Reef Hotel

Kenya , Mombasa
MOMBASA, Mount Kenya Rd off links road, mwamba drive
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50 reviews shown

2/10

Poor

10 Apr 2026

PHEOBE

Front office staff was amazing! However, upon check in they tried to give me a room with a garden view instead of sea view room I had paid for. Had to ask for it to be sorted. Room was dusty, with cobwebs. On the last day there was no running water. Do not disturb sign on my front door was disregarded had maintenance knocked on my door at 6am. Awful experience!

Self

8/10

Excellent

18 Dec 2025

Simon

Enjoy the beautiful beaches

Partner

8/10

Excellent

29 Sep 2025

Samuel

After doing a 2 week long mission trip in Kenya, my partner and I ventured to Reef Hotel to enjoy R and R on the beach. Overall great value and enjoyable experience!

Business_and_leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

25 Sep 2025

Gary

very noisy at night because of rhe music coming from the bar/club and the room needs to be updated. But pools staff and the beach are fantastic.

Business_and_leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

15 Sep 2025

Gavril

I come here very often for 1-2 weeks each time. There were some repairs and paint jobs done lately, so that the place looks better. The food is OK, the A/C still works, the pool is clean...

8/10

Excellent

14 Sep 2025

Gavril

I keep coming to this place almost every six months and stay one or two weeks. In the last year some repairs were made and the place looks better. It is a good value for the money!

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

15 Jul 2025

Suleiman

Nice beach front property

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

06 Jul 2025

Teresa

Amazing stay and beautiful hotel!

Reef Hotel is a fantastic place to stay—truly a super hotel in a stunning location. It’s set right on the ocean, with its own deck chairs in the resort with a small path down to the public beach, making it perfect for relaxing by the water.

Our room was excellent—spacious, well-equipped, and everything worked perfectly. We had constant hot water, a working fridge and safe, excellent air conditioning, and a lovely balcony to enjoy the view. The hotel also felt very sustainable and blended beautifully into the local surroundings.

One of the standout features was the variety of eating and drinking options—two restaurants, several bars, and even a club, offering something for every mood and time of day. We also felt very safe during our stay; security was clearly a priority, with a guard even watching over guests' belongings while swimming.

The only downside was a lack of communication and coordination between different parts of the hotel, which led to a few minor inconveniences. However, this didn’t take away from what was otherwise a really enjoyable and memorable stay.

Friends_and_family Family

8/10

Excellent

12 May 2025

Lennie

Hotel roof leaks in lobby as very old building that cou

Friends_and_family Friends

2/10

Poor

02 Feb 2025

Michael

Nothing in the bathroom work.I had to become a plumber in order to us the bathroom.
The food was overpriced The bedroom was very uncomfortable for me get a goodnights rest. Everything in the room was very old and out of date. Even the TV refuses to respond.

Leisure

6/10

Pleasant

25 Nov 2024

JAMES

1.Like....the external environment was good.
2.The rooms needs retouch.They are currently in bad state.

8/10

Excellent

03 Aug 2024

hafswa

Good customer Service

8/10

Excellent

03 Mar 2024

Dennis

Authentic Swahili experience.

What's there to say about a hotel started in 1972? If you're looking for modern amenities, you won't find it here. If you're looking for a time capsule of Swahili culture, you will find it here. Rooms have AC, a 3 pools were excellent, ocean view was excellent as well. Breakfast was authentically Swahili with really good mahamris.

Friends_and_family Family

10/10

Exceptional

11 Jan 2024

Michael

Good Option

Great hotel. Beautiful views of the beach, a nice pool, excellent food and drinks, and helpful staff. I needed to shower after checking out and going diving, and they accommodated my need while also watching my bags. Great service!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

16 Nov 2023

Sharleen

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.

Leisure Family

2/10

Poor

13 Nov 2023

Tesfa

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!!!

Partner

8/10

Excellent

30 Mar 2023

Gavril

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!

Leisure Friends

6/10

Pleasant

16 Sep 2022

PETER

Great beach location. Good service

2/10

Poor

15 Jan 2022

Robert

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.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

24 Nov 2021

pradeep

Gòod view of ocean, very good gardens and friendly staffing team

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

21 Nov 2021

Okumu

The rooms looked old, I changed into two different rooms the first one wasn’t smelling fresh and the balcony door couldn’t lock.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

13 Sep 2021

Tony

Good value

Good value for the money

Friends_and_family Friends

8/10

Excellent

27 Dec 2020

Vince

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.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

09 Oct 2020

Ronnie

In general a tired hotel. Bedrooms plain and towels that needed to be replaced 3 years ago.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

26 Dec 2019

Sami

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,

Leisure Friends

4/10

Poor

23 Dec 2019

Michael

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.

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

21 Dec 2019

Guest

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.

Leisure Partner

2/10

Poor

17 Dec 2019

Brian

Terrible condition and not worth the money. A total revamp of the property is necessary

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

29 Oct 2019

Verified traveler

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!

Leisure Partner

2/10

Poor

08 Jul 2019

Stan

The property is old and lack sufficient furnitures. It is poorly runned.

Business Friends

4/10

Poor

11 Mar 2019

Verified traveler

Upgrade your A/C units, clean the mold out of the tile in the bath room

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

27 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

Guest service is amazing. Its has its own bar/club which is very safe and fun.

Leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

07 Feb 2019

Verified traveler

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.

2/10

Poor

10 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

Do yourself a favor... find somewhere else... poor rooms, poor quality, overall... really rough.
Staff were nice and location is OK, but seriously..

Business_and_leisure Friends

4/10

Poor

06 Dec 2018

Verified traveler

Then hotel rooms are not clean and tidy. Breakfast for business people starts very late.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

27 Nov 2018

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.

Family

4/10

Poor

21 Nov 2018

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.

Family

6/10

Pleasant

22 May 2018

Verified traveler

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)

6/10

Pleasant

09 Nov 2017

Dizzy T

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.

4/10

Poor

23 Mar 2017

rob

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

Pleasant

08 Feb 2017

Gabi

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

25 Jun 2016

Verified traveler

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

Excellent

05 Oct 2015

Verified traveler

Vacation

Loved our stay. I will be going back again.

Family

10/10

Exceptional

03 Oct 2015

Jose A

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

Exceptional

01 Oct 2015

peter

Reef Hotel Stay

Great stay - very nice people

6/10

Pleasant

12 May 2015

Shaft

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

13 Apr 2015

Verified traveler

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

Pleasant

07 Apr 2015

Verified traveler

nice beach

location is super, hotel need renovation, kitchen is so so

2/10

Poor

16 Mar 2015

Janin

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.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

23 Feb 2015

George

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.