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Whitesands Beach Hotel,
Mombasa |
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Whitesands Beach Hotel
is a beautiful 4 star beach resort on the North
coast of Mombasa, Kenya. It is situated in Bamburi,
to the North of Mombasa and approximately 30
minutes’ drive from Mombasa Airport. The resort is
built on 22 acres of picturesque palm-lined property
with an immaculate white beach – from where its
name. The hotel boasts the longest seafront on the
North Coast and easily one of the best beaches in
East Africa.
Whitesands began as a house with two bedrooms in
1930 when H.G. Robertson, the editor of the Mombasa
Times (today the Standard) bought and named the
property. The local Liwali Chief was kind enough to
give Robertson a few more acres of land to extend
his humble property. In 1941 a Mrs Stocker bought
the property from Robertson’s widow, went on to
build 8 cottages and opened the place for business.
The first guests were a group of lady sailors from
the Royal Navy Brigade known as the WRENS who were
deployed to assist in shore duties. These ladies of
the sea gave Whitesands the extended name of
‘Whitesands – Waving Palms, Silversands, Luck, Love,
Romance and Revelry’. In 1946 Whitesands was sold to
David Durwood Brown who quickly made the place
popular amongst the locals as the ‘pub by the sea’.
The ‘pub by the sea’ was sold two more times and
finally became the property of the Sarova Group of
Companies who still own it today and pride
themselves is this 340 room 4-star prize of a hotel.
The buildings of Whitesands are really pretty with
their white walls and bright orange rooftops, set
off against the greens and blues of the palms and
swimming pools. There are five free-form pools that
serve as the main features of the property (apart
from the beautiful beach of course). These are in
the centre of the hotel, surrounded by the blocks of
suites and are beautifully looked after. They have
pretty islands, waterfalls and a very popular
waterslide – great for keeping the kids entertained.
As you can see, the resort is really child-friendly.
They have a colourful child-care centre where
youngsters can take part in activities, story time
and arts and crafts. They also have lots of fun
videos to keep their young minds entertained. A
babysitter is also available on request.
At Whitesands you are spoilt for choice when it
comes to dining. Whether you’re hungry for some
Italian cuisine, feel like a steak or simply a light
snack by the pool – you’ll find it here. There are
also a selection of bars and even a nightclub to
spice up your nights.
Whitesands has a great array of activities to keep
you busy for days on end, including watersports
(both motorised and non-motorised) such as jet
skiing, catamaran sailing, snorkelling, pedalling on
one of their pedalos and many more. They have a 5
star PADI diving school offering just about any type
and level of scuba diving course you can think of.
Other pastimes include going to their fully equipped
gym, having a massage or a beauty treatment or
taking a scenic glass-bottom boat ride.
Relaxing is also quite high on the list of favourite
amusements at the resort, and the beaches are simply
perfect if you’re after a quiet retreat.
Whitesands is truly beautiful and a great place for
a fun-filled dream holiday. You’ll find all the
creature comforts you’ve come to expect from a
resort hotel - the service is good, the surrounds
even better and you won’t find a prettier beach
anywhere near this place.
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| The
rooms |
Whitesands Beach Hotel is quite a large resort with 340
rooms. The rooms are spread out in 3-storey buildings
surrounding the resort’s beautiful blue swimming pools.
All the rooms can be classified as suites and come
equipped the comforts of air-conditioners, direct dial
telephones, mosquito nets, safes and en-suite bathrooms.
They also all have balconies or verandas, depending on
their position.
The Standard Rooms’ balconies and verandas face the pool
or the beach. We had the option of twin, double or triple
rooms. Some of these rooms have interconnecting doors,
connecting the rooms either from the balconies or from
inside the rooms themselves.
The Seafront rooms have beautiful views of the ocean and
come equipped with hairdryers, mini bars and tea and
coffee making facilities (with biscuits!).
The next option, the Palm Rooms overlook the pools and the
pretty gardens. These rooms are quite large and well
equipped for those who need to do a bit of work, as they
have internet connections and work tables (although we
doubt that you’ll want to focus on work once you’ve seen
this place). The rooms also have coffee and tea making
stations with biscuits, and some are interconnecting.
The Executive Suites are larger and face the pool. There
are one and two bedroom options available and all the
rooms have a spacious lounge area. They come with mini
bars (but at an added cost) and satellite television and
sleep a maximum of 2 adults and 2 children.
