We got married at the hotel at the start of august 2007. Sorry for the delay in posting this.

First impressions of the hotel are great. You are greeted at reception with bubbly and ice cold flannels which is fairly standard in Africa but the reception is beautiful and very peaceful. A quick check in and you’re off to your room whilst your luggage follows moments later. We upgraded to a suite and it was superb. Plenty of space, decent size bathroom and a view over the pool and out to the beach. Flowers, a bottle of wine, and fruit were also in the room which was a nice touch.

The hotel is well laid out; there are several bars, and a great beachside restaurant for afternoon/evening drinks. The evening meals are buffet style, but this is not poor canteen stuff that you may experience at cheaper locations. The food is good, the menu varies, and the waiting staff throughout the hotel are polite, friendly and very helpful. You can switch to the beachside restaurant for your evening meal once during your stay if you want. This does have some rules attached though but it was nice to change scenery.

We tried the Sake restaurant, which they claim to be their ‘signature’ restaurant. It’s quite good. We were a group of 10 and we had a range of Chinese and Indian dishes which varied in quality. Probably worth trying as it is not too expensive, but they may want to reconsider how they promote it.

The actual wedding was superb. They have a few locations to choose from (garden, bridge, beach, etc.) but we absolutely had to have the beach as we have always talked of it. We had several guests and they set the location up beautifully. The hotel staff were again very attentive and polite, the whole ceremony was very relaxed, and there was nothing for us to worry about. We have fantastic photos on the beach and around the hotel. I would recommend this hotel for a wedding. We were one of only 2 couples married that week so consider this when booking an overseas wedding.

We organised an evening meal for our guests in the beachside restaurant. This was superb. The sea food platter was fantastic, but you could choose from various menus. Without asking they had prepared a nice table, they played the CD’s we provided and could not be anymore helpful. I must single out one member of staff, though it may mean little to other readers. Alfan is a legend and organised everything. He was discrete when needed, prompt to serve our guests and organised the rest of the staff with marvellous efficiency. He just seemed to know exactly when to be on hand and when to observe from distance. If the hotel ever read this site, please pass on our sincere thanks.

The beach is fantastic and I did not experience any problems with beach traders. They do not enter the hotels beach and only approach you if you go beyond that. A simple but polite ‘no thank you’ was generally all that was needed whenever we went for a walk along the coast. The beach itself is beautiful and easily competes with many of the beautiful locations that I have visited. The hotel has plenty of beachside furniture/sunbeds so you can choose to be by the pool or on the sand.

Any negatives.

The hotel is probably not suitable for disabled travellers or those that use wheelchairs. I did not see any easy access to the pool or beach that did not use steps.

The management do not share the same people skills that the staff do. Hopefully you will have no need to speak to them.

Thanks to all at Diani for making our wedding day so special. I hope that recent troubles do not deter people from staying here.

This was the second time that we have stayed at the Diani Reef after my brothers wedding last July. Both times we have had such a fantastic and relaxing holiday thanks to all the staff and the service provided at the hotel. Nothing is too much trouble and all aspects from the food, house keeping, front desk, surroundings, the rooms and the towel guy are excellent!

During the day there is a lot on offer if you like to keep busy but it is not in your face and the staff really make you feel welcome, they are like friends that you make on holiday.

After all the chaos that Kenya has seen this year all the hotels have fewer numbers but we didn't feel pestered we felt welcomed and important as we were returners. The food is delicious and the bed sheets are so soft!

I love it at this hotel and my parents as well are so impressed with the holiday that they experience....being in Kenya leaves a lasting impression on any traveler but at Diani Reef it certainly is a very special and memorable one.

My brothers wedding the year before was organised so well mainly by the hotel staff rather than the booking agent. They met every request with a smile and the day went past without any hiccups at all. They even let us use a new venue in the hotel that hadn't been used for weddings before.

The management have made changes from last year and I have seen photo's of the events laid over Christmas and they looked amazing.

You wont be disappointed.

Our flight from Nairobi having been delayed for 11/2 hrs we arrived at the hotel at around 3.30pm, (check-in is 3pm). We waited for about 40 mins to be taken to our room and watched others who arrived after us be taken to theirs, when we did get to the room it was being cleaned, so we spent another hour waiting in reception. When we spoke to the manager he told us that there was a computer error and that he could not give us another room (we subsequently found out that the hotel was only 60% occupied), he was most unhelpful and just couldn't be bothered. This hotel is overpriced, we paid for half board and found out that if you choose to eat in one of the two premium restaurants rather than have the self service buffet you are given a measley 500KS (6.5 US$) reduction on the price of the meal, this may be Kenya but they charge European prices. A pedicure in the hotel's spa cost the equivalent of 38US$, almost twice what one would pay in New York. Generally the local staff were great but the manager brought the whole place down. As we were leaving we were hit with a charge for an "Easter supplement" equivalent to US$100 per person, again the manager was most unhelpful and refused to even speak about the charge, even though other customers were complaining about the same thing. All in all a very nice hotel ruined by an uncaring manager - advice to him - claim a refund from your management course, you have no idea how to deal with people!!

Stopped at the hotel for two nights after a very comfotable flight with Kenya Airways. Had a superb room overlooking the pool and beach, and found that the staff were always eager to help. We went off on safari with Rhino Safaris for three nights and returned for a further 9 nights to the Diani. Can only say that it was very relaxing, with good food and plenty of variety. Well worth visiting and would recommend it to couples and families wanting to get away to somewhere different with a combination of gorgeous weather.

Also, if you are going on safari, it is well placed to get to Tsavo and Amoseli by road. Plus there is an airfield nearby which does small flights to Masai Mara which is a couple of days drive.

As for the recent election violence reported in the news, don't let that stop you going as there are no problems that we saw over our two week stay. You are well looked after, and unless you are going to stay in the slums of the northern townships, then you will have a magical holiday.

Enjoy.