Stayed @ Smiles Beach Hotel for 3 nights, 4 days. Meal plan was Half board (Breakfast & Dinner). Road Access The road to the hotel starts off ok, but towards the middle has HUGE pot holes and after a rain it’s completely filled up with mud. The driver has to move very slowly to avoid any damage to the car. On arrival On arrival we were greeted warmly with a nice cold drink, check in was quick and we were taken to our rooms. We booked 2 rooms. Both were located upstairs but not in the same building. To get to the rooms we have to climb a spiral staircase. Rooms The upper floor has 2 rooms side by side. The room door is a split door with a sliding lock and a padlock. There were a few outdoor furniture in the balcony area. The room itself looked very clean and smelled clean. Coffee & tea station, LCD TV, Mini Fridge, Safety deposit box. The bed is built into the room walls. The orientation of the bed is weird. I am an average height guy, 5’8”, and when I lie down to sleep, from my ankle down is off the bed. But if the bed was orientated the other way, there would be more than enough room. The rooms are old and needs some TLC, ceiling is wood and black dirt keeps falling from the cracks. We were told that the room service will come over around 7.30 at every night to “turn d own” the room. Technically, spray some bug spray outside the room door and setup the mosquito nets. From our 3 nights, this happened only on the last day. That too, the net had a 1cm hole. Bathroom Pretty large bathroom, basic toiletries available (No body lotion or dental kit). The toilets are clean. The sink is a little on the high side. If there are children, it’s a bit hard to reach to brush teeth etc. Garden, pool and private beach front Garden is kept very neat and tidy. We saw a gardener every morning sweeping the grounds. Pool is clean. The tiles on the outside of the pool were cracked and need to be careful while walking. Especially with bare feet. Private beach front is nice and clean. Its, on a higher elevation so you get a nice view. Hawkers and Masai beach boys The are friendly, but can become a bit annoying after some time. So best advice is to be polite, say no thank you. (they are not allowed in the private beach area) Food & Restaurant Breakfast was not bad, it’s a buffet style menu and had a decent variety, each morning something different. Sometimes in the morning there a few flies around and will hover over the fresh fruit. Dinner was a la carte menu and different for each day as well. The downside is that the food quality drops when they have more occupancy. The biggest issue we had was the meal service times. We had to wait almost 1 hour between entree and main and another 45 min for dessert. This was the case every day. There are few felines (cats) inside the restaurant premises. They roam freely and sometimes come and rub themselves on your legs. There were a few other guests that were not very comfortable with this. Als
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