The Presidential Suites are massive with two ensuite
master bedrooms and a large lounge with a kitchenette.
These rooms are really luxurious and have just about
everything you could need to make your holiday fantastic.
They have fully stocked mini bars and you can even make
use of the 24hour butler service.
The two master bedrooms come equipped with their own
satellite televisions, telephone connections and even
Jacuzzis! We also had a choice of queen or king size beds
in these rooms.
These suites also have two back rooms with twin beds and
rear exit doors (ideal if you’re after that extra bit of
privacy). Their poolside verandas are much larger than the
other suites’ and they have comfortable sun beds for those
after a healthy tan or a relaxing snooze in the afternoon.
Whitesands has 3 disability-friendly rooms with easy
access for wheelchairs as well as 30 non-smoking rooms.
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| The
facilities |
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Location: Whitesands
Hotel is situated on the Bamburi beachfront, approximately
14km North of Mombasa in Kenya.
There hotel can be reached by road from Mombasa Airport,
which takes 30 minutes and covers 23km. If you are
travelling from Nairobi, there is an overnight train that
takes 12 hours followed by a 20 minute transfer over 15km.
General facilities:
• 5 swimming pools
• 4 bars including a poolside bar
• Nightclub
• 5 open-air restaurants
• 24-hour pizzeria
• Sports pub
• Tennis courts
• Water sports centre offering windsurfing, catamaran
sailing and more
• PADI dive centre
• Kids' club (4-11 years)
• Business Centre
• 4 flood-lit tennis courts
• Gym (equipped with Nautilus equipment)
• Sprinkler systems, smoke detectors and automatic self
locking doors
• Complimentary e-mail access service
• Safari excursion office
• Massage and Beauty parlour offering massages (Reflexology,
Shiatsu, Aromatherapy and Akupuku) and beauty treatments
(waxing, French manicure, tinting, threading, pedicure and
facials)
• Hairdressing
• Safety deposit facilities
• Newspapers
• Business Centre and conference facilities with fax,
e-mail, Internet, photocopiers, typewriters and
telecommunications (secretarial service available upon
request)
• Shopping Arcade
• Currency exchange
Room facilities:
• Balconies or verandas
• Ensuite bathrooms with private bath, shower and WC
• Air-conditioning
• Direct dial telephones
• In-room safes
• Mosquito nets
Executive rooms:
• Satellite television
• Mini-bars
The Presidential Suites:
• Two ensuite master bedrooms
• A spacious, well-equipped lounge
• 2 smaller twin rooms
• Kitchenette
• 2 Jacuzzis in each suite (one per master bedroom)
• Large veranda
• Fully stocked mini bars
• Telephone extensions in main bedrooms
Activities:
• Glass bottom boat cruise
• 4 Outdoor swimming pools with diving boards, springboards
and water slides
• Tennis (4 flood-lit tennis courts)
• Fully equipped and staffed health gym
• Golf or horse riding
• Amphitheatre discotheque (with tiered seating, bar and
stage) with acrobats, fire-eaters and local performers
• Marine Park
• Snorkelling
• Blue Lagoon Watersports Centre for motorised and un-motorised
watersports such as jet skiing, windsurfing, pedalos and
kayaks, crazy banana boat and catamaran sailing
• Bucanneer Diving School (5 star PADI) offering PADI Open
Water courses, PADI Scuba Diving courses, PADI Advanced
courses (lessons in ocean dives, night dives, deep dives and
navigational dives) and PADI Speciality courses (Reef,
Drift, Naturalist, Boat and Night Diver courses plus Peak
Performance Buoyancy PADI Rescue Diver and PADI Dive master
courses)
Services:
• 24 hour room service
• Daily laundry/pressing service
• Babysitting service
• In-house doctor and nurse
• Bureau de Change
• Wake-up service
• Turn-down service
• Taxi service with prior arrangement
Open: Whitesands Beach Hotel is open all year round.
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| Bookings |
Bookings
for Diani Reef Beach Resort and Spa are done through this website:
Contact:
African Encounters |
Postnet
Suite 45
Private Bag x 12
Roosevelt Park
2129 |
Tel:
(011) 880 3079
Fax: (011) 447 6773
email: info@africanencounters.com |
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