The buffet was a bit limited for vegetarians, which might be because of the low season and the scarcity of clients. Also, although it wasn't the fault of the resort, my experience at the beach was less enjoyable due to persistent harassment from local service providers. As soon as I stepped onto the beach, I was approached by people offering guide services even when I was in the water. One even followed me all the way to the two small islands in front of the resort and guided me against my will after which he proceeded to ask for $50.

The views to the ocean from the main pool, the big balcony of the room overlooking the small pool and the garden, and the help of their travel agency to help me find a spot in a group doing the Blue Safari. The lobby is beautiful.

Stayed in May 2024

Nothing.

Perfect location, lovely room and friendly staff. Loved the food too.

Stayed in March 2024

The rooms were spacious and comfortable and the air conditioning worked well. I highly recommend the full back. legs and feet massage offered at the hotel- I felt fantastic afterwards. It is an Egyptian style massage - with two therapists working in tandem. Also the head therapist - who is a physiotherapist - also provided me a short but very effective neck massage that took away the pain in my shoulders and neck. Happy hour cocktails at the hotel bar with great views of the beach and ocean was wonderful.

Stayed in March 2024

Good enough

Stayed in April 2024

The bathrooms in the rooms could use an upgrade.

The staff was absolutely exceptional. They made my birthday super fabulous.

Stayed in March 2024

The toilet wasn't flushing properly, which was a bit inconvenient. Also, as a solo traveler, I didn't particularly enjoy sharing a balcony. However, I can see how that setup might be more suitable for group travelers. Overall, I had a wonderful time and would definitely consider staying here again in the future.

I absolutely adored my time at the resort! The location, right by the beach, was simply perfect. Everything was spotlessly clean, which made me feel really comfortable. And can I just say, the staff were amazing! Especially the wonderful lady who made sure breakfast was a delight every morning, she made me feel like a VIP. I felt totally safe throughout my stay, which allowed me to relax and enjoy every moment. And let's not forget the food! Mapango Restaurant served up the most incredible meals - seriously, the best in the area in my opinion! I'm already planning my next trip back because this place just stole my heart!

Stayed in March 2024

The italian at the reception was very harsh. It was a late check it due to unavoidabale circumstances. Requested the receptionist for a couple of hours late checkout which he started asking for more money. The staff said we dont do favours here. All the rest of the staff were amazing

Perfect beach. Crystal clear water.

Stayed in February 2024

The stairs. We were on 2nd floor. We should have asked for a ground floor room. Lots of walking.

The staff and service were very good. Very helpful and friendly.

Stayed in February 2024

Room was a bit outdated, especially bathroom. Wifi continually dropped.

Breakfast could have been improved upon. Omelettes were made fresh, but otherwise options were limited in the buffet. Slices of cheese and deli meat. Pool was stunning with view of the ocean. Beach was beautiful. Great relaxing area of Watamu.

Stayed in February 2024

The room I stayed in have seen better days and could use a bit of a renovation, but the cleanliness of it, the other amenities and the amazing staff made up for it overall. Other things like the slight saltiness of the water in the shower did not take me by surprise as a lot of previous reviews have featured it, so I was expecting it.

The staff was extremely friendly and helpful, whenever I had a question or an issue, they were ready to answer or help! The room was very clean, and I especially appreciated that they sprayed insect repellent on key spots of the room every evening. There are several eating and drinking options on-site, and the massage was incredible. The pools were great with various depths.

Stayed in January 2024

Location good. More range of cereals would have been welcome.

Stayed in January 2024

The beach side area is a nuisance with all the beach boys haggling us for things. We really thought it would have a private or at least secure beach. We didn’t get to enjoy the beach at all as every time we tried going a whole group of random people would come at us ‘selling’ staff and when we decline they would insult us.

The place is very beautiful! The staff are quite friendly.

Stayed in January 2024

The resort is a bit dated, needs some refresh.

This place has the nicest and kindest staff I have met anywhere I have travelled. From the manager and staff at reception to the waiters at the dining area, to the staff at the ala carte restaurants next to the beach - all very nice.

Stayed in January 2024

The furniture and building are old and need some refurbishing.

The property is well located and with easy access to the beach. The staff is wonderful and specially Jane who is in charge of the hotel restaurant and is a great host. The Mapango restaurant which is a separate entity has great food and amazing pizza. The majority of the guests are Italian. Actually the region is highly frequented by Italians so do not be surprised by all the Italian names of restaurants and services. I am giving this property a 7 because it is a bit let down, furniture is old, external wall paint is peeling of and some areas covered by green humidity. The rooms are ok, beds are comfortable and the bathrooms are fine as well. It just needs a retouch to make it look that it is being taken care of. The hotel proposes services and activities. They have a tour operator in the hotel in case you are interested in organising a safari to Tsavo east national park. One thing which is extremely annoying is all the people on the beach constantly trying to sell you boat rides, diving, fishing etc. they will tell you they are the owners of the boats or restaurants, but it is not true and actually take a big cut out the excursion that you buy. The best way to get rid of them is telling them that you have already done an excursion. If they can’t sell you something they will then ask you for money to eat or because they say they clean the beaches on the weekends. It’s totally rubbish and all they are trying is to get some money from the tourist. For activities it is better to contact the local service providers. If you want to do a boat ride to Coral reef or Diana creek, best is to go to the national marine park entry where all the boats leave for the excursions. One last thing, you have to negotiate everything. Just divide by three any offer to start negotiating. It is common practice in the region.

