Shanzu, Paradise Beach Hotel

We have been in ASC hotels twice in the past, this year (in april-may) we stayed at flamingo which is the ASC flagship.

Please read all the flamingo reviews.

The things to remember are, don't ignore malaria tablets, if kids don't like medicine then try it with their drinks. Avoid safaris if kids are under 8 (or so) there are many mosquitos some time and in some places. Not everybody enjoys safari with ASC (cancellations & old vehicles & pls don't go by train trips). When you book with ASC they do not allocate suitable room & floor for family bookings. On booking insist on 1st or ground floor only if accompanied with kids. If you don't ask when booking don't expect any favors at the hotel. We were allocated 3rd floor at flamingo and i had to be too precautios because all the balcony are not safe at all (for under 8) at flamingo and also their other hotels (shanzu & dolphin). Don't expect to have a perfect room. YES the rooms at flamingo are a bit better than (shanzu or dolphin). SHANZU is in need of serious renovation and try to keep away for now. READ the flamingo reviews and pick up the latest gossip (like ladies reception loo without toilet seats and cheeky replies from managers etc etc). Personally I like the shanzu beach side and have made a wallpaper on my pc. I also like the flamingo swimming pool (they say it is the biggest in kenya), the pool is shallow all the way and very safe for kids. Unfortunately too many steps at all these hotels (less steps at shanzu). AT flamingo the restaurant is on 1st floor and balcony not safe for kids, pls don't let them allocate you outside sitting because of constantly watching the kids and monkeys coming to snatch the bananas from your table. You will eat much better food/barbecue in mtwapa (down the road, 2miles) at places like mumtaz / vipingo (it's a small restaurant but very poplular), and there are so many nearby mumtaz. On my holiday i never bought water from asc hotel and i never ate any fish either. If you can avoid mosquitos, asc bottled water and asc fish (fish can sometimes be poisoning and pls avoid until you have finished your safari's) then you might have a nice holiday (i certainly always enjoy). There are messages all around the hotel about do's and don'ts in asc hotels, but don't be too worried about doing your own shopping from Nakumat supermark for bottled water, boxed milk for kids etc. Our kids were very happy with the boxed uht milk from nakumat. Hotel room phones never work, (don't bother to request any repair, it will not happen). Take your old mobile phone and buy safari simm card and top-up for sh250 (from the masai seller sitting outside moiz shop outside the asc hotels or even at nakumat supermarket), get the hotel phone number and call them from your mobile when necessary. If it rains heavily at dinner time just use hotel towel to cover yourself in the rain. Don't forget to take your own kettle and tea, coffee & biscuits. It will be cheaper and very useful if you fall ill, and also to make hot water to warm up the boxed milk. Of course you can visit any hotel in mombasa and use their beach for the day or their beauty shops in the hotel. We liked visiting whitesands hotel and may stay there next year but it will be short stay because it is more expensive (also voyager is recommended). There are chemist in mtwapa just 2 miles down the road. The town chemist is a bit expensive and you may find mtwapa chemist a bit cheaper. Carry your own ear drops , eye drops, mosquito wrist bands, mosquito repellers in the room, large spray can from nakumat, plaster & other medicines. Mombasa is a beautiful island place with nice people but don't let the hotel experience put you off. Not all hotels or hotel managers are the same.

thank you mebs. Did you take your young children (ages 1 and 4) on an african safari? We are considering that and wondering if anyone has done and what it was like. We have already done an african safari years ago as adults (masai mara and ngorongoro crater), but that was before we had children.

