Shimba Hills Lodge

We stayed at Shimba Hills Lodge for one night as part of our coastal birding week. The staff are lovely and the lodge is quirky and unique, made from local timber. Colobus monkeys, bush squirrels and bushbabies (at night) run about and there is a boardwalk where you can find some of the local birds. The long access road needs improvement as it is very rough even in a 4X4. We had the nicest room available but it was still shabby and worn out with no soap save for the remnants of a highly watered down bottle of hand soap. There were also a few half empty single use shampoo & conditioner tubes at the sink. The sink fittings were old and need replacement. There is no WiFi nor cell service. Our electricity went off at 2 pm and by dinner time was still off. Candles were placed in the hallways otherwise it would have been pitch black. I don't know how often this happens but there is NO back-up plan for when it does. No generator - not even any flashlights to give to guests. Open flames on the floor of a wood structure, even if they are in candle holders, struck us as downright unsafe. Fortunately, the electricity came back on about 8:30 pm - we were very pleased. The food is OK but rather basic and repetitive. Breakfast was the best meal. With significant improvements this lodge could be very quaint and charming but at this point it is in dire need of upgrading.

I stayed 2 nights in Shimba Hills Lodge. First of all, I would like to say that the staff is all very welcoming and friendly. IMO, the rates you pay for a stay here (+we had full board) are not so cheap, so I was expecting quite a bit. I was expecting something similar to my stays in Tsavo, which were all very nice. However, to me Shimba Lodge looks like a place which was once very nice and popular, but is now degraded and old. It seems like not enough money is invested in maintenance, with bathrooms that look old and have broken components, and electricity that doesn’t work well all the time. Doors don’t really close well, there are some holes in the ceiling, and a lot of things are just malfunctioning, damaged, or broken off. Moreover, I find the food a bit disappointing. Again, the people making the food are nice. However, I would like to have some choice of what to eat, which I didn’t. We told them in advance that we all eat vegetarian (and we were the only guests in the Lodge). Both evenings, the only veggie option was pasta with sauce. The starter was always soup and the desert always some fruit. It would be so nice if there was a bit more variation in the dishes. Of course, it is food and it does the job, but it didn’t match my expectations for the money I paid. The location of the lodge is beautiful and surrounded by nature, but personally I wouldn’t recommend this place. I would recommend to just do a day trip from Diani to Shimba Hills instead.

We are still in awe after living in this heaven on earth. The gorgeously beautiful hotel has not only its location as the greatest advantage of all, but the nicest people you have ever met! The kindness of the management and the staff especially William surpasses everything you have ever and will ever see.

Heartbreaking. We used to come here pretty regularly between 15 and 25 years ago and we always loved the beautiful location, the amazing treehouse architecture, the wildlife at the lodge and the amazing food!!! It was normally a special treat for birthdays or other special occasions. The location and architecture are still incredible but the lodge feels neglected especially in the bedrooms with broken curtains/mosquito nets/etc. There were no mosquito nets in the standard bedrooms. The wildlife is no longer as used to humans so we didn’t get to see the bush babies and genet cat but did see the red squirrels and Colobus monkeys and baboons as well as warthog and waterbuck. The staff were all wonderfully friendly but are obviously not used to having guests currently. There was no cold wine and they ran out of cold drinking water and ice. Ordering food was a painful process and the food itself was not as good as it used to be and often cold. As lovely as they were the chef and waiting staff definitely need some training. There was no Wifi or phone signal and the lodge could not take credit cards or cash but only MPesa which we struggled to use due to lack of signal. We really hope they flourish in this post lockdown era and we hope to come back after some renovations and training!

This is a cool and unusual property in the Shimba Hills Reserve. We stayed just for one night. Good: Friendly and attentive staff The boardwalk are alongside the waterhole Dated but clean and comfortable rooms The bar area Colobus monkeys! Not so good: The price is a bit steep Food is plentiful but average IMPORTANT TO NOTE - this property does not accept card payments. If you’re a Kenya resident, they accept MPESA. If not, you need to pay in cash. Unfortunately we only found this out at check out, which could have led to an awkward situation.