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Southern Palms Beach Resort - 4Star
Southern Palms Beach Resort is a beautiful 4star hotel situated on the white beaches of Kenya’s Diani, approximately 35km South of Mombasa. The resort is easily approached by road and forms an impressive structure with its fusion of Swahili and Arab architecture.
The main feature of Southern Palms is its two massive swimming pools. These must be the largest pools we’ve ever seen! The pools loosely twist around the resort’s two ‘swim-up bars’ and are surrounded by rows of palms. The place reminded us of an oasis with its blue waters and green vegetation. One of the pools, the one closest to the entrance, is a salt water pool. The other, which is slightly larger is a freshwater pool and seems to be the favourite.
The resort opened in 1992 and is more like a little village than a hotel, with its great restaurants, bars and 4-storey accommodation blocks. Families are very welcome and the hotel has a fun kiddie’s centre as well as babysitting facilities. While the place is a bit big for personal service, the friendly staff go a long way in trying.
The resort is very majestic and caters for all tastes, while still remaining quite classy (gentleman are required to wear long trousers to dinner in the evenings).
Apart from the great swimming pool there are loads of exciting activities at Southern Palms to take part in. Nature walks are quite popular as are the trips to the nearby colourful African Village. The resort is a sports fan’s dream with a floodlit tennis court, 2 air-conditioned squash courts, pool tables, bowls, table tennis, beach volleyball as well as great live entertainment at night, including African song and dance, acrobats and local folklore.
And if you’re into water sports, the resort offers water polo, windsurfing, snorkelling, water aerobics, catamaran sailing, scuba diving and even deep sea fishing. But don’t worry if all of this sounds like too much commotion – Southern Palms is also ideal if you’re after a welcome escape from your busy lifestyle. The pool bars are attractive and invite lazy lounging about, while the palm trees and the white sea sand create the perfect setting for a romantic beachfront picnic.
The hotel has come up with a great way to pay for food and beverages, without having to carry any cash. Credit cards with a pre-loaded Ksh300 can be purchased from the main cashier and every time you use the card the amount simply gets deducted from the total. Any money left on your card at the end of your stay will be fully refunded.
The owners of the resort are very environmentally-aware and go to great lengths to ensure that the beautiful surrounds remain unspoilt and natural. All of this spills over into the way they run the resort with the utmost of care and attention. This place is really beautiful and truly friendly. Whether you’re after a fun-packed holiday in an idyllic setting or a relaxing breather in paradise – Southern Palms won’t disappoint.
The rooms
Southern Palms Beach is a massive 4 star resort with 298 rooms and two deluxe suites, spread out over 8 accommodation blocks. These consist of 6 blocks of 30 rooms on 3 floors, one block with 78 rooms on 4 floors and one with 40 rooms on 4 floors.
36 of the rooms have sea views, but cost slightly more. The remainder of the rooms are just as good and overlook the beautiful pools or gardens. We simply loved our traditional four poster Mombasa style Pili Pili bed, complete with draped mosquito net. The rooms are tiled and all the bathrooms are en-suite (and recently refurbished). The showers are nice and big.
All the rooms come equipped with air-con, combination safes in the wardrobes, direct dial telephones and a single day-bed that converts into a second bed (great for families). All the upper rooms have balconies while the ground floors have verandas. These are nice and wide with comfortable Swahili easy chairs.
The rooms come in twins and doubles and there are rooms with interleading doors on the ground floor for families. There are also two deluxe suites with king size beds, TV’s and videos, a lounge area and a mini bar.
Dining
The resort is known for its great seafood and meat platters and offers four restaurants to choose from, all serving good, tasty meals.
The resort’s main restaurant seats 450 guests and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner - buffet style. Every night they have a different theme and the atmosphere can get really cheerful. They serve good crab, prawns and steaks, and their Spiny Langouste (clawless lobster) is simply delicious. Their wine list is quite good and includes local and international wines, all complementing the meals perfectly. This restaurant is the only one that serves breakfast.
The second dining option, the Manyatta ‘Nyama Choma’ (African barbeque) Restaurant is next to the pool and serves grilled meat, game and fish. They use special spices on their dishes that give a great twist to a traditional barbeque.
The Boriti Snack Restaurant offers snacks and light lunches during the day while the Beachcomber Stir-fry chefs dish up great “mix” a la minute nibbles right on the beachfront.
Another dinner option, the La via Romana Italian Restaurant, offers great a la carte Italian food. This restaurant is next to the ocean and makes for a really pretty setting.
There are also 5 bars spread out over the property, including 2 ‘swim up bars’ by the poolside. All of them stay open ‘till 11pm except for the main bar which operates 24/7. Two of the bars, the Boriti and the Beach bars open at 9 while the remainder, the Fountain Bar and the Lake Palace Bar open a little bit later, at 10pm.
As the place is quite classy, they ask that gentlemen wear long trousers in the evenings.
The facilities
Location:
Southern Palms Beach Resort is located on Diani Beach, approximately 35km South of Mombasa, Kenya. It is approximately 1½ hours from the Mombasa Airport, by road.
General facilities:
• 3 restaurants
• 5 bars
• 2 swimming pools with swim-up bars, one with a Jacuzzi
• Children's Club, suitable for 4 to 12 year-olds
• Zawadi Boutique
• Hair/Beauty Salon & massage parlour
• Bureau de change (available from 07.00 to 21.30)
• Hospital/Pharmacy in the vicinity
• Secure free car parking
• Fitness centre
• Water sports centre
• Beach umbrellas, sun beds with mattress and towels
• 2 air-conditioned squash courts
• 2 floodlit tennis courts
• Table tennis
• Pool tables
• Hair dryers
• Fax service (office hours only)
Room facilities:
• En-suite bathrooms
• Locally carved 'Pili Pili' four poster double beds
• Single day-beds that convert into to a second bed
• Direct dial telephones
• Air-conditioning
• Combination safes
• Mosquito nets
Deluxe Suites:
• King-size four-poster beds
• Mini bars
• TV and video
• Lounge
• Balcony
Activities:
• Water aerobics
• Beach volleyball
• Walks to a typical coastal African village
• Guided bird walks to the hinterland, escorted by a skilled ornithologist
• Live bands, musicians, acrobats and local folklore.
• Scuba diving and ocean safaris (PADI & SSI accredited facility)
• Snorkelling trips to the coral reef
• Windsurfing (lessons and equipment)
• Fishing
• Wasini/Kisite Island Marine National Park
• Shimba Hills National Park
• 18 hole golf course
• Shops/supermarkets
• Restaurants
• Casinos
• Night clubs
Services:
• Hotel doctor on call (daily morning visit to the resort)
• Hospital facility
• 24 hour taxi service
• Daily laundry service
Open: Southern Palms Beach Resort is open all year round.
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