Very nice accomodation right on the beach! Everything is well taken care off, great food, very nice and proffesional staff and lovely beach cottages. The owners are very present and nice and care about what they do. It is a ultimate relax holiday option!
Great style, great food, great location and nothing too much trouble for the team. This is for those who like castaway chic. Basic fresh water showers and no locks or doors on the bandas, but we felt totally secure and spent a blissful few days relaxing away from the crowds in this isolated beach setting.
This is truly an isolated, eco friendly resort that may or may not delight you depending on what you think 4 star accommodation to be.
Positives
The service is second to none - Harrison catered to our every need. Food quality is outstanding given the location of the resort.
Beach is 7km of isolation - activity in the sea with local fishermen helps support the ambience and the environment. No one to bother you on the beach if you choose to go for a run.
Negatives
The beach hut accommodation is extremely basic - no door on the toilets - significant lack of privacy, no electricity at various points in the day and evening, no appropriate bed options for friends - only double or king size beds.
Do not expect Africa prices in this resort - European prices all the way.
Malindi is c 30km away from the resort - taxi fare can be expensive if you want to get into town depending on length of visit. Potential for Cabin fever if you are there for more than 4 days.
Dogs everywhere - in the restaurant, at the breakfast and lunch area - begging or sitting at the tables. Not really suitable for a 4* resort.
Whilst I enjoyed my time on the beach I did not experience paradise and would not recommend this resort - poor value for money and extremely basic accommodation.
Dear Guest,
Thank you very much for taking the time to post your review and share your feedback with other travelers. Thank you for the positive comments, we have relayed them onto our waiter Harrison and we know it ail make his day.
We are very sorry that some aspects of your stay did not meet your expectations in terms of "value for money" (as per the final statement in your review) and we are sorry you do not feel like you would recommend Che Shale to other travelers. As one can see reading through all the 100+ Trip Advisor reviews, this is a very rare occurrence and we are all the more concerned and keen to address your comments.
We have checked with our staff today to make sure that throughout your stay with us (March 1 - 8), they have regularly checked on how you were doing and if there was anything we could assist with (this is something we do with all of our clients). We do not have any records of anything you brought up that was an issue during your stay. It is unfortunate that you did not voice the concerns during your time with us, as this is when we could have done something about them to address them. In other words we cannot fix something that is not brought to our attention.
Regarding the "extremely basic" accommodation: Che Shale is certainly not a modern 4 star resort, we do not have any rating and nowhere on our website or online communication we claim to be. On the other hand we strive to communicate the natural and simple attributes of our property. Our tagline even says "Stylish. Simple. Secluded". The website has many pictures of the bandas and we often hear customers who arrive at Che Shale and say how well the website describes the property. The bathrooms have a curtain and no door and again this is part of the style and architecture.
About the fact that the bandas are not suitable for friends we would like to differ. We understand that your booking was for 2 female friends, however this was not communicated to us when the booking was made and there was no request for 2 single beds. We do have 3 bandas that have separate beds (Fulusi, Songoro and Kole Kole) and even 2-bedroom family bandas.
Che Shale being remote we use a generator for our power and the generator hours are 9 - 3 pm and 5 pm - 1 am. This is generally more than enough for our clients who wish to charge phones or cameras - and there is always the possibility to use the charging station behind the bar and in the office. This information is clearly explained in the information book in the banda and we are sorry this was an inconvenience for you.
Regarding "European prices and not African prices" we are not sure if you refer to the rates of the bandas or to the prices of the restaurant. Interestingly there is a perception that Africa is a cheap destination but in fact it is not as costs of supply and transport are still some of the highest in the world. Che Shale is not a cheap destination and it is not a high end expensive destination either. Our restaurant prices are in line with other hotels and restaurants in Malindi and a seafood lunch with a glass of wine will be under 20 Euros, all served on one of Kenya's last deserted beaches.
Regarding Malindi being 30 Kms North, this is of course a true fact, but also something we clearly explain in our emails, together with the cost of taxi to get there.
"Cabin ferver" is a term we have never encountered before to be completely honest. Clients actually choose Che Shale over the crowded beaches and resort because we are secluded and because you can go for a walk without being disturbed by vendors. On the other hand there are many activities right on the beach if one wants to get active, from swimming, sailing, snorkeling, kitesurfing (if windy), kayaking, SUPs, school visits, sand dunes walks - and many more activities and sightseeing in and around Malindi. We have a board with all activitres clearly explained in our reception and we hope you have been able to have a look at them. They are also on our website and in the information book in the bandas.
We are very sorry you felt the presence of our dogs was invasive. We live on the property (being the owner of Che Shale) and Che Shale is our home. Our labradors are out and about and we are sorry if they were a bit too close and sometimes attracted by the food smells. They are very gentle dogs and a bit of mascots at Che Shale, but we understand that not everyone can be dog lovers like we are and we apologize if we did not notice you were uncomfortable with them - if we did we would have locked them away for the duration of your stay. There are also a few errand dogs on the beach that do not belong to us and we try to chase them but they keep returning. It is not an easy situation but part of living in a remote location.
Again we are sorry for the negative sides of your stay and we are sorry we could not address them when you were at Che Shale. We hope our response can help you understand some aspects of how things are run at Che Shale. Thank you for sharing your feedback. We believe this will help us improve our clients' experience at Che Shale.
This is a great location with rooms and the bar/restaurant right on the beach. It really is a little slice of paradise but as one of the other reviews says, if you don’t like creepy crawlies it probably isn’t the place for you. To get there we were driven over a few miles of sandy road so knew before we got there that this was going to give us the isolated quiet spot we were looking for to chill out. Our accommodation was a luxurious, spacious stand-alone cabin on the beach with a roof thatched with leaves and mats hanging over the doors and windows. This is lovely and cooling, but the first night there we tucked ourselves into the mosquito net, the lights went out (electricity is turned off for most of the night), the unusually windy conditions increased and there was ‘something’ in the cabin. Happily, we heard but didn’t see what it was – a large insect or a small mammal, who knows? The other thing we hadn’t realised was that the shower was salt water so always had that slight stickiness which salt water leaves. Still, go for a swim in the sea and a walk on the beach and the feeling goes.The team in the restaurant were lovely and the lunch with barbecued meat and seafood was outstanding. The skewer of king prawns was particularly memorable and drinking fresh pineapple juice, smoothies or cocktails on the beautiful white beach was lovely. The only downside was that there was a large family party the first night of our arrival which felt a bit like being a gatecrasher at a strangers wedding rather than the quiet isolation we hoped for- in fact we left without eating! However, this only affected the first evening and I think was a pretty unusual occurrence.
if you are not able to relax on this particular spot with great people, food, view and tranquility you might have a serious problem...
Since almost 6 years I`am coming again and again to recharge my batteries, enjoy the fresh food and met some great people beside relaxing, reading and walking on the beach.
This is where th sky is the highest and where you have time to do or don`t do what ever you wanted.
Kindly hosts, friendly team and yammy fresh fish beside kyte surfing.
I, my family and my good friend from Spain had the best fantastic new year's eve at Che Shale and the experience was awesome!!! Right from the reception to the restaurant, sumptuous dinner coupled with sweet melodies from the night Dj. Later we were entertained by local drummers who really knew what they were upto! Its never been so fun in the most tranquil & relaxing establishment!!!
