Kingfisher Safaris Resort Hotel — Hotel in Buikwe

I just stayed 12 days at Kingfisher, in April-May, rainy season. 10 days for a training and 2 for vacation.||I am scoring it at excellent, though by European standards one might not agree. I will explain. ||ROOMS||The bungallows look great on the outside, but the rooms on the inside are definitely not at european standards. Poor light, bathroom is separated by the roome only with a wall that doesnt reach the ceiling, so it basicly works as a visual barrier, but pushes you to very high intimay with your partner. Still the rustc design and furniture intrroduced me in the African local mood. If yu want a fancy hotel, this is not for you.||PRICE. ||There are prices for residents and prices for forigners (for the rooms only, not for food and drinks). Basically, it is a "white fee", but this is the standadr in Uganda. However, if you stay for longer than a couple of days you should ask for a discount.||FOOD||Not european gourmet, but very tasty. Ask for the coconut chicken curry. And, by Western European standards, iy is rather chep. The most expensive meal is a little short of 10 Euro for a huge fish with side dish. The breakfast (included in the price) is not very rich but you get the tastiest fresh fruits and fresh juice (the pineaple fresh squeeze is the best) and omlet made at your choice,||NATURE SETTING||It is the quietest place in the world and very exotic. 200 meters from the lake, and very close to the source of the Nile (10 minutes by boat). Bird paradise (colibri, kingfishers, egretes, fish eahgles), great to take pictures if you want. Just behind the resort mokies come to check the fruits in the trees, so with a little patience you are guaranteed to see them. The lake is not really swimable at the shore because of the mood, but the pool in the middle of the resort is cleaned daily and you can even swimm at night if you want.||STAFF||The staff is really nice and helpful. Again, you are in Africa, sometimes their notion of time or communication style might not be the one you expect by European standards, but they will go over their heads to fulfill your requests. All of them are nice and gntle and really supportive, whatever you ask from them. If you spend some times at the bar,ask them about local customs, they will give you a grassroot insight in the Ugandan customs.||The owner is a German whose name is fischer (hence the name of the resort, from his local nickname) and he sometimes stays around under an umbrella he calls his office. He is passionate on medicinal botanics and can tel you lots of interesting things about the plants and medicines. His Son Bernard is also very friendly whan he is around, hapy to talk about Uganda or listen storries about the world and traveling. And he is open to take complaints or suggestions about the hotel.||||Overal, I had a great experience staying in Kingfisher and if I return to Uganda I will certainly...

Beautiful place, but pathetic staff.

The place is really beautiful though the way to reach there is not so good. It is very near to the source of the river Nile. I have been there several times and liked the place very much but one of my experience with the staff changed my perception completely.

I would like to share my experience. One day we decided to have a group day outing at the place. We decided to arrange food from outside and have some games, swimming, snacks and drinks at the place. I called hotel to book this in advance and were told by a lady that we would be charged person for arranging food from out side. We had a negotiation (in black and white) and decided if we order a minimum of some amount of snacks and drinks (apart from swimming charges) she will not charge for food. We had communicated number of people ( adults as well as children) and then only decided on the figure. This was a ladies party, so only my wife joined it. Also at the last moment 2 adults and 4 more kids decided to join the party. The group had the get-together and had a good time there. Many kids had a swimming in the hotel pool. As pre-decided the ordered the snacks and the drinks for the amount. In evening at the time of payment and going back the staff asked for the extra charges for the whole group. The group told them to take the extra charges for the people added at the last moment, charges for snacks and drinks and for the one who had swimming. Unfortunately the lady with whom we had a discussion was on leave. The group even told her name and had shown them full conversation, but the staff was so rude that they asked security to make sure no one goes out. It was like a big insult to us. No one was rushing away and every one was on reception table discussing only. My wife called me and asked me talk to the person on reception. His name was Vincent. I tried to explain him and while he was talking the security personnel took phone from his hands and told me if these people don't pay right now we will not let them go home. I was annoyed and immediately rushed to Hotel which was 15 mins drive. I was very annoyed with the way they were talking and behaving. After I reached the security person told you will no more talk to any staff and pay money right away. This incident was so insulting and embarrassing. I tried calling the lady with whom I booked the whole order. Fortunately she picked up the call and agreed to explain on phone to the staff present that time. These people started shouting on the phone and were laughing on us. We paid the money and came back.

From this incident I decided not to go to this place anymore, where the staff don't know how to behave and don't have...

There were no other visible Guests except many Day Families and Party Groups using the Pool, Bar and Grounds...Pool too cloudy and Dirty to even consider using. Had to step over Garbage outside our designated Room and the Desk Clerk happily stepped over it with me without comment or Picking. Refused to let us access what is ALWAYS a staff cottage for our driver which is aLWAYS available as Drivers cannot pay 169,000 Shillings for a night sleep..were told there was no such place and even thought the place was mostly empty, refused to let our exhausted driver have a guest room without paying the full shot..Shocked by the behaviour of this man and requested a phone call to the manager..we were told the call was made and the manager agreed to the full Guest Price. The next morning the Manager was very upset at our experience and spoke to the young man who appologized for his treatment of us but we think that this place has deteriorated to the point where only Day Trippers will drive that road and eat and play and make a mess. While waiting at the Bar for a dink which took a half hour as the Gal was serving the Day Trippers and adding up their bills while I waited, I looked down to see that I was stepping on and surrounded by Cigarette buts..under the chairs and staring at me were two larfe Red Signs saying No Smoking..Our rooms were poor and the floor so dirty in bath that my feet were black after getting out of the shower. The walls were stained and the between our two rooms we found a broken mirror and two broken window slats. No water or offer of any. The pillow was unusable as it was fat with stuffing that would not allow your head to rest at all! The Mattress was much too small for the concrete slab it was sitting on and the dirty sides of the slab looked like they had never been cleaned, in fact the whole room looked like it had not been cleaned in at least 66 months. No Fans! No shampoo. Disgusted with this place and Don't go under any...