Reviews of Asha Boutique Hotel

"Beautiful. The location on the beach was stunning, with the pool and rooms equally lovely. The restaurant was excellent. All staff were very friendly and welcoming.

We did an excellent day trip to go snorkelling at the reef at Wasini Island - we saw dozens of fish, swam with dolphins and had an excellent lunch. We also found somewhere to surf (near the river by the mosque) as well as snorkelling from the hotel boat just off the reef next to the hotel.

Diani beach is beautiful. We'd recommend buying something from the beach hawkers early on in your stay and then they stop asking you.

Was hard to leave!" See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya

"Peace, quiet and tranquility in the hotel and grounds - away from the hasstle of beach sellers and the hubub of the main road.

This was a great place to relax and unwind after 5 weeks of safaris in 5 African countries - glad we chose to come here rather than a large resort hotel.

Staff all very friendly and helpful." See all these reviews: 17n in Kenya; 9n in Zimbabwe; 6n in Tanzania; 5n in Botswana; 5n in Zambia

"The staff were waiting to welcome us with a drink and a short talk about Diani Blue. We were shown our room, which was spacious with plenty of storage space. Very comfortable beds. Bottled water was provided (I had been a bit concerned about there being filtered water as per your description as I don't trust anything not in a sealed bottle). There was no cell phone in the room, but free wifi was available in our room and around the pool so we didn't need a phone.

Complimentary afternoon tea and biscuits/cake is available on the terrace between 4 and 5pm, but since we had just arrived they brought it our room. They like you to order dinner in advance from the menu which is put up on the noticeboard each afternoon. It was quite windy during our first evening, so they set us a table by the pool. There were only three other guests there, so we received a very personal service. Breakfast was served on the terrace, the normal buffet style items which we helped ourselves to from inside the sideboard cabinet, then a cooked breakfast. We loved the pancakes. For our lunches and other evening meals, we sat on the The Edge (I think you call it the Ledge in your description, so maybe they have changed the name). Non-residents can also eat here, but it was never busy and the service always good. Friday night is BBQ night where they carry the grill out onto The Edge, you pay 950 ksh for a huge plate of food - chicken, steak, prawns, calamari. A great atmosphere. We always took a torch out at meal times as it's quite difficult to see what you are eating.

The beach was always deserted - mainly because there are hardly any tourists and also because you need to have your wits about you to deal with the beach boys. We swam in the sea a few times and walked quickly back to the hotel, so they didn't bother us too much. We did get into a few conversations with them, but it was always on a friendly basis and they didn't pose a threat at all. We explained that we can't buy from all of them and they accepted it.

We attempted a walk along the main road, but again the sellers were there. We quite enjoyed bargaining for some animal wood carvings with our names on them They said we had to go back to collect them the next day and allowed us to take anything we wanted from there stall as security, so they obviously trusted us more than we trusted them. Sure to their word, the carvings were waiting for us the next day, with no more hard sell to buy anything else although they did ask if we had any clothes, magazines, suntan lotion we wanted to trade. I don't think people should worry too much about the sellers, since they are all friendly and good humoured and I think its all part of the experience.

We enjoyed using the pool which we had to ourselves most of the time. Everywhere was clean and well -looked after

On our last day, we had to vacate our room at 11am so they could get it ready for the next guests, but they let us use the room with the sea view until it was time to depart.

All members of staff offered excellent service, so I wouldn't like to single any of them out.

We managed to escape travellers' diarrhoea until our last day when Lucy and I succumbed. We didn't eat anywhere other than the hotel but we were tempted by their salads which we had previously avoided, which could have been the cause. To be honest I did expect to get it much sooner than we did, so I'm not blaming the hotel in particular. I know it can be contracted from swimming pools but they did clean and treat it every morning.

We didn't do any activities as I think we just wanted to rest after the safari, but Captain Rama did offer take us snorkelling. We just couldn't face another very early start.

A lovely, friendly little place, So glad we stayed here rather than the huge Diani Sea Resort which was the original plan." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya

"The evening meals by candlelight around the pool area were fabulous." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya

"A lovely quiet place to relax after a hectic safari. The whole experience was fantastic. The staff were so professional and friendly.

The beach was beautiful and enjoyed swimming and snorkelling." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya

"Your road transfers (apart from Driftwood to Satao) were excellent - organisation first class.

Asha Cottage lovely.

Beach boys remained a problem - continual and never left alone, despite advice of befriending one or two!

Visited forest, monkey sanctuary - all interesting.

School on site - thus busman's holiday. Did go in for a morning and actually found it very interesting." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya

"Location - beautifully landscaped, easy access to local shops, the dinkiest post office etc. Appreciated the shelf keeping a degree of separation from the beach proper. Enjoyed an evening watching daft film at 40 Thieves.

Rooms- stunning. We had the prime spot looking down at the sea.

Service- helpful, quietly confident and friendly which was welcome given we were the only guests for the first 3 or 4 days! Some lovely staff, showed us the stars (Mark the nightwatchman), taught us Swahili phrases (Godffrey the gardener). Gabrielle was in charge whilst John and Dominique were away. Stanley and Laurence always helpful. Eric the taxi driver really lovely, popped in with a CD of his favourite Kenyan music for us to take home after we'd been enjoying what he had on in the car.

Food - great and laid on loads of fish options when we showed enthusiasm for it. Lovley salad lunches.Head Chef was on leave but the doughty Beatrice was well up to the task. Prepared Jess a coconut to try.

Activities - Gabrielle organised Cpt Rama to take us snorkelling on the first day with clear sea, her treat. Also arranged us a day out at Shimba Hills via dmtours (driver Tommy Walker sings his own songs, quite a character) with lunch at the Shimba lodge, fish eagle overviewing us all. Day out in Mombassa, rain storms." See all these reviews: 12n in Kenya

"We had a very enjoyable stay at Asha Cottage despite it being quiet in the Diani Beach area whilst we were there. The food was good and there was plenty of it and the 3 guys serving it all were very friendly. It is a very picturesque boutique location with a pool, a hammock and a beach front bar/dining area that is great for relaxing.

The only drawback whilst we were there was the number of beach boys trying to sell key rings etc. They are mostly polite and very chatty but when the beach is quiet as it was when we were there then it can get very annoying being hassled every time you want to walk along the beach or go into the sea.

The beach itself is stunning and it has a coral reef and Asha use a local boatman to organise snorkelling trips who seemed like he would be great fund although we didn't use that service as I am not keen on snorkelling." See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya