Ok so we had our 3 glorious weeks at the Severin Sea Lodge resort and what a great time we had, in total there was 7 of us including the two grannies, 3 kids and us, so had 3 rooms. We were all together within like a lodge, the rooms are air conditioned and all beds have mozzie nets as standard.

The food is of a very good standard and the all inclusive is an excellent package,there is not much that is not on the all inclusive at all, you could if you were that way inclined, eat and drink all day as there is always service available including afternoon tea and cakes etc. There were 3 restaurants, the main one which name escapes me,the Flame Tree and the Dhow, the first two are part of the package and the Dhow is ala carte, all serve excellent food and come recommended.
The staff are excellent, very friendly, big smiles and nothing is too much trouble, our personal favourite was Matano who whilst very professional was an absolute star and hopefully a good friend of the future, but Charles the safari bar, Festus and Kenneth were also top people...

There are two pools onsite, both of reasonable size but not massive, enough though! There was entertainment every night,im not going to lie so whilst it was ok, as long as you don't expect too much you will not be dissapointed...It was ok! some better than others.....

The beach was nice,white sands leading to the Indian Ocean which was very warm, however you did get hassled by the beach boys and sometimes a NO thankyou is not enough, i guess they have small buisness to do but im afraid i didn't like this particular practice personally, my wife was accused of sunbathing too much and not buying off them which i thought was a bit rare, not much what was said but how it was said... I suppose we are not used to being hassled so came as a bit of a suprise... I will add that in general most were ok, only one or two were a bit OTT. The beach area does have guards on it and they do not come anywhere near the steps as a pre requisite! That said, you have nothing to fear and you can do the beach if you wished, just not sunbathe!

Got to say, this was without doubt an excellent holiday, chilled out to the extreme in very pleasent surroundings, the kids loved the monkies which visited everyday the pool area or your apartment, mind your food though if your eating as they will pinch it.. They are wild, but very soft creatures when you handed them food, just remember they are wild and stroking is not part of their remit, they will sit on your chair with you but do not like being handled.

My kids loved the Animation Team and to be fair they did look after the kids very well, keeping them occupied. Safari wise, you can book at hotel, cheaper through First Choice than the hotels version, depends which package you go for, you can get them off the beach boys cheaper,thats down to you. A visit to Mombasa can be booked through the local taxi drivers, cost 3000 kenyan shillings per car, see the tusks, Port, Markets and Fort Jesus, Fort Jesus is 700 shillings per person to get in and a guide will take you round,discuss his costs before you go round. Haller Park is a must,its 10 mins from hotel, best time to go is 3pm so you get to feed the giraffes,see the hippo and crocodiles being fed too... + The giant Tortoise,they are massive! Taxi will be 1000 shillings each car.

We also and i cannot say how managed a great day out to Malindi,where we visited a village, and ate a traditional kenyan meal with somones auntie who will remain nameless to protect them,we ate the white stuff as we called it and had a great time, the warmth of the kenyans is fantastic, also visited a school and stage managed village where we took part in the dancing and what have you, great day out,one which we will never forget,this was booked privately.

The supermarket is a 10 min drive by taxi, what a place,when you see the surroundings then the supermarket/shopping centre it does not seem right to be honest, but for cigarettes and chocolate etc which the kids cannot live without, its a break in the day, Taxi is 1000 shillings for there and back from the hotel,or if you are very brave you could try a Matutu, the local transport, hold onto your hats if you do for around 25 kenyan shillings, crazy but fun!!

There are activities going on all day through the animation team from excercise to walks,to archery to beach volley ball, so if you want to you can keep that fitness level up.

Question always is, would you go back. The answer quite simply "Yes" we would. Having only done the med in previous holidays,this was a great experience,both educational and relaxing,one which we would like to repeat. In summary : A great place to stay,excellent food, excellent staff and a real eye opener to us used to our luxuries when you go off site. Mozzies were not really a problem, but do take sensible precautions and you will be fine!!

We have just got back from Kenya and definitely have the post holiday blues!

The hotel was very relaxed and the rooms clean. We had no stomach problems whatsoever nor did we get bitten by any mosquitos.The staff at the hotel couldn't do enough and we could learn a lot from their outlook on life. They have so little but give so much. Talking of giving, be prepared to tip, we found little but often helps the service even more!

The beach causes a lot of people problems it seems with other reviewers but we found that a game of beach football breaks down the barriers and just saying no thank you is all you need to do. Its definitely not for sitting on though, but we swam in the sea lots as it was warmer than the pool.

This is a country that relies on our tourism and is very proud of what it has to offer. Take pencils, pens, paper, t-shirts and even socks for them. They often need this more than your money. All in all, we loved it, made lots of good friends, and most importantly want to go back!!

Hi we are just back 2 days ago from 2 weeks at the Severin Sea Lodge.