It was my first time with 2 young children in mombasa in June 2006, but my wife is familiar with the country and language. yes paradise hotel has aircon in most rooms, and backed up by generators during power cuts. there were few power cuts at daytime and within seconds the generators kick in. unfortunately, not all rooms are backed up by generators. our room lights could operate but aircon would be out, for a while only. the aircon in the adjacent room was backed up by power failure. very minimal power cuts at night time anyway. there are monkeys who visit the hotel and swimming pool area, and you are advised to keep the balcony doors shut at all times, unless you are sitted there. monkeys only snatch food or packets of crisps. keep slippers ready to scare them, unless you wish close contact with them, quite friendly chimps. quite harmless but tend to run away with something. my friend has advised me to bargain with them, for example hold some food on one hand and ask for the item back, if you wish to try. In june we hardly had any mosquitoes, except for 1 or 2 in the room, and easily sprayed before leaving for dinner or at bedtime. open bathroom shutters during day time because it can be hot, but you must shut the bathroom shutters at early evening before spraying. we had 2 young children and we were out there without nets or plugins. we had armbands on the kids which were suppose to keep insects away. but the hotel area is mostly clean anyway. IF you are planning to stay out late in the evening or planning a safari, then you must wear shoes and light coloured clothing/trousers in the evening, otherwise you can expect to see some red patches on your legs. Next time i visit kenya, i will propably buy anti-malaria tablets locally in kenya, such as chloroquin which i used some years back, there is also doxycycline (pls check with kenya chemist and also get advise from your personal doctor). our doctor prescribed malaron and meflyquin which cost £3 per tablet and £10 per prescription. yes i think plugins are a good idea. i also used to put a hotel towel under the door at bedtime to seal the gap at the bottom of the door at night. and i also got some newspapers from the hotel and sealed the gaps around the aircon which was fitted on the top of the door. regarding the delayed flight, the aircraft had experienced cracked window in the cockpit and repair and safety approval took a bit longer than expected. our insurance company had to pay for every 12 hours delay. i heard some delays can be 1 to upto 3 days. but because we were on package holiday we stayed in the same room during the delay and hotel had provided complimentary services during this time. this is mega hotel indeed and there are 4 hotels adjacent to one another, which are owned by Swiss ASC group. i was surprised to findout that the hotel exchange rates were the best, compared to town rates and nairobi rates. you can only exchange to KSH curreny at the hotel.

they do not give pounds or dollars in exchange, except for few euro coins as change when you are paying for things you have signed for (such as drinks or entertainment tickets). of course if you carry cash you will get slightly better rate and don't have to pay thomas cook charges. but it was recommended we carry eurocheques, so i did. please note thomas cook will not ask if you wish to have eurocheques on different names and just process all on one name, and if you later ask to have them on different names they will add a surcharge. regarding visas, very easy to obtain at the airport, and if you are crossing border to tz also available at the border for $50 per person. please note, you will be given all forms to fill before landing and same again at the hotel before departing. please note in east africa you can cross border and return back on the same visa, for example once you have paid for visa in kenya, you are not expected to pay again on re-entering from a neighbouring east african country. airport staff are usually very friendly. if you are travelling with young children you are not expected to queue but someone will direct you to the front of queue, this is true at mombasa and nairobi airports. the same courtesy again on departure. you don't really need KSH before arriving there, but few coins will help if you wish to tip porters for carrying the bags. please do not tip airport officials or border officials it can be misunderstood and usually a trick, and it is never enough for them. i did not use my credit card, but did have it handy just incase. i suppose staying at a mega hotel with hundreds of visitors at high season, it should be quite ok to pay with your credit card. please remember you have to sign for any drinks or other things you order and pay the outstandings once a week or the night before departure, and you pay at the exchange office at the hotel. you can pay with your eurocheques and will receive a refund of any remaining amount in KSH and some euro coins. please note the bathroom water is only suitable for bathing and you will receive a jug of fresh water for brushing your teeth and washing your face. the tap water in the bathroom is salty. if you wish you can ask the reception to send a big container of fresh water for bathing. they will send you 2 instead of one every day. at any time you need fresh water just pick up the phone or look outside your room for a passing by staff and order some, it is free. there is a hot shower , not a problem. please use your own bottled drinking water and if you need more there is supermarket within hotel or jump on a taxi and visit shops outside the hotel barrier or even visit nakumat supermarket for more choice. there are notices around the hotel like do not feed the monkeys or cats. there is usually a booklet in the room in german, please ask reception to send one in english. by the way if you wish to make international text or calls, i picked up a sim card and top up card from outside the hotel barrier from street stalls. the sim card is sometimes free with a top up card, but may have to pay for it. i used safari sim card, not bad, you can also get kencell sim card slightly higher tariff but widely used. there are several internet cafes at the hotel, just buy credit and logon. happy holiday.

Thanks for the comments mebs. My husband and I are going to Shanzu Paradise Beach hotel on 12th August. I have read reviews which have not been very promising. We have asked for air conditioning in rooms - are there any rooms which are not air conditioned. Would you say you need to take a mosquito net or is it best just to use plug ins. Do you know if flights are delayed on a regular basis or were you just unlucky. Could you please advise which currency is best to take and how well the credit card for the hotel worked. As you can appreciate this is a holiday of a life time and we would like to enjoy but it does help to have some advice beforehand. Was the flight ok and did you get visas before or when you arrived at Mombasa. I would appreciate your comments thanks mebs.

