Outdoor pool

Reviews of Reef Hotel

3 out of 5
Reef Hotel
Mount Kenya Road, Mombasa

Reviews

6.8
Rating 10 - Excellent. 14 out of 93 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 34 out of 93 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 23 out of 93 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 11 out of 93 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 11 out of 93 reviews" "

6.8/10

Cleanliness

7.4/10

Staff & service

5.8/10

Amenities

6.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

6.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Sharleen

Travelled with family
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
This is a great hotel on the beach. Lots of security so always felt safe. So nice to o have all inclusive so no messing about where to eat. Many choices and all included.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023

2/10 Terrible

Tesfa

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
2 star hotel
Photo of the property needs to be updated because everything is old. Also the room’s toilet has bad odor coming from the sink. Break fast lack variety and cleanliness . Terrible experience!!!
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Gavril, Buford

Travelled with group
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
I am a repeat customer that stayed here for weeks at the time. It is not too bad. The rooms need a lot. The entire place need a renovation. The landscape is poorly maintained. The water in the pool smells like birds feathers. The food is good. Compared to similar places is even better. The all inclusive is a joke. While bottled beer and some bottle sodas are included, bottled water is not. I just don't get it! Maybe I am not too smart! At the restaurant they charge you for the free bottle water they put in the rooms unless they serve it by the glass (and the glasses do not look too clean, I doubt that the hotel has a commercial steam dishwasher). The good news is that you can buy good bottled water (Keringet) from the gift shop. The bottled water they put in rooms (Aquelle) does not taste good. The people are nice yet they are properly trained how to explain all inclusive customers why bottled water is not included but bottled sodas are!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023
Response from REEF MANAGEMENT on 25 May 2023
Greetings, thank you for your feedback

6/10 Okay

PETER

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
Great beach location. Good service
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022

6/10 Okay

Jeremiah

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022
Response from Reef Hotel on 1 Feb 2022
thank you

2/10 Terrible

Robert

Travelled with partner
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Run down and too many non residents who pay a small entrance fee to use the facilities while residents who pay much more have no privacy....take care there are thieves working in this hotel also seperately reported by other on line reviewers.
Stayed 14 nights in Dec 2021

8/10 Good

pradeep

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service, amenities
Gòod view of ocean, very good gardens and friendly staffing team
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2021
Response from Reef Hotel on 21 Dec 2021
thank you

10/10 Excellent

Okumu

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The rooms looked old, I changed into two different rooms the first one wasn’t smelling fresh and the balcony door couldn’t lock.
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2021
Response from Reef Hotel on 21 Dec 2021
thank you for the feedback.

8/10 Good

Tony

Travelled with group
Liked: Room comfort
Good value
Good value for the money
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

6/10 Okay

Kim

Liked: Cleanliness
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021

8/10 Good

Vince, Bolton

Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I paid in full upon arrival. However upon checking out they demanded a furyher 2000 KES because the dollar / KES rate had changed. I'm sure if it had moved the other way, they would offer me a small refund. I refused to pay but did when it became apparent that the cashier would have the diffetence deducted from his salary. The garden and pool are is fabulous, as are the staff. The rooms are tired though and not really worth the money. The AC is ineffective. I would not stay here again though purely because of the odious practice I've described above.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2020
Response from Management on 29 Dec 2020
Thank you for your feedback, we appreciate you taking the time to write to us. we apologies for the inconvenience caused at the cashier, this was not to happen . we have recently done a renovation in our rooms , and we have not heard any complaints from our guest. we hope to welcome you again in future

4/10 Poor

Sean

Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2020
Response from Management on 29 Dec 2020
we hope to welcome you again in future

6/10 Okay

Ronnie, Nairobi

Disliked: Amenities
In general a tired hotel. Bedrooms plain and towels that needed to be replaced 3 years ago.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2020

2/10 Terrible

Thokozani

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 5 nights in Jul 2020

10/10 Excellent

Lynn

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2020

8/10 Good

Sami, Lilongwe, Malawi

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Amenities
The property is nice, with good reseaurants so you don't need to go out for dinner or food if you don't want to. But there is a mall complex less than a mile away if you do want to get some goods for breakfast. That said, they can only be non-perishables, and be careful of eating on your room's porch, because the monkeys can smell food from far away and will come to get some! but the towels are thick and smell quite bad once they get wet,
Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Manager on 27 Jan 2020
Thank you for the positive feedback and we appreciate taking the time to write to us

