Foreword: when checkout time comes, we always invite our guest to leave a review on Tripadvisor, or Google, or the portal where they made their reservation, once they’ll be back to their home. And the reviews we receive afterward are always very nice, lovely, but sometime we receive one that truly exceeds our expectations, and this is one of those. We decided to publish it here on our website even if this is very unusual for us, clearly after receiving permission to do so :-), since we believe that this review really deserves it.
The review is from Christina and Terry, two of our guests from Canada, and the following text is exactly the same text they published on TripAdvisor, we didn’t change a single word, we only took the freedom to link a few of their words to the corresponding page on our site, links were not present in the original text. Enjoy!
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My husband and I spent just under 2 weeks at The Charming Lonno Lodge in February. From the moment we arrived, until the moment we left, everything was absolute perfection!
This lovely boutique resort is nestled at the edge of Watamu and is a quick ride by tuktuk into town. We found ourselves venturing into Watamu several days and other days we lounged around pool, went for endless walks on the beach during lowtide looking for sea creatures, indulged in several massages and just plain relaxed while sipping on some fabulous mixed drinks and the occasional Tusker Beer. There are so many things to do that are minutes from Lonno that should not be missed – Gede Ruins and The Bio Ken Snake Farm to mention a few. Watamu also has some excellent restaurants, shopping and some great beaches that definitely need to be explored as well. We always felt 100% safe and never once had an issue, so ensure you venture out to explore this beautiful seaside village!
Now, onto Lonno….
Accommodations: top notch, exceptionally clean, amazing ocean views, incredible architecture and design, timeless local decor in which every piece you see has been hand picked and placed, excellent shower, toilet water etc., beautiful ocean breeze that flowed through our room during the evenings, relaxing sound of the ocean that put us right to sleep every night. We were fortunate enough to book the Top Tower Room – we spent hours every night on our roof top balcony watching the millions of stars and the moonlight reflecting on the Indian Ocean as we pinched ourselves in amazement.
Food: superb! The full days menu is available first thing in the morning and they will accommodate any and ALL food preferences. (In my case, I do not eat shellfish. Silvia ensured that every substitute was to my liking before anything was prepared, which I thought was very sweet). Everything is made fresh daily and every bite is mouth watering. To be honest we couldn’t wait to check out the menu first thing every morning. Prepare to gain some weight!
Service: OVER THE TOP!!! The staff are incredibly friendly and accommodating and it is very apparent that everyone at Lonno loves their job. From the grounds crew in the early morning to the housekeeping staff, everyone always said “jambo” and had a huge smile on their faces when we saw them. As Lonno only has 8 rooms, you really get to know the staff and develop a friendship with everyone. Aldo and Silvia have really prided themselves in their business and it can be seen from every level. Simpy amazing!!
Grounds: Breathtaking and meticulous!! Lonno is the cleanest well kept resort we have experienced – anywhere!. The plants are flowers are so vibrant and well maintained, the sand was always raked to perfection, even when the tide goes out the sea weed is raked away from the stairs. We often just walked around and were in awe at the flagstone walkways, and the many quiet little areas to sit or lay and watch the ocean.
Overall, we couldn’t have been happier that we chose Lonno Lodge for our first vacation to Kenya. If it wasn’t the 18 hour flight to Mombasa we would be going here every year. Silvia was a HUGE help to us in organizing a tuktuk ride into town several days as well as the 4 days we left the resort to go deep sea fishing. She even got up and met us at 5:30 am to give us our lunches and wish us luck. This made our vacation completely effortless and 100% stress free – thank you so much, this was truly appreciated.
Lastly, a HUGE thank you to everyone at Lonno for making our vacation the best it possibly could have been. We had so many laughs (especially with the Maasai, Allan and Elias). Your generosity and thoughtfulness will never be forgotten and our first trip to Kenya far exceeded any of our expectations. This is the first time that I have ever shed a tear leaving a vacation – sorry Silvia! I will try my best not to cry next time haha. We will definitely be back and we cannot wait.
Both avid fisherman, Terry and Christina are always up for an adventure and love to immerse themselves in the local culture wherever they go.