Just logged on to post my review and our thoughts and experiences almost mirror the previous review from the couple from Vancouver.

We would have also rated the hotel around the 2* mark and definitely not 4* we have also travelled around the world a fair bit and must say when we arrived our initial reaction was that of disappointment.

The main reception area is nice and looks quite tropical, but as many other comments the room are very basic. Our first room before we set off on safari was 419; it had two smallish single beds and generally looked tired and a little tatty, the towels were a little smelly and green and a tad threadbare.

After our safari we had room 420, this was along the same lines but at it least had a double bed.

Think the management should spend some money on a refurbishment of the rooms and common areas, don’t think much has changed since the hotel was built in 1972.

The rooms are a long the same lines as you would expect going to Greece for £350 per person 10 years ago.

Our safari was 3 nights/ 4 days starting at Tsavo east and staying at Ngutini lodge, this is a tented lodge and a fantastic experience set in the middle of the bush we had hippos eating outside our tent during the night, we then moved on to Severin Safari camp, this has the most beautiful setting with an amazing panoramic outlook overlooking a watering hole, the last lodge was Kilaguni serena lodge, this also overlooked a watering hole and elephants would wonder along for a drink during the day.

The Safari was undoubtedly the holiday highlight even although we did not see any cats, always the next time!!!.

The food and accommodation during the safari was fantastic and must say that both the food and accommodation was actually better than the hotel itself.

We then travelled back to the severin for the final 9 nights of our holiday,

The main dinning room food was ok and although as people have noted some nights had set menus with 4 or 5 courses, it all had a rather precooked feel to it, the staff serving are lovely, but the service was rather rapid fire.

Overall it had a school canteen feel about it rather than a night out for a nice romantic meal, you are also allocated the same table for your stay.

Breakfast was the best meal with omelettes and pancakes cooked to order

We also eat at the Imani Dhow restaurant, this is not included as part of the all inclusive, but was excellent and by far the best food at the hotel freshly cooked with great service.

We were also both ill with gastro type problems for most of the 9 days on our return to the hotel and now home I am loosing 2lbs in weight per day, great for some quick dieting!!!!

We meet 2 lovely couples on safari and they were also ill on and off after returning to the hotel.

We all ended up eating at the Flame tree café for most of our time back, the food was much fresher and cooked to order, be prepared to wait though.

We went windsurfing, snorkelling, and go carting (go carting was only around £15 per person great value and just outside the hotel gates)

The School village trip was also great and moving, the hotel organised this and it cost around £20 per person. We took loads of pens and pencils as the kids need to buy their own, it was great to see their faces.

Beach, as all other comments forget it unless you want to haggle every few feet for hand carvings, shame as its lovely.

On a final note the staff and the Kenyan people probably are the nicest and among the most friendly that I have ever meet, although they have very little they always welcome you with a big smile.

If you don’t have high expectation or new to travelling it would be fine, I am writing this with no axe to grind and trying to give an honest opinion both the other couples we meet had similar thoughts as ours. Our last visit to the Indian Ocean was Mauritius and after that perhaps our expectations were rather high.

Overall great holiday and experiences tired and average hotel

My Girlfriend and I visited the Severin Sea Lodge in June 2006. The hotel was fantastic, a few little niggly points - such as the shower being warm not hot.....not a problem at all - its a two week stay, I'm sure you can get over it! I have just read a few recent reviews that have said the food was poor and the hotel was more like a 2*!! That really is the biggest load of rubbish i have ever heard in my life.

The food was lovely, five course waiter service dinner at night and if you didnt fancy that there were plenty of other options. In fact, the food made our holiday that much better - we have stayed in All Inclusive hotels and the food has been average at best....at the Severin Sea Lodge it is spot on!!

The hotel itself is set in stunning gardens and has plenty of character. Granted the rooms aren't ultra modern but we found them to be clean and perfectly fine. Both swimming pools are lovely and its well worth trying the beach bar during the day.....the drinks are great (all made using the freshest fruit I have ever tried)

As for the beach it is a shame you can't go and sunbathe on there, but you can walk down there and not get hassled. Just walk close to the sea and if anyone does approach you then a firm no thank you will do the trick.

We did a 2 night Safari in Tsavo East and West - unbelievable! Very tiring and you get so much orange dust on you but was an amazing 3 days!

Finally, the Kenyan people. The hotel staff were superb, always smiling, friendly and doing there upmost to make the holiday as special as they can! Even outside we found the Kenyan people to be friendly and polite! I find it annoying when people write reviews that I personally think are way off the mark.....there are a few recent reviews on this hotel that are a million miles away from the truth. Kenya needs tourism, it is a third world country and people coming back and moaning about the most trivial things mystifies me.

I would recommend this hotel to anyone! My girlfriend and I were unsure whether to go in the first place but by the end of the holiday we were both ( and the fellow 10-15 people we met out there) gutted to be coming home!!