Hotel reviews: Pinewood Village Beach Resort

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The hotel is located on the southern coast of Mombasa, so you will need to take the ferry in Likony to get there. The journey takes about 10 minutes but it is very busy, as it is the only way to get to the south of Mombasa. The crossing costs £3 per vehicle.
Remember that it is forbidden to bathe or sunbathe in a monokini on the beaches of Kenya, and that you are not allowed to collect shellfish.

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The Pinewood Village is a bit off the beaten track but the journey is well worth it. It is a little jewel hidden at the end of Diani Beach, a safe distance away from the mass of other hotel establishments encroaching on one another. The hotel's entrance lobby is a welcoming space with a simple makuti roof overhead. A small corridor then takes you past the hotel's shops and out onto a little terrace furnished with a few tables overlooking a beautiful luxuriant garden. From here you can also see the little village of small buildings housing the hotel's guest rooms.
At the end of the path, there is a curved swimming pool that blends in perfectly with the surroundings. Wooden deckchairs are set around the pool and on the lawn. No noisy activities or entertainment are allowed to disrupt the peace and quiet on which the Pinewood Village prides itself. For the peak of relaxation, head for the Amani Spa. It is a one storey building with 4 rooms, and the 2 on the upstairs level are open to the outside. Two of the rooms (one single and one double) are set aside for massages, while the other 2 house a small hair salon and a manicure and pedicure centre.

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The Pinewood Village only has 58 guests rooms and that is just the way we like it! However, there are more rooms than suites, with 38 of the former and 20 of the latter. Although the hotel has been in business since 1992, it could have opened yesterday; such is the cleanliness of the place! The guest rooms are on the first floor and each has its own terrace, both of which are reasonably sized. The decor is fairly basic and the colours of the fabrics against the white walls create an uncluttered and quite stylish setting. Even the bathrooms are pleasant, with the open shower being a real plus! The suites on the ground floor are just as comfortable as the rooms but are naturally more spacious, and also include a kitchen so you can cook for yourself. You can even ask a chef to come and prepare your meals for you.

• Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The main restaurant serves good quality buffet meals both for breakfast and dinner. Don't worry about getting bored of the food on offer: the restaurant prepares meals to a different theme every night, so you are just as likely to sample its Chinese cuisine as it Swahili or barbecued dishes. Although the tables are at a reasonable distance from one another, the dining room is not exactly huge. At lunchtime, you can eat in the fantastic setting of the beach restaurant, which is open both to hotel guests and the general public. It serves up à la carte dishes that are fairly standard but certainly do the job!

• Z Location
• TO KNOW
• Overview
• Accommodation
• Food and drink
• Beach
• Photos

The Pinewood Village is one of the few hotels on Diani Beach that provides deckchairs on the sand. It also takes the trouble to clean the beach on a daily basis, so you can relax on a very clean stretch of sand. Having said that, the big tides that rise and fall on the coast of Kenya bring with them a lot of seaweed, which is almost impossible to completely get rid of. The sand is fine and the water beautiful, just as you might expect of the Indian Ocean. Like most beaches in Kenya, the coral reef is not very far from the shore, so to avoid discomfort it is a good idea to bring some beach sandals with you. Swimming here doesn't pose any particular risk, as the waves are gentle and the beach is not very windy. The 'Aqualand' water sports club just next to the hotel is owned by an independent company but is open to all. It organises big game fishing parties as well as various kinds of water sports activities, like canoeing and windsurfing.