beautiful path to the beach, or great atmosphere, unfortunately, we did not experience that. ||The price we paid was really reasonable and we enjoyed the beach, our stay and the people we met, but overall we have seen so many nice places during our trip around Kenya, that Footprint just fell short.Maybe we'll give it another try in the future to see if they were able to sort it out, they definitely have the resources to make this...

Having checked out the other two backpacker places in Diani before we found Footprints, we can say with absolute certainty that Footprints is THE BEST place to stay, no contest. We initially booked for two nights but ended up staying six. As soon as we arrived and were shown around, we knew we'd struck gold!

Reesha and Fahad are excellent hosts - friendly, happy to answer questions and full of awesome advice (like where to eat and then organising delivery - amazing!). On our first evening, Fahad organised for all of the guests to visit the estuary beach to watch the sunset at no cost and it was a real highlight of our time in Diani. Reesha helped us plan and book our onward travel to Tanzania which was priceless.

The guesthouse is kept immaculately clean by Abdullah and the maid (whose name I've forgotten - I'm sorry!). Both members of staff are welcoming and kind. The whole house is beautiful - spacious and airy with great areas to socialise or chill out. Abdullah collects fresh flowers each day to decorate the house with and it's such a lovely touch! There's also a variety of complimentary tea available, plus a huge fridge and kitchen to use and good wifi. The pool is great and having private access to the beach was just perfect.

We were in the family room and it was absolutely gorgeous: very spacious, comfortable and nicely decorated. The bathroom was the same - and the shower was the best we've come across in East Africa! We ducked our heads in the dorm room too and were very impressed!

The other guests staying were like-minded, chilled out and happy travellers. We were blown away by the great place that Reesha and Fahad have created and would recommend Footprints wholeheartedly....

We’ve just left from 3 nights at Footprints House. This house is very spacious, Clean and beautifully looked after! |We stayed in the family room which is huge with comfy beds. The communal area is a great place to hangout and meet other travellers. We sat one evening with the lady that runs the house and had a few drinks with her she’s very funny to hangout with and also extremely helpful if you need advice or help with anything else, nothing ever seemed too much for her! |She also took us to watch the sunset one evening which is on a lovely beach not far from the house with a bunch of her friends where we chilled, drank, listened to music and swam in the warm ocean whilst watching the sunset. The pool is communal and shared with a few other houses but we always seemed to have it for ourselves and some of the time we were lucky enough to have Harley the Footprints dog come in for a dip which was my children’s (ages 8 and 10) highlight of the stay. |The only downside was the man who also runs the house accused one of my children of breaking a flimsy salt and pepper stand which was on the communal kitchen table. The children were upset by this accusation and said they hadn’t even touched it! The beach is beautiful and only short walk from the house. |The laundry was great value for money, fill up a basket and they wash it and get it back to you pretty quick and it’s cheap, 300 KS for the full basket. |Breakfast was great for $4 but we usually made our own food as you can use the kitchen and also have a big fridge to share with the other quests!. Tea and coffee is free. |Security is also great and the security guard is lovely - he has lovely office...