4/10 Poor

Michael

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Dated and not well kept
Not worth the rate, the hotel was built in 1972 and it looks like it hasn’t been well kept. The cleanliness of the room was also not up to par. We felt like we didn’t get the value of what we paid and many services were beyond lacking. The pictures were misleading as well and we had to argue to get one bed as a couple. It rained on our parade.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Manager on 27 Jan 2020
Dear Michael We appreciate the feedback and we have noted your comments for sure which we will share with the team We would like to let you know we are renovating and would be happy to welcome you again

6/10 Okay

Guest, Nairobi

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Generally okay hotel for the price. Dislike that they do not give bottled water in the rooms and instead have metalic refillable bottles that do not look in good condition. Found a guest at the reception upset and complaining that their phone had been stolen from his room. Good access to the beach with beautiful views of the ocean. Facility has aged and the rooms needs abit of an upgrade to modernize them.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019
Response from Manager on 27 Jan 2020
Thank you for your response we appreciate you taking the time to write to us We apologise for any inconvenience caused during your stay and we are happy for the positive feedback

2/10 Terrible

Brian, Nairobi

Business traveller
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Terrible condition and not worth the money. A total revamp of the property is necessary
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Manager on 27 Jan 2020
Dear Brian we are currently undergoing renovations and we would be happy if you could give us a chance again to come stay with us We hope to see you soon

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
Like: Comfortable room, nice pool, access to beach, generally good food. Dislike: Tanga Bar and Grill - food service has two speeds, dead slow and stop!
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2019

8/10 Good

Maurice

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2019

2/10 Terrible

Stan, London, UK

Business traveller, Travelled with group
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
The property is old and lack sufficient furnitures. It is poorly runned.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019
Response from ext-jelloga on 9 Jul 2019
Dear Stan, Thanks for the time taken to write us a review on your recent visit at Reef Hotel Mombasa. We wish to acknowledge your concern for unmet expectations while staying with us. For that we say sorry. As matter of urgency we have started to address the issues raised and there is an on-going rooms refurbishment and main area upgrading as we speak. give it 2 to 3 months there will be improved infrastructure, customer care, swift and smooth services. Again we thank you for raising these shortfalls and we hope to be your host again in the near future to come and sample our hospitality again. Thanking you in advance.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2019
Response from Management on 9 Apr 2019
Thank you, we hope to welcome you back again soon

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2019
Response from Management on 9 Apr 2019
Thank you, we hope to welcome you back again soon

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with family and small children
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Upgrade your A/C units, clean the mold out of the tile in the bath room
Stayed 6 nights in Mar 2019
Response from Management on 9 Apr 2019
Thank you, we appreciate the feedback. we are currently undergoing renovations and we hope to welcome you back again in future

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities
Guest service is amazing. Its has its own bar/club which is very safe and fun.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019
Response from The Management on 6 Mar 2019
Thank you for your positive response, we look forward to welcoming you back again soon

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Stayed 13 nights in Jan 2019

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Location excellent for the beach and Mombasa town. A shopping mall and supermarket are a 10min walk. The food is adequate. The Hotel is in need of attention clearly the owners are either unable or unwilling to spend on repairs and renewal. Despite this the management and staff are good but can only work with what they have.
Stayed 13 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Management on 15 Feb 2019
Greetings, Thank you for the feedback. We are currently undergoing renovations of the room and we hope the next time you get a chance to come to Mombasa you will get to experience our new changes :) Karibu sana

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Business traveller, Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Do yourself a favor... find somewhere else... poor rooms, poor quality, overall... really rough. Staff were nice and location is OK, but seriously..
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Management on 9 Jan 2019
Thank you for taking the time to write to us, we appreciate the feedback. We apologize for any inconvenience caused during your stay.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Business traveller
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
Then hotel rooms are not clean and tidy. Breakfast for business people starts very late.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2018
Response from Management on 7 Dec 2018
Hi, thank you for taking the time to write to us. We Ensure all our rooms are cleaned each day before check in of any guest as this is the custom in every place you visit. Upon check in during briefing our normal breakfast hours are mentioned from 7:30 - 9:30 am which is buffet but if you wish to have breakfast at a later time especially for business clients we welcome them at our Tanga Restaurant. we hope to see you again soon

10/10 Excellent

Jane

I had an amazing stay at the Reef apart from a minor incident which the team fully took care of. My kids LOVED the stay, the pool, the food, the activities and the access to the beach. It was a great one-week stay.
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Management on 6 Dec 2018
Dear Jane, thank you for your positive feedback. We are happy that you and your family had a good time. we hope to welcome you back soon.