Our visit to paradise beach hotel was mostly comfortable in June 2006, we had not opted for any safaris so i cannot comment on any safaris. we took a coach from mombasa to nairobi and on the highway you can only see lots of giraffes from a distance. while at paradise hotel, we had two young children with us and the restaurant staff prepared boiled milk for them 3 times a day, daily. the room had couple of problems but it was fixed the next day. they installed a new shower cap and provided a can of insect spray which easily lasted 2 weeks. once sprayed in the room, on all corners and woodwork and under the bed, it was insect free for upto 3 days. our room was on ground floor because of the young children and may be ground floor had few insects, but not a a problem at all once sprayed. please don't keep food around the table or bed or better seal it properly. as i say no insects for at least 3 days once sprayed. unfortunately our suitcase arrived damaged at the hotel, but it was fine before we handed it over to hotel transport. the hotel provided incident letter and we are in 2nd communication with our insurance company, who have gladly settled the claim for 26 hours delayed departure from paradise hotel. because our return flight was delayed, the hotel provided free services such as 2min phone call or 1 email, and free drinks at lunch and dinner and free deck chair. we noticed a lot of security at the entrance to the hotel and inside the 4 hotels in shanzu. we heard from one of the security staff that the hotel is also patrolled by 2 undercover police for extra security. the staff are very friendly indeed. if you use private taxis or hotel taxis from the hotel you have no worries, even if you left anything behind in the taxi or hotel bus it will find its way back to the hotel. the food was particularly excellent during our visit, infact you can expect chicken, beef and fish among many other european, indian and swahili dishes on daily basis. this hotel has one of the best cooks you will come across. out of the 4 hotels at shanzu i prefer paradise, because you have easy access to the beach. if you go swimming in the sea, you will meet beach boys who can speak english, german and swish and try to sell you excursions, sea trips and coconuts and various handycrafts. they tend to follow you everywhere on the seaside and probably waiting for you when you have finished your swim. if you are not interested in anything they are selling be firm and say no. some tourists are very firm they just ignore them and carry on. there are no security problems at all anywhere near the hotel. very safe indeed, the hotel advised us to lock the bags and leave them in the room while we visited nairobi for a few days. if you like your morning walk or evening walk you can easily have a walkabout around the 4 hotels and enjoy a splendid view from each hotel. from outside all the rooms at the 4 hotels look very similar (i am not sure if they are same inside). each of the 4 hotels have a very different look of reception, swimming pool, restaurant, supermarket, staff uniforms. there is one entertainment theater, one night club, one set of tennis courts, one supermarket and one beauty salon serving all 4 hotels. dancing partners are available at the hotel nightclub. if you walk outside the hotel barrier, you can see more bars, supermarkets, hair and beauty salons and handycraft stalls. while walking past the hotel barrier, people on the stalls or shops will call you and keep talking to you even if you are not interested, so just ignore, they are supposed to be polite anyway. if you have any questions i will be glad to answer. june 2006 was a low season, so i cannot comment about high season at this hotel.

Hello,

This is Discokitten. If anybody is sufficiently unhappy with the ASC chaing, please email me on [email protected] in order to lodge an official complaint with ABTA and BBC Watchdog.

This comment is actually regarding ASC hotels.

The shambles started from day one, my partner and I booked a AC room in the Coral Beach, we were firstly dropped at the Palm then the Coral beach and back to the palm (the two hotels are basically joined except entrances)

There are no air con rooms apparently in either hotel. The food was appalling, on safari the vehicle broke down and we stood outside the vehicle in what could have been dangerous country while the driver took the radiator cap off (he carried a large cannister of water so presumable the problem was ongoing and not addressed.

The rep was next to useless, she never had an answer to any questions. In fact in the welcome meeting people who had been to Kenya before were prompting her on important information i.e. beach boys.

There was little entertainment at the Coral/Palm only the rehearsals most of the entertainment took place in the other hotels, which I had assumed better, apparently not.

Wendy, could you please email me on [email protected]

We are organising a complaint with ABTA and BBC Watchdog, email me if you are interested.

I cannot disagree with anything on this reveiw, in fact the situation has got even worse, we returned from a holiday with ASA at the Coral Beach Hotel on Saturday 29.01.05, the rooms were very basic and dirty, food almost inedible, staff and guests are not trusted by the management, in fact it felt like a prision camp for the two weeks were there, this feeling was felt by most of the guests present, we did ask the tourist information office who actually gave no information at all if we could upgrade to either to a better hotel within the group or even better to another hotel within the area, this was not possible!!.

I totally agree with you. ASC are a total shambles, it's amazing they are still in operation.

When I returned last time, I lodged a complaint with the company I booked them through (can't remember the name now). After a lot of fuss I eventually got refunded £100, and got a written apology. This was only after they recieved many similar complaints from other guests.

All I can say is that the Shanzu / Bamburi area of the Kenyan coast is a beautiful area with some fantastic hotels, and hopefully people will not judge Kenya on their experiences with ASC. They are an insult to the Kenyan tourism industry and people should be warned about them before they waste their money!