Stayed at Serena Beach Hotel and Spa in October 2011 on business. Hotel is a breath of fresh air! Lots of open spaces and beautiful gardens. We could not get an ocean facing room cause they were all taken up. However we stayed in one of the recently refurbished rooms, much bigger than the ocean facing rooms, excellent air conditioning for the Mombasa heat with all the modern facilities. Once you are in the hotel grounds, you get a feeling of being in a different world, far from the madding crowd!

Service in the main restaurant which serves both breakfast and dinner was amazing; attentive without being intrusive. The waiters are on the ball and the service was prompt despite the huge number of guests in the restaurant at each sitting. The menu is quite extensive and there is everything for everyone. I also appreciated the complimentary tea/coffee in the lounges

I also sampled their Spa and it has "His and Hers" areas and treatment rooms. It is like a stand alone unit, like a day Spa. The staff there were professional, took their time and gave advise on different treatments. I indulged myself in a full body massage and the treatment was very relaxing without being overboard.

The gift shop is well stocked and I appreciated the trust of the lady shop attendant/manager who gave me batteries for my camera to try for more than 3hours to see if they would last before I returned to make payment. Very much appreciated.

I had the opportunity to meet senior management, quite helpful and accommodating. Pity I couldn't stay long but I hope to return before mid year on vacation with my spouse.

Wonderful hotel, willing staff and attentive service. Well done!

I am not normally a beach holiday person, having previously had less than satisfactory trips to "resort hotels" on this coast. Happily the Serena is way above the resort mentality. From the moment of arrival to my reluctant departure, I experienced the very high standards of Serena Service. Staff were friendly and helpful, whether in the dining room, reception, bar, or grounds, there was always a helpfull staff member nearby who was more than willing to help.
My room was at the back corner of the garden area, very spacious, comfortable, and regularly serviced. A large bathroom and a quiet efficient AC unit added to my comfort. WiFi was sometimes a bit poor, but generally ok and good value at KSH1000 per day.
I was on half board and never bothered about lunch so have no idea about meal prices, but the food quality at breakfast and dinner was excellent, so much choice.

Food is really good. Conference Center is nice. But the rooms are old and tired - especially the bathrooms which are very old and need to be totally redone. AC barely worked and was very loud making it hard to sleep.

We stayed here for ten days in mid November after a four day safari in the Masai Mara and had a fantastic time and loved every minute. The staff are friendly and helpful and make sure you have everything you need. The location is great and there's plenty of space for relaxing either around the pool or in the gardens overlooking the sea. The beach isn't private so unfortuantely it was full of people trying to sell things, but we stayed in the hotel complex and used the pool which was fine.

The food was great and the seafood restaurant on the site is a complete must. It was pretty empty most nights which was a real shame as the food is wonderful. We were half board which means that you can use the cost of your regular evening meal towards the cost of the meal at the seafood place.

Another plus is the PADI dive centre which is part of the resort. We did a free refresher in the pool first which was good having not dived for a couple of years. We ended up doing four dives during our stay and saw reef sharks, turtles and rays, finally doing the last dive on the Dania wreck. All dive sites are no more than 15 mins away which is great and means you're back at the hotel within a couple of hours maximum. Florian, who runs the centre, and his team are fantastic and thanks to them our holiday was all the more wonderful.

The other hotel facilities were great too - we played squash and tennis and also used the gym and spa. The spa treatments were very nice and done outside in a secluded area.

The only thing which was a slight problem at the start of the holiday was the room we were initially given. Having booked with Virgin holidays and not chosen to pay the extra money for a garden view, we were booked into room 23, right by the pool and also backing on to the nightly entertainment area. After the first night we asked to move and were asked whether we'd paid the supplement. Despite not having done so we were moved with no problem into a room over beside the seafood restaurant which was much bigger and nicer. It turned out from talking to regular hotel guests that room 23 is a single room, which would have got pretty cramped spending 10 days there. If in doubt ask to see the room first, or to have another one if you're not happy. I think if the hotel isn't fully booked the reception staff are pretty accommodating.