4/10 Poor

Bindi

Booked a family view room with queen and 2 single beds, we had to wait almost 2 hours to enter our room with an array of excuses throw at us in the process, firstly the room I booked wasn't big enough so I showed my booking, then the previous customer had left late then it had to be clean but cleaners were on lunch..... Finally getting into the room there weren't enough beds only a single and double we were informed they would squeeze another bed in but due to our daughter being disabled there would not have been enough room for her to maneuver out of her bed as both singles would have been touching. The reception staff seemed to think everything was a joke and were very unhelpful we got a smaller room than paid for yet the only compensation offered was a free dinner not the money back for our overpriced room, which we refused. Our air conditioning didn't work and neither did the TV, when on our second day someone came to fix the air con we had to wait in the room with them while they fixed it as this is hotel rules!!! Which was over 3 hours! The hotel is set in beautiful grounds but rude and unhelpful staff along with shoddy rooms means we will not return or recommend to family's that need the same amount of beds as these quadruple rooms advertised according to staff do not exist.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Management on 6 Dec 2018
Dear Bindi Thank you for taking the time to write this review.Granted, the hotel is old and we are working systematically on upgrading several rooms at a time, which is sometimes a challenge as we are often fully booked. I apologize for the oversight by our staff. We are always striving to improve our food offering and value your comments constructively.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness
bug infested rooms - at least it’s on the beach
While checking in, another customer was at the front desk complaining that he had been kept up all night due to mosquitoes in his room, which immediately concerned me. The staff didn’t seem very accommodating to him. So I asked, what can they do if my room is full of mosquitoes? They said they can spray it if that’s the case. I got to my room, and there were bugs all over, so I called the front desk to have them come spray. The cleaning lady was so nice and helpful, but after spraying the whole room with an insect killer, it smelled awful. I think part of the reason bugs get in is because the windows don’t close fully - there are like shutters, and there are spaces between the glass panes. After going to the beach I came back to shower and noticed 10-15 ants in my shower - this is even after the cleaning lady sprayed the shower. So I washed them away with hot water - the cold water knob was broken. Overall, I was pretty uncomfortable staying in that room. The redeeming qualities of my stay were the cleaning lady, the beach/view, and the food at the grill (food was great, wait staff was ok)
Stayed 1 night in May 2018

6/10 Okay

Dizzy T, UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
November stay
Not many of us guests at the hotel, building/alteration going on at pool bar so not in operation and no animation team or evening entertainment on due to guest numbers. Hotel right on beach rooms good. lots of options/choices for breakfast, dinners ok. Easy to get a taxi just out side the reception area and gift shop prices pretty similar to those in Mombasa.
Stayed 5 nights in Oct 2017

4/10 Poor

rob, London

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This hotels days have come and gone
This hotel is tatty, grubby and literally falling apart. Bed was comfortable enough, but the room was dirty, the bathroom unpleasant with taps and pipes falling off walls. Outside the pools look grubby, the bars and restaurants are run down, sun bed pads have bird droppings all over them. My advice is to stay at other Nyali beach resorts, this one is not a great experience

6/10 Okay

Gabi, Atlanta GA

Liked: Staff & service
Great location. Nice people
Overall the place is OK. I didn't expect too much. Hello, this is Africa! And I did not go to complain about the hotel but to enjoy the ocean. Yet, there are some thing that other people should know about: The menu was poor for the price. Those who paid all inclusive didn't have much. The so called natural juices were terrible; poor customer service; they would pour the juice in your glass straight from a 5 gallons dusty plastic canister. The cheapest Walmart juice tastes better. The whole place is old and needs major upgrades. That may not happen soon. Luckily I didn't go to stay in the room. Be aware of ants. I paid for ocean view; well I saw the ocean under a very narrow angle from one side of my balcony. Uh, I also had ocean view if I opened the front door. This ocean view was over a pile of garbage from the neighbor's backyard. Nice people. Very friendly. They exceeded my expectations. I would probably go back.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Bad hotel experiences
due to overbooked, room is not available. Put me on 2 bed rooms residential apartment with other couple in next bed room. only main door has key access and no key for bed room door. No shampoo, soap for shower and bathroom is not clean. Buffae finished only after 1hr of starting while guest has to share chicken (only meat left) one piece per guest.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Vacation
Loved our stay. I will be going back again.

10/10 Excellent

Jose A, Houston Texas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice place ti relax....
The hotel has all you need to relax and enjoy. People are friendly and helpful. The food is good and facilities nice!

