Sarova Hotels

Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort & Spa Mombasa - Beach Hotel in Mombasa

Sarova Whitesands is the big family beach resort of Mombasa's north coast, for parents who want pools and a kids' club that guests rave about. It sits on Bamburi beach about 35 minutes from Mombasa's airport, in a gated compound with round-the-clock security, and it is large: five pools, water slides, a dive centre and a nightclub. It is also the natural beach week after a safari, with the airport close enough to make the join painless. Guests praise the Ozone kids' club above everything, followed by the pools and the beachfront setting, the friendliness of the staff and the variety of the food. The complaints are that the all-inclusive menus and the venues they cover can be confusing, that the room count differs between sources, and that a resort built for families is not a quiet one. The thing people wish they had known is that all-inclusive is an optional plan here, not every rate, and that the plan's restaurant list is worth confirming in writing. The plan covers the buffet and the kids' club and Wi-Fi, with the a la carte venues and their limits varying by package; premium spirits are limited, the spa is extra, and the airport shuttle costs about 30 US dollars a person each way. Ask for a room away from the busiest pool if quiet matters, and a sea-facing one if the view does. Couples after a small, calm resort should look to Diani, south of the city.