The place to stay in Mombassa (Severin Sea Lodge (Mombasa, Kenya))

Member Name: shadsybear

Product:	Severin Sea Lodge (Mombasa, Kenya)
Date:	13/11/08 (159 review reads)
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Severin Sea Lodge is situated in Mombassa a few miles from the airport and in an ideal location to visit the Tsavo Safari Parks,

The hotel is very well protected by security and there are big gates at the entrance which are kept locked unless people needed to come in or go out. The hotel backs onto the beach and there are always guards down on the beach stopping anyone coming in who was not supposed to be there.

For the first couple of days of our stay we stayed in the main hotel which was not the best. The beds were uncomfy and the air conditoning was so loud you couldn't sleep! However, once back from our safari we were upgraded to one of the lodges which was absolutely great - it is hard to believe they are part of the same complex! The lodges are large and we had 2 comfy double beds and a decent sized bathroom with both a bath and shower! If you stay at Severin make sure you spend the extra money on a Lodge! The first lodge we stayed in, the air conditioning broke, however, they quickly moved us into a new lodge and we had no further problems. The only thing I did find was that I struggled to find my way back to the lodge some nights (however, my sense of direction is terrible so you might not have the same problem!), the staff at reception were always on hand to help me find my way back!

There were plenty of facilities on the complex including:

A small (and expensive!) gift shop - I would recommend going out of the hotel to buy your gifts - the wood carving workshop and gift shop is the best place to go if you are staying in Mombassa.

Convenience store - Selling snacks and drinks plus some souvenirs. Also sol very cheap cigarettes, about £1 for 20 (not that I smoke anymore but found it a bit too handy at the time!).

2 pools - one of the pools was quite small and this is where families with younger children seemed to gather. The main pool was much bigger and had a stools in the water at the end near the bar. There was then a large window in the bar where you could order your drinks without getting out of the pool! There was normally someone around although sometimes you would have to wait a while before being served (although this seemed to be the case in all the places we went - the Kenyans are very laid back and don't rush to do anything!). There were always plenty of sun loungers around the pool and if you make friends with on of the pool boys they would put towels out for us in our usual spot each morning (got to get in there before the Germans!!). The main pool was where the pool activities would take place such as water aerobics and water polo.

A laundrette - We didn't use this facility so I am not sure what they had or how much it was.

A hairdressers - we used the hairdressers on the morning of my Mum and Step Dad's wedding. Although they did a good job on our hair it took them ages and my Mum ended up with about 10 minutes to put her make-up on and get dressed. If you do decide to use the hairdressers make sure you leave yourself plenty of time! The prices are about the same as you would expect to pay in the UK.

One large restaurant where main meals were served - the food was of a decent standard although nothing really stands out. There was always plenty of choice for breakfast, lunch and tea of hot and cold foods together with breads, fruits etc. The only thing they ask in this restaurant is that you cover up - they will not let you go in in swimwear (even if you are wearing a sarong, they will still ask you to put more clothes on!).

A small pizza and pasta outside restaurant which also served cold breakfasts - this place was great. The pizzas and salads were delicious and, if you went to order at the restaurant, they would bring it out to the pool for you. Food was served here all day and was included within the all inclusive package.

"The Dhow" restaurant which is a small boat in the grounds whic
h serves a la carte meals (have to be paid for - not included in all inclusive) - we ate on the Dhow the night of the wedding. The food is absolutely delicious. We sat down to aroun a 7 course meal! It is fairly pricey and there are not many tables so if you do want to have a meal on the Dhow you need to book in advance. It is well worth treating yourself to one meal during your stay.

A main bar (including the pool bar) - as well as including the pool bar, this bar was good as you could sit all around the bar or there were plenty of tables away from the bar. In this bar there was a TV and you could play pub games such as darts and pool.

A bar by the beach which had swinging seats (not a good idea when you have been drinking - yes I did fall off!!) - this bar was really lovely to sit at in the evening as you could look out at the beach and sea. It was OK during the day, however, sometimes the "beach boys" (not the group!) would hassle you (see below).

Another smaller bar where most of the evening entertainment took place - this bar was nice and cosy but still had plenty of seats and tables. This bar was always busy at night so if you do want a seat you have to get there early!

A small internet cafe - which you could get tea and coffee whilst surfing the net. They only had a couple of computers but I hardly ever saw anyone in there so you never had any trouble getting time on the internet. You just paid a small amount for however long you wanted which could be us,ed over a few days if you wanted. You did not have to use up all of your minutes at once.

The entertainment was provided by the "Animation Team". There were around 4 members of the team and there was always someone around all day and night if you wanted entertaining! The activities during the day mainly consisted of sports such as water aerobics, table tennis, water polo and volleyball (which we really enjoyed for the first few days then the Germans arrived and started taking it way too seriously!). They also arranged the evening entertainment such as discos, fashion shows, etc. The highlight of the evening entertainment for me was the reptile night where we got to hold lizards, snakes and millipeeds, something I never thought I would do! We went out to a nightclub one night with the animation team once their shift had ended and had a great night. The only thing I would say about them was that they would attach themselves to you and would sometimes come and pester you for a game of table tennis or other game if they were not busy which could get quite frustrating at times but on a whole they were great and really made our holiday special.

There are lots of lizards wandering around the hotel and we did have one in our room at one point! I am not a big fan of creatures like this but they won't come too close to you and you get used to them after a while. The one thing I didn't get used to was the monkeys that used to come around the pool about 4pm in the afternoon. They were really quite vicious and would come to try and find any left over scraps of food. They may look cute but you don't want to get too close to them!

Beach Boys - As I have said, the hotel backs onto the beach (as do many other hotels along the stretch of beach). This draws many so called "beach boys". They are locals trying to sell you small gifts such as handmade keyrings, bracelets etc. If you are looking for small souvenirs to take home I would find one of the beach boys and do a deal with them as their prices are very cheap and they really do a good job, especially with the handmade wooden keyrings. The only problem with them is that they do pester you quite a lot and you cannot really go for a walk on the beach without being followed by them! Having said this they are not aggressive, they are just trying to make a living and they will understand the word 'no' after a while, you just have to be firm but friendly. On our first day at the hotel we actually had a "sea safari" from two of the beach boys. They took us out into the sea (just as far as we could walk into it) and showed us all of the different sea creatures. This was great fun and we saw lots of sea creatures we would not even have known were there. For a small fee this is a great way to spend an hour or two.

Outside the hotel there are shops and a bank just a short taxi ride away. Reception at the hotel will book you a taxi which will wait for you whilst you go shopping. Also, there are nightclubs and restaurants not too far away. The nightclub we went to was a real experience. It was outdoors for a start with lots of tables and chairs spread out across a couple of different levels. The dancefloor was like a giant boxing ring, risen quite a way off the ground, in the middle of the club. The drinks at the club were really cheap, however, I would advise you not to drink too much (especially girls!) as the toilets are just a hole in the ground which are difficult enough to negotiate when you are sober, let alone when you are tipsy!! The taxi we booked also waited outside the nightclub for us and charged no extra (how many cabbies woul wait a couple of hours for you in the UK and not charge for it!). We usually tipped the taxi drivers as they were really cheap and so friendly.

As I said, during our stay my Mum and my now Stepdad got married at the hotel. They were allowed to choose from a few different locations as to where they wanted the ceremony to take place. They decided to get married with a view of the beach which was nice, however, a little noisy from the wind and all the beach boys were watching too! My Mum was lead down to the ceremony from her room via the pool with the Kenyan dancers. This drew a lot of attention to us from the other hotel guests! The dancers then performed again at the end of the ceremony. Provided in the package were flowers, cake and champagne. They also chose to have a DVD done which we were able to watch before we left the hotel to come home.

The staff at Severin are all really friendly and make your stay really special. As it is an all inclusive hotel the staff do not tend to get any tips so, when you have been there a few days and they feel they can trust you, they will ask if you mind them putting extra drinks on your tab so that they can have them at the end of their shift. If your anything like us you will be happy to do this, they earn very little and put everything they can into making your holiday special so we felt it was the least we could do. Whenever we ordered drinks we would always ask the bar staff if they wanted a "Tusker" (local Kenyan beer, delicious!). Our bill must have looked quite strange at the end of our stay with all the guiness and whisky that they drank!

We visited Kenya in June and at this time there were mainly couples or older families at the hotel so I am not sure whether they cater more for younger children during the school holidays though I am sure they do as they have all the facilities and entertainment staff to do this. If you do have any teenage daughters I would just be a little bit careful as some of the entertainment staff do tend to latch onto young, single girls!

Overall a great place to stay although some areas still have room for improvement.

Summary: A great place to stay but room for improvement