10/10 Excellent

peter, Chester

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Reef Hotel Stay
Great stay - very nice people

6/10 Okay

Shaft, London

Disliked: Room comfort
Middle of the road hotel
This hotel like with many hotels in Mombasa is old and definitely in need of modernisation. Road reasonably comfortable, but foam mattress very uncomfortable. Shower pressure very good. Lovely gardens, pool and great access to the beach. Nightly entertainment and buffet good. Breakfast buffet limited and could be better. In summary ok hotel, nothing outstanding and nothing overly disappointing.

4/10 Poor

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Disappointing
Biggest problem with the hotel, some ludicrous policy of only giving one key to the guest. Which means, as you leave the room, you take your key out of the magnetic holder, and your AC turns off. Once you come back to the room from the outside heat, you can't relax, since it's literally a sauna inside the room. You'll have to wait for 3 hours for the room to get cool. Showers are more like a 2 star rather then 4, I've seen 3 rooms, and all bathroom had one thing wrong or the other. The AC in my first room was not working, it took until 2 am the first night to convince the AC technician that the AC is blowing hot air. Finally I got a room with a working AC. Apart from the front desk, all staff were extremely friendly. Pool area is nice, although restaurant and bar would need higher quality of food and drinks. Menu show Caeserean salad, I assumed it was Caesar. It was atrocious, the lettuce on the salad was brown, not green.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
nice beach
location is super, hotel need renovation, kitchen is so so

2/10 Terrible

Janin, Germany

Disliked: Staff & service
No refund after cancelation
I had to cancel my booking on a very short notice (24hrs before) because of an medical emergency. Gladly and very much appreciated the hotel management accepted the cancelation via telephone and even advised how to proceed with the booking agency. According to that the cancelation was also done via email to the booking agency. However, after multiple calls and emails the hotel did not refund the booking. The booking agency stated that the hotel did not reply anymore. Personally I also did not ever receive an email response on my mails from the hotel. In a very difficult private situation of a serious health situation I found that deeply disappointing and unprofessional in service and the management is purely profit-oriented only.

8/10 Good

George, Chicago USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good Choice, Staff, View, Ambience, Food, Pleasing
This is my fourth visit to the Reef Hotel in the past year. Every visit met or exceeded my expectations and provided me a wonderful base from which to work.

6/10 Okay

Andrew, Coventry

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Room comfort
Great service and good value
The Reef is a nice hotel in reasonable condition right by the Mombasa beach. Staff are friendly and helpful. The bedrooms are basic, mattress was quite hard shower was basic, but for the price it's what i expected. If you want somewhere by the beach that is good value for money stay here, if you want somewhere with a higher standard bedroom you will need to pay more.

8/10 Good

David

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Ken, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
OK but not great
The hotel was good overall, yet with some concerns. On the plus side, the food was quite fine and the pools were great. The hotel was close to a great beach and hawkers were few to non-existent. The staff was wonderful. My concerns were: (1) It was difficult to make the mosquito net mosquito-proof because it wouldn't reach the floor and it closed around the bed only with difficulty. I had to put a nightstand on the bed and climb on it in order to reach the ceiling track to reposition the net so it would close. (2) My room was close to the restaurants and there were loud live bands nightly until 11.00. However, they kindly accommodated my request on the second night for a room away from the music. (3) In the room cleaning, the area around the bed posts had been neglected and there were clumps of dust stuck around all the posts at the bottom.

8/10 Good

Paul Ndambuki, France

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good meals
Overall I enjoyed my time there and was not disppointed

8/10 Good

kat, miami

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
Right on the beach
The Reef Hotel was great overall. I think we may have expected a more pleasant welcome at a beach resort (like a drink or an excited jambo) but once we were situated in our room we were fine. The room faced the garden and had a partial view of the ocean. The landscaping and exterior maintenance of the building was very nice. If you are a fan of buffet style meals the menu choices would suit you well. We found them to be overpriced and less than satisfying. We much prefer to pay for what we order rather than a buffet of foods that we don't particularly care for or want that day. Like any buffet you have to try a lot of different things before finding something you like and the things you like may not be there unless you're the first person there or the food can be dried out and unappealing because it sits and is reheated for long periods of time. Our breakfast was included and again buffet style. By the time you waited at different stations for eggs, ham, and toast everything was cold. The menu didn't change and after a few days was hardly appealing. There is a very limited a la carte menu in another part of the hotel which was fair. Lobster was available and good. The rest of the options were fair. The house keeping staff was also very kind and contacted the front desk who then contacted our taxi service after we left something behind in the room. Overall we were satisfied with our stay and paid to have beach access which was our main priority. Upgrades are needed in the room but the sheets were changed and clean. We would go back knowing that we have to leave the hotel to eat meals.