Just returned from 8-night stay in the Papillion Reef all I can say to start with is some reviews prior to our visit were good some bad. My wife and myself upgraded to a beach front room and were glad we did, some of the other room were a long walk from the beach & pool. We got room 156, which in our opinion was the best in the whole complex ground floor, & on a corner mind you there are only 18 beach front rooms. Food was plentiful if not a bit the same by the time we were to leave, staff were so so so pleasant all around complex. The garden boys always put on a bit of a show climbing coconut trees then taking them around to people to drink the milk & eat the flesh they did not ask for any cash for this but most people would give them Ksh100 (i.e.€1.00). The beach boys on the other hand well they spoilt what was one of the best beaches we have ever been on. Saying that if you are firm but polite with them normally after a few days they tend to leave you alone. I would have no hesitation is staying in this hotel again we had been on safaris prior to this so its just the place to wind down & relax.

We have just returned from the Papillon and couldn't have asked for more. On arrival there was a mix up with our room allocation and this was dealt with straight away with us being allocated a larger room. The staff at the hotel could not do more to help. Throughout our stay every member of staff went out of their way to help in any way they could and all of the staff were very friendly. We were initially in a garden room but moved to a larger cottage room. Having read some comments about the standards of these rooms I was pleasantly surprised. Rooms were large enough for the guests and the standard of cleanliness was excellent. Rooms were cleaned daily and the air conditioning was at no extra charge. I travelled with my 6 year old son and the evening meal on our first night was traditional Swahili food which he wasn't very keen on. Although the menu was more varied for the rest of the week the chef once aware of this offered to cook him either chips or plain rice or pasta each night to go with the meat dish. Every night when we arrived in the restaurant a message went to the kitchen so that his food could be prepared. This was just one of the extra touches which made a difference to our holiday. The pool was lovely and the evening entertainment was ideal for the hotel and its clientele. This hotel was the perfect place to recover from our 7 day safari and I hope to go back soon.

Visited Papillon Lagoon Reef for December and stayed over the new year period. The hotel is only a 3* but is certainly to the higher end of the scale. We stayed in a Garden Room and they were spotless, decent size room with large double bed, and decent size terrace.

As we were on the ground floor the monkeys came every single day to the balcony and were so sweet.

During out holiday we visted Halla Park - a must se we even fed giraffes!!!! Also went on an excursion named 'Paradise Lost', wonderful; e travelld down therimisi river on a sesae canoe, had a tradiotnal swahili breakfast on board a sailing dow, anchored on a desert island had the most delicious seafood lunch (Calamari, Lobster, White Bait, Sailfish) and then visted Shirazi Village were we were shown demonstrations and met the locals.

We also went on Safari and stayed at Ngutuni Lodge - the only way I can discribe the lodge is as a 4* hotel on stilts!! very nice but certainly not what I expected being in the middle of the African wilderness.

Hopefully we will go back to Kenya in a few years time - too many places I want to see first, if we do will definatley go back to Papillon, the staff fell over themselves to help you and are so sincere - made lots of friends there and still email now.

Tracie
xx

This was our 3rd time in Mombassa having stayed previously at Turtle Bay Beach Club 4* and Sun n Sands Beach Resort 5*. We upgraded our room at the Papillion hoping we would have more space/luxury. This is not the case! Dont bother upgrading, all you get extra is a view of the beach, a small fridge and a basic bath. This was our only gripe about the hotel. The service was far superior to the other hotels we have stayed at and the food was also quite good for a 3* Hotel.
If you are going close to rainy season - dont bother! We thought it would be like Carribean rainy season with sudden downpours followed by some sun. It isnt. It rains solid for the whole season, all day, every day so be warned.
We still havent found a hotel that matches up to any where near the standard you recieve on the 3* Safaris so dont expect it in Mombassa. I would probably recommend you try Zanzibar or the Seyshelles.