Kivulini Beach Villa & Cottages — Hotel in Ukunda ward

Stunning location but that's where the good bits end....

Rooms are severely outdated and haphazardly arranged. Cleaning is sketchy at best and the pool maintenance is infrequent. Hot water was non existent and things just appeared to be falling apart. Some showers don't even work along with toilet flushes. Luckily we'd booked the whole place so used other ones. Doors cannot be locked properly and bathroom doors are all wobbly and badly designed. Mosquito nets had holes in them so were absolutely pointless.

Swimming pool had broken tiles all round and some sections had fallen off creating trip hazards. Electricity was an issue and issues with generators and the staff just seemed clueless despite knowing 6 months in advance we were coming. Getting fresh towels and room service was almost impossible despite many complaints.

Manager was never seen and was barely contactable. Just poor all round.

It's an absolute shame as this place has a lot of potential but just seems like the staff aren't bothered without owners being around.

I would think twice before booking this place. Certainly nowhere near worth what...

Originally I wanted to stay in Kivulini for only a week. But the resort, with the staff and services is so good, that I prolonged my stay for two more weeks.

Location is perfect, you are in quiet grass/forest area, with pools and bar. Beach is right behind a little gate, 50m from your cottage. Next to Kivulini you have great restaurant/bar called Tiki Bar. ATM is not far either. You are basically in the center of Diani.

Service is outstanding. We had a cleaning lady Rose, who took care of cleaning the place everyday. The whole staff was extremely helpful. So big thanks to Rose, Sofie, Hartwel and Kojejo for making our stay so much better. Btw they even offer a chef who can cook for you every day (breakfast, lunch, dinner).

Note: I stayed in Diani for long time, and tried few places around Diani. I must say that Kivulini really is one of the best resorts around. I will be coming back...

This place is absolutely a hidden gem. We booked for four of us but no one else had booked so we literally had a whole mansion to ourselves. The manager, Sophie, is really sweet and made sure we had everything we needed but also laid back and let us have space to enjoy our vacation.

The place borders the beach so you can see it from many of the rooms and common areas. The beach itself is immaculate. The whole place is very well taken care of.

My only worry is that a place that amazing at that price should have been fully booked near the holidays. I hope they get a lot more business and are successful for a very selfish reason: we absolutely want to continue to come back again and again and we need them to be successful to do that.

Good luck to Sophie and the rest of the team! We'll definitely be...