Marijani Holiday Resort — Hotel in Watamu ward

The booking....||My friends and I ( party of 12) booked this hotel sometime in October initially for a four day stay over new years . We were looking to have a budget holiday so getting this place at the rate given ($45 for a double room) we knew we had a bargain. The hotel manager (Tony) assured the group that the beach was a few meters from the hotel which was a song to our ears....However, being a big group and adjusting to the preferences of some of the group members, we called (Tony the manager) three weeks later to adjust the booking to two days, the rest of the two days would be spent in Malindi. ||||The arrival.....||Upon arrival to Watamu, Tony was very helpful with the directions to the hotel. One passes through some small village, the locals were very helpful with directions as well. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were well received. The rooms were ok for the amount paid, we were not expecting more that we got. However, the rooms smelt damp, the hotel is quite old though there is evidence that the management does a lot to maintain the grounds as well as the accommodation. However, they had neglected to tell us that two rooms would share a bathroom and that three rooms would share a common area (which was not much of a problem) but it sort of disorganised the dynamics of the group. Tony however handled the concerns expressed and offered a small discount for the rooms that shared a bathroom.||||The stay....||There are hotels close to Marijani where one can have a meal so that was ok. The group, being young working professionals who wanted to unwind and have some fun we were shushed when we started toasting to one of us whose birthday we were celebrating. No noise here! Breakfast was a bust! Bitter fruits, slice of bread, eggs and tea. Didn’t enjoy it nor eat breakfast again the next day. The beach is indeed a few metres from the hotel but very dirty. It is right smack in the middle of the fishing village, there is no way one can enjoy and relax at the beach from this location.||||The departure...||As the group went to clear the bill, the management demanded for the full payment for the 4 days initially booked as penalty for early checkout. When we politely reminded the manager (Tony) that we had called to cancel in October, and a whole 2 months before our arrival, he stated that regardless, we were to pay the full amount. When we asked to see the hotels cancellation policy things went pretty much downhill from there. The manager asked us for proof that we had cancelled, he recanted that we had called to cancel and insisted we pay the whole amount. He then later stormed off and left the matter into the hands of one Roderick who we assumed was an assistant manager. The latter refused to listen to any of us, he threatened to call the police for refusing to pay and when we asked to have the manager who we had dealt with from the start, he became very offended and said that he would also call the manager from Germany. Ten minutes later, the manager came back and after another ten minutes of back and forth, he relented. We were allowed to pay for the two days.||||The end....|| Despite the hiccups it was worth the while for the money spent. Howver, Marijani have some work to do especially in regards to hospitality and dealing with clients. I would advice that one communicates via e-mail as opposed to calling to make sure everything is clear...

Just a frustrating experience overall. For a self catering place, they do not equip you with the ability to do so. We were met with disgruntled staff at check out, where they mentioned they were unhappy with the state of the dishes, without being offered soap, sponge and dish towels to be able to clean up after ourselves. The dishes we found had a slight oily texture, meaning the staff aren’t thorough when setting up a room for new guests. Water dispenser didn’t work. Strainer was stained, barely any cutlery. No soap in the bathroom. The pool was murky. I’d assume the lack of facilities in the kitchen is to draw you towards their restaurant, but then I feel they shouldn’t advertise as a self catering place. And aesthetically, it’s a tad outdated. A quick search of what’s in the area, and countless places feel way more modern and have a more competitive price. Location is really good. This place is good if all you want is a place to sleep, but going in with as little expectations as possible will be your best bet. Don’t expect to be able to cook for yourself comfortably as it offers the basics. And I mean basics.

EDIT: seeing as the Accomodation has responded, I’ll add more clarity so nobody has to experience the same.

As we booked on booking.com, there wasn’t a very clear way to show us that it was to be paid on site. After this was raised we paid immediately without pushback.

Also, as stated on booking, they have a 24hr cancellation policy, we contacted them well before the time.

As for other services rendered, I ordered a coffee with some milk and I was initially not charged for it, until check out where it got so complicated with what was to be paid because i assume they are shockingly bad at running their books. It all came down to 15 shillings over id say 15 minutes of bickering. Unreal.

As for the cleanliness of the room, all self catering I’ve been to give tools for you to be able to do cleaning up yourself. There was zero in this place. You’d expect to see a sponge, a small amount of dish soap, and a clean towel. Just to get you started. And after that it’s totally acceptable to except the guest to buy their own cleaning stuff (You know, as it’s self catering.) One our first day out, we came back with cleaning stuff to do our own dishes. But here’s the issue, they set the precedent but having oily dirty dishes on our arrival. Which in retrospect wish we brought up. This place strikes me as a once good, now legacy location with management and staff that do not take well to feedback and may be riding high on the success of years ago. Extremely entitled. Never been one to believe in “the customer is always right” but they definitely believe in “at Marijani, we’re always right”.

Do stay here if you want to pull...

Stayed at this place with my family from 28th December 2019 to 2nd January 2020. We had booked 6 rooms in number through an agent and had given in all our details. The place Is at a very good location with proximity to the beach and also near the shopping center. However the Staff running the place are the worst. Particularly the Manager Bui. He and the watchman were very unfriendly and have zero customer care skills. They made our stay very uncomfortable with daily incessant interferences and complete lack of respect. They even demanded that none of the ladies in our group should talk to them! This after the said Manager and some other guests smoked weed all day in front of our children and we said nothing. The worst was that the rooms were not cleaned at all and we had to complain about it for something to be done. The pool was very dirty and we had to clean for ourselves.

We also got a very strong vibe that white guests are given preferential treatment. On the day we were leaving we still got grief from this guy Bui. I would hope the owner gets to know his hotel is not being well managed and may end up losing business. I for one would NOT recommend anyone to stay at MARIJANI HOTEL...