Papillon Lagoon Reef Hotel, Kwale

stayed here many times . used to like it very much. but we think its going downhill, far too noisy now, nightly rubbish disco. noise from next doors disco until all hours. so no sleep. found insects and monkeys on buffet food. one guest had worms in the milk jug. lots of screeching children in pool, so cant get a good swim. staff after money from guests. beach boys a real pain. you have to run the gauntlet to get to the sea. constantly pestered. food a bit repetative. not as much choice as other hotels , and always cold. we think its poor quality for the money. owners are putting prices up again this year. we think they should be lowered , as it feels like only a 2 star hotel. you have to pay for a safe in your room. theres no tv or fridge, no easy chair to sit in. you have to sit on beds, which isnt very good. there are 2 wooden chairs on balcony, which are very uncomfortable. the bathroom towels are always smelly. we were told most of the time they are just dried on the balcony. so gets mixed up with other guests. disgusting, our room was always clean. had good room boy. 2 or 3 good waiters. rest not so good. such a shame, it used to be very relaxing and pleasant, getting like butlins now. questionable wether we will return again The safaris in kenya are very expensive also . A piece of paradise lost.

lovely hotel very nice staff beach boys not a problem just a polite no works quite well, food was fine will go back to the same hotel in the near future

We found the staff at Papillon to be helpful and friendly at all times, the only exception was a brief discussion on our first day with a rather predatory and intimidating woman, whom I felt might be the owner. More 'interrogation' than 'friendly chat'; she would do well to learn some inter-personal skills from her own staff. Subsequent sightings of her during our stay only reinforced this opinion. We didn't actually see a leopard while we were on Safari but she made an admirable surrogate, so I still lay claim to the 'Big 5'. The beach vendors have been mentioned in most reviews and they remain rather an annoyance and render the beach something of a 'no go' area. Any would-be sea bather must run a gauntlet of hawkers before dipping a toe in the water. However, having seen the condition of the towns, both en-route to the hotel and later close up when we visited a school, it is difficult to be hard-nosed with people who are trying, with little or no help from the State, to make a living. As a consequence, during our stay we accumulated what would be, were they not made from rosewood and ebony, sufficient animals to start another game reserve. The food at the hotel is my biggest criticism. Breakfast, it must be said, was wonderful, there was a wide choice, in abundance. Lunch, having done very little all morning anyway, was a bit of an indulgence and I would rate it 'OK'. However, the evening meal, which I feel should be the relaxing and social culmination of an enjoyable day, was frequently disappointing. The self service style made obtaining the food a bit of a scrum and there were frequent gaps in the fayre (particularly bread and desserts), often as much as an hour before the end of the sitting. The portions which the restaurant staff dished out (usually the meat part of the menu) were, quite frankly, miserly and put the guest in the uncomfortable position of asking for more. In addition, I got the distinct impression that some of the drinks had a rather higher water content than might have been expected. The one exception I found was the passion fruit juice, which was delicious. Would I go again? No, I don't think so, unless subsequent reviewers, in large numbers, begin to contradict my impressions of the restaurant. It is a pity that the great and friendly efforts of a wonderful staff are rather overshadowed by parsimonious management.

exellent hotel very frendly staff,fantastic animation team espeacially george and mini masai.if you want to see two people cheat at water polo watch these two they are brill. The rooms are exelent aswell food is great a good selection on offer.I agree that the beach boys are a pain but there is not alot they can do about them GEORGE we will see you when we return

We arrived there on 5th july ALL staff very welcoming make you feel at home, beach boys were a pain in the butt at times but not hotel fault, owner of the hotel very friendly we left on 11th july early hours and really didnt want to leave. we goin bak in novemeber as we feel we didnt have enough time there. Did diving, diving staff again very friendly make you feel at ease, chefs friendly and lovely food entertainment..on the 1st nite all 4 of us got involved with it and really enjoyed it, On the last nite us 2 girls had decided before we went that we would dress up in tutu's we were very nervous how everyone would react to us but we had a proper laugh and only really noticed 1 snotty guest who obviously didnt aprove but every 1 else staff, guests and even the owner commented and we were asked that when we go bak would we do it again over all it was an excellent holiday and i cant wait to go bak but this time for longer :)

Unable to go on the beach-due to the beach boys asking you to buy- buy- buy Managment at the hotel very rude-not wiling to help if you have a problem. Staff keep on at you just before you are going home for money or cloths Showers in room dirty. Entertainment not very good for children

Spent 3 days here while travelling round africa...superb place,full board all inclusive which i generally avoid..but i was pleasantly suprised to excellent service,very friendly staff..great food and i'm normally very picky..good rooms with air con..cant fault it.do try avoid the beach as you are constantly hastled..not the hotels fault though.

it's a good hotel with everything but you think: is this worth the money? its also really loud music from the hotel you sleep next to and from the hotel it self. it stops like at 2:00. so i couldn't sleep. the rest of it is not bad but its not worth the money.

We spent a week at Papillon at the beginning of June and wish we didn't. The room was pretty dingy, with a primitive shower and a broken mosquito net. The food was poorly cooked, of questionable quality and very repetitive. The free sports activities consisted of 2 pool tables with one broken pool cue between them and 2 ping-pong tables with broken bats - but even these could only be used until 6pm. The bar closes at midnight, after that you couldn't even get a glass of water, unless you are prepared to tip the waiters heavily. You can't leave the resort to go to a bar after midnight either, since there are no taxis to be had. The evening entertainment consisted of a DJ playing the same CD for a whole week, plus some 15 minutes of external performers (african dances and such). The resort is situated on a beautiful white sand beach, but you can't enjoy it - as soon as you step out of the hotel you are fair game for the hundreds of beach boys trying to sell you all kind of tat. Overall, not a positive experience.

Staff were really friendly, food was great and loads of it. Red wine in a cardboard carton stained my mouth blue, but hey ho! Volley ball was addictive, disco was cheesy but fun. Lovely beach, good location. Can't think of a single complaint.