Stayed in January 2024

Work going on

The location with direct access to the beach

Stayed in December 2023

Breakfast was good. The hotel is situated near the beach. The hotel has two swimming pools. One pool in the beach area is deep, you can dive. Hotel has its own diving center, From 17:00 to 18:00 free tea and coffee with cookies.

Stayed in November 2023

The personnal is really lovely but sometimes a bit too much. For breakfast : nice choice but the coffee is really bad (instant coffee... in Kenya ?!) and again the personnal is really lovely but you had no time to finish your plate or to chew that they want to take it away... it was a bit exhausting. The music at 10 am... It was humide in my room, and can be with odors sometimes. Beach boys...

It is a nice place, with nice outside, nice pool and restaurant; You can go around the place to walk easily. Nice bed as well. Nice local restaurant at 15 minutes by walk is Swahili café (both Kenyan and international food with nice real fresh juice) - really friendly. Otherwise, it will be mostly italian restaurant around. I would higly recommand the dive experiences with James and Habart : they are amazing instructors and guide, really safe and lovely compagny to be around !

Stayed in November 2023

The rooms are pretty old and need a true makeover. I mean it is at least 20-30 years old. We had multiple power outages every day. Sometimes 4-5 times a day. I’m not sure if this is a energy company problem or a generator problem. Now we go to the main issue in my opinion. I’m a headchef of a resort myself and i was really disappointed with the food during my stay at Lily Palm. Especially for the price we paid for 5 days. So the food is average to bad. You get everything buffet style. You get a buffet like salad bar, appetizer, bread, soup Pasta dish, main courses and dessert and fruits. For me personally the food is truly below par. And i have a feeling this is not the fault of the kitchen staff or the headchef. As a Headchef myself i know how difficult it is to manage costs and prices and that management wants to save every penny they can save. And in my honest opinion, I don’t believe it is the fault of the headchef or the kitchen staff. I truly believe the food is below average/bad because management is trying to save every shilling they can. And this is not only seen at the food. When we look at the rooms, the main decor, the feel of the resort. It is clear there is no penny invested in the resort itself. Then the non resort related issues. While Watamu is beautiful and the beach is beautiful there are people everywhere who want to sell you something. Worse part is that they don’t leave you alone. At some point me and my friend were so oncomfortabel that i gave them money and asked them to leave us alone. They actually started stalking us till i said i was calling security. This also happened on the street. The same people started to harass us till a point where they started fighting with each other over who was helping us. We felt so uncomfortable that we ran back to the resort and stayed there the rest of the day. Now this is not the fault of Lili palm or other resorts but it is something to keep in mind.

So to start. The resort itself looks beautiful. The staff is amazing and really friendly, the swimming pools are clean and also beautiful and we had an good time at the resort. The massages where amazing and the location next to the beach was also pretty nice. And the View on the beach and ocean was truly spectacular. good Cocktails at the bar <3

Stayed in November 2023

Room a bit outdated, good quality solid mahogany furniture that's seen it's day , that said it could be upscaled and given a new lease of life with some sandpaper and good quality furniture paint. Lost water pressure second and third days

The real stars of this Hotel is the staff, especially at breakfast and dinner service, the girl in charge of the operation is hospitality gold, exceptionally good at her job, in fact all the serving/waitering staff were great I liked the turn down service where they sprayed the room with mosquito repellant, not a single bite in three days :) Dinner was good but they need to get their bain marie's fired up a bit more. breakfast could be improved.

Stayed in October 2023

1. The shower in the family room needs to be redesigned to avoid water overflowing on the bathroom floor. 2. The main restaurant needs to offer variety of food options for breakfast. We had the same exact breakfast for 4 days. 3. Despite the hotel having a schedule with activities and animators onsite,no activities were offered to guests during the time of our stay. The evening maasai presentation was facilitated in 98% Italian language making it difficult for us English speakeing guests to understand what was going on. 4. Lastly, the Spa employees should be encouraged to adopt a uniform for purposes of professionalism (ie: restaurant employees had great uniforms, pool attendants had the blue tshirts and white shorts). They also need to desist from "harrassing" guests at the pool side. As a solution, they can place fliers in guest rooms and at the reception to advertise their Spa services.

1. The family room was very spacious. 2. All the pools were clean and well maintained. Jacob at the pool was kind and helpful to us. 3. The restaurant service was prompt. Well done to Jane and the restaurant team. The main restaurant knows how to make great pasta and spaghetti. 4. Mapango (the a l'a carte restaurant) served us with delicious pizza and amazing sea food. Ended up going there for lunch twice during our stay. 5. The reception team was helpful especially when we required access to wi-fi and booking of taxi services. We requested for check out at 12 noon (1 hour later) on the day of departure and they accommodated our request. Thank you very much.

Stayed in October 2023

Breakfast was poor Beach is good Pool was medium

Stayed in September 2023

The beach is on the bay and when water comes down the beach became a paddle

This is a big hotel in the village. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The rooms are big and clean. They have everything for staying and don't go out. Sometimes monkey came close to the restaurant in the morning

Stayed in August 2023

No shade in the parking space

Nice pool and very good breakfast. Helpful and very friendly staff. They deserve bonuses.

Stayed in August 2023

The worst part of my stay were the beach boys. So annoying, couldn't get rid of them, so I tried to avoid beach. If the resort would have a real private beach with no access for not accommodated it would be huge plus. Only salt water flowed in the shower and in the sink. The beach is not so nice as another beaches at Watamu (Garoda, Jacaranda).

Spacious hotel with direct access to the beach. Very good food as in hotel restaurant so in Italian restaurant within the resort. Cozy rooms with mosquito nets, balcony and ac. Helpful and kind staff.

Stayed in August 2023