The Diani Reef Beach Resort Experience: An Interview With The Resort Manager, Amitabh Acharya

Diani Reef Beach Resort is a beautiful hotel located on the white sands of Diani. Apart from its attractive in-house facilities, it is surrounded by great amenities such as Diani Beach Art Gallery and Diani Chale Marine National Reserve. Diani Reef offers a wide selection of cuisines at their various restaurants as well as endless activities to maximize your experience. Additionally, the 5-star resort offers unique and luxurious packages catered to families, couples, singles and corporates. They have fantastic packages for honeymooners and couples who would like to have their wedding at the hotel.

 

Diani Reef Beach Resort & Spa has won numerous travel awards including Africa’s Leading Spa Resort 2015, Kenya’s Leading Beach Resort 2015,  and Africa’s Leading Beach Resort 2010. They have been nominated this year for World’s Leading Beach Resort 2018, Africa’s Leading Beach Resort 2018 and Kenya’s Leading Beach Resort 2018. Which just goes to show how popular this beautiful resort is.

Situated on the world renowned Diani beach, Diani Reef Beach Resort and Spa occupies 34 acres. Diani Reef Beach Resort And Spa is guaranteed to make sure your holiday turns out perfect. Read our review on the property here Why You Need To Visit The Fabulous Diani Reef Beach Resort And Spa They have multi-cuisine dining outlets, bars, well-appointed rooms and suites, a swimming pool and spa, and one of the most important things in this age of social media, free WiFi.

I interviewed the Resort Manager, Mr. Amitabh Acharya to tell us more about it.

1. What facilities do you offer?

Diani Reef is a beach destination for all. What I want to emphasize is for anyone travelling as a family or a corporate traveller. We have practically everything that will keep you engaged and entertained. It’s a big property as mentioned. It’s a total of 34 acres.

2. What is on the 34 acres?

The 34 acres consists of the beach and hotel. You see a lot of greenery and plants. That’s the major part of our premises. We also have 2 blocks. The existing block has 143 rooms and a botanical garden which is not in operation yet. The plants are there but we’ll get more clarity in 2019.

3. Are you planning to put up cottages?

At this point in time, we have a plan to renovate our existing offers. Maybe in the future, since we have the land available.

4. How many restaurants do you have and what do each offer?

We have a multi-cuisine restaurant called Bororo Café which offers breakfast buffets and sometimes, lunch buffets. Normally, we keep different venues for different buffets. Some days we keep at the Bororo Café and at other times at the Fins Restaurant.

The Fins Restaurant is where we have multi-cuisine food from Spanish, Swahili, Indian and Italian. Apart from that, we have Sake Restaurant which offers food from China and Korea. Where Cooking Meets Performance: Japanese Teppanyaki at Sake Restaurant, Diani Reef Beach Resort

We also have Zebra Lounge open to the public and 360 Bar which is a residents only bar.

5. So, what do you offer for families?

First, we have different types of rooms from a standard to a deluxe and suites. Most of them are sea-facing. We also have entertainment options which we do every day promoting the spirit of Kenya whether it’s the Maasai dancers or acrobats.

For kids, we have the Bororo Jumbo Club which has different themes and activities for kids. We have in-house movie theatre sitting up to 30 people.

For couples, we have the spa which caters to different age groups. Our main pool is divided into a kids’ area and the adults’ area. And if you don’t want to be where kids are, there’s another adult only pool.

6. As a romantic destination, what do you offer couples and honeymooners?

We have different packages for people visiting as couples and even wedding parties. We have an end to end activities for weddings which include guiding you around, getting your room, showing you the restaurants and pouring champagne for you on your special day.

For honeymooners, we have complimentary treatment including massages and beachside dinner.

7. What about people coming for a romantic getaway?

Yes. As I said, we have different packages. But most of the things we offer are available to couples looking to have a good time.

8. What kinds of packages do you have for weddings?

We have packages for couples only which give you the entire set up and when you book you don’t have to worry about anything else.

9. What are some of the challenges facing the tourism sector in Diani and Kenya, in general?

The biggest challenge is people travelling from Mombasa coming here. It’s the ferry. As I understand, out of the 4 ferries supposed to be functioning only one is in operation. Most of the time when we speak to the guests who check in, they have one complaint and it’s the journey.

We have thankfully, a couple of flights that come in the mornings and evenings. And as members of the Diani Hotels Association, we are now requesting that they increase the airstrip so that bigger flights can be coming.

10. Any other challenges?

We are trying to speak to other stakeholders in terms of issues with beach boys. Many hotels have the same complaint that guests are being harassed. But we’ve seen positive action being taken in terms of this issue.

11. You’ve also mentioned that you’re partnering with Silverstone. So, are you offering flying packages?

That’s right.

12. How is it to get a babysitter in the hotel?

It’s absolutely fine

13. What the unique thing about Diani Reef that people must come?

The best thing about our hotels is first, the beachfront is possibly the longest in the entire strip. It’s which sandy beaches. A very clean beach. It’s one of the most beautiful and tranquil.

We are also a one-stop spot for all your needs whether you’re travelling for meetings, as a family or looking for a good time. You don’t have to step out of the hotel.

Travel: Why You Need To Visit The Fabulous Diani Reef Beach Resort And Spa