海明威瓦塔穆飯店(Hemingways Watamu)

I arrived at Hemmingways Watamu on Friday 9 February and I paid for pickup but nobody picked me up. I had to find my way to the hotel. I am now asking for a refund but they refused to give me. I have sent several emails asking for refund but no response from them.

Some aspects ok but overall not impressed and wouldn’t recommend. We have travelled widely and stayed in many good hotels worldwide. Hemingway’s watamu is tired and sadly has got an awful lot wrong from unusable pools, broken tiles, smelly showers, power cuts, slow or invisible service (we were charged for items that never arrived and waited over an hour for sandwiches in the cafe). Air conditioning in our master bedroom was very poor (we baked every night and they refused to admit anything was wrong - but if you go into any of their offices, activities centre, spa or cafe it’s 20 degrees cooler). Also they make the same mistakes over and over - broken sun beds (and not enough of them) rarely towels when you needed them and charge for everything whilst implying they are free eg ice creams by the pool. Highlights included some of the staff who were definitely trying their best. (Refempta should be CEO by the way) and some of the food was really good. Just overall so little attention to detail or understanding and delivery to meet guests’ needs. Really disappointed.

Had the best balcony view at the coast yet! Very serene and relaxing. Left there feeling born afresh. The GM Victor was kind enough to give us a very pleasant surprise. Asante! Redemta, Thomas, Aggrey & Shadrack (service) and Husna at the reception offered exemplary service. Thank you also for the Yoga mat. Will definitely be back.

I am a native Kenyan and have this to say about the Hotel. Great Hotel, Great Location but they can always do better and I will list the areas here. 1. The Salt Shakers never had salt and even if they did, it never came out. This was for the entire 4 days we (a Group of 10) stayed there. I eventually gave up and just ate all the Food without any salt. My suggestion was for the Hotel to put Salt Grinders and Pepper on the Table. A Salt grinder is superior to the Salt Shaker. I just thought that a Hotel of this calibre would have Salt and Pepper Grinders. The Food was Great, Staff very friendly, Rooms are very big. The Positives far outweigh the Non Positives. 2. All the rooms face the Ocean and there are Dolphins not so far from the Hotel. My rooms Insect repellent was out never got replaced and so I kept on seeing roaches, grasshoppers occasionally but other than that the rooms are BIG. The first impression entering my room and washroom was, it's Big! 3. I didn't bother watching the TV at the Hotel mainly because I felt a lot of Politics in the selection of TV Channels. For example Al Jazeera never had sound in all rooms but CNN and other Western media did. I rarely watch CNN and even prefer CGTN to CNN and BBC and Skynews, I watch mostly Al Jazeera and RT News because they have brilliant documentaries from around the World. I kept on wondering why put a Muted Channel on the selection list. Why not just remove it completely! So I never watched the TV because my favourite Channel was muted. We were a Family of 10. 4 stayed in the apartments and the other 6 stayed in the room suites facing the Ocean. We had a really great time here, one of my best hotel visits in the Coast since I was born. We saw Dolphins, tried the local Food by eating out at lunchtime. I had some amazing fried Octopus with Fries and it was the best I had ever had since my birth in some nearby native restaurant just 8 minutes walking distance from the Hotel. We also travelled to Malindi which is just around 25 minutes by Vehicle. Would definitely come back again with people who have never been here

Best in the coastal hotels ,the food is amazing let talk about the set up at the restaurant on 25th and 31st was to die for ,, waiters are professional,,our room is always clean,,,the cleaningness of the whole premises is amazing the welcoming at the restaurant is on top,, thanks to Redemptar the hostess for being such amazing soul and so professional in her work,,will definitely come back.

Arguably the most racist security staff on the planet. If you are not local Kenyan, or a local Kenyan perceived to be a VIP or have a bit of money, then you will be treated like a king. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have experienced such differences in treatment over the last decade. Will never be back.

Great view of the sea, each room faces the ocean😊.Exellent service especially from the managers Juliana and Redempta and a fantastic new years party organised by the hotel. All round a good experience.

Such an amazing experience I would highly recommend Hemingways Hotel The staff, food, services and the location. Everything is done at its best so if you are looking for hotels in Watamu do not hesitate to book at Hemingways.

I have loved everything about the hotel, perfect treatment and hospitality right from the waitress to the housekeeping and the receptionist, wonderful well trained stuff and very good services. Thank you so much