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The 8 best hotels in Shela, Kenya
Discover the best hotels in Shela, Lamu Island, Coast Province including Jua House, Jannataan Hotel, Waridi House, Samaki House, Shiban House, Mangrove House, La Joya House, Deuli House.
1. Jua House
Overall Ratings
5 based on 31 reviews
JUA HOUSE is a new Bed & Breakfast located in the middle of the traditional Swahili village Shela on Lamu island. There are five double rooms, one single room and a rooftop suite available. All our rooms are equipped with king size beds and have their private bathrooms. Each floor provides a comfortable chill out lounge. Enjoy the 360° views from our rooftop terraces!
Beautiful, characterful hideaway in Shela
Reviewed By 296harrylA beautiful, quiet and characterful hotel set back from the more touristy parts of Shela. With its idiosyncratic style and intimate feel, Jua House feels more like a guest house; the personal service provided by Amani and his team was also impeccable, and, as everyone says, the breakfast is superb. I hope I have the chance to go back.
2. Jannataan Hotel
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 14 reviews
Everyone needs a place to lay their weary head. For travelers visiting Lamu Island, Jannataan Hotel is an excellent choice for rest and rejuvenation. Well-known for its charming environment and proximity to great restaurants, Jannataan Hotel makes it easy to enjoy the best of Lamu Island. Guest rooms offer a kitchenette, and Jannataan Hotel makes getting online easy as free internet access is available. In addition, guests can enjoy a pool during their visit. If you’re looking for a cafe, consider a visit to Whispers Coffeeshop, which is not far from Jannataan Hotel. Should time allow, Lamu Old Town is a popular historic site that is relatively easy to get to. Jannataan Hotel is sure to make your visit to Lamu Island one worth remembering.
It has SO MUCH potential, but needs action! For now, good budget option for few days
Reviewed By ErikaFiuzaThe moment I walked in I started wondering every thing I would do if I managed this place to make it #1 in TripAdvisor. It doesn’t really need a whole lot of money as the building itself already has so much potential! First the good: - The terrace has a great 360 view over Shela. You can see the sea, the neighboring buildings, etc. It was by the best rooftop view we had while in town. - The verandas are lovely… Spacious, with plenty of places to sit/lay down and just relax! They also come and serve breakfast/meals in the verandas which is lovely. - The staff is GREAT! They make everything they can to help you and always with a big smile on their faces!!! - The pool is quite big and looks nice, although it wasn’t very clean when we were there (I’ll assume it is because it was low season and we were the only guests and showed up by surprise! There’s no excuse to not be clean the rest of the year!) - Breakfast was fulfilling and we had lunch there one day which was simples (grilled chicken, rice, fries) but tasty! - They have a fridge in each floor where we can keep our outside drinks, food, etc. - Location is great.. Shela is lovely and this place is just few steps way from Shela beach. Now, the improvement opportunities… small things that can make a huge difference: - Need to do some maintenance in the rooms… Ex: rusty metal around the windows, our window wouldn’t fully close because of that, fan was rusty (although it worked perfectly), etc. Also need to add window nets to prevent mosquitoes to come inside (the mosquito net on the bed was good though) - Desperately needs to do maintenance in the bathrooms… In our room the toilet seat was half missing, the water hole in the floor was totally opened, shower was rusty and had a hole in the wall. - Need to make sure the place where the linen/towels are kept does not smell like an old closet. During low season they can put the clean linen/towels in the sun every now and then (or re-wash) so they don’t get this smell. - Get rid of ugly furniture… Our room had beautiful Swahili furniture…. plus a modern ran down wardrobe that had nothing to do with the rest. Just get rid of these things that don’t add to the property and room will feel more spacious and well decorated. - Provide WHITE toilet paper… doesn’t need to be fancy, but the grey one is overly cheap like what you’d get in a busy and dirty train station. - Keep the pool clean AT ALL TIMES. It is such a big plus of this place, but when you go upstairs and look down and see the sand in the bottom is a big letdown... - There’re 3 types of rooms: double room, twin room and family room. Twin room and family room are fine, spacious, good ventilation and the bathroom is slightly better. Double room feels a bit small - I'd skip them (and if I managed the hotel change them to single room to gain space). It is worth paying a lit big extra for the big room or sleep in the twin one for the same price. With this changes, this would make this the best budget place in the island, by far! To make it Top 3 in Tripadvisor (considering value for money as I found the better hotels a bit overpriced - I truly believe it has potential), then it need some investment (but not too much) in renewing the bathrooms as they look quite ran down and adding some fine touches (e.g. better linen, redoing the beach chair covers, investing in a beautiful decoration in the ground floor, add more green to the garden, etc.)
3. Waridi House
Overall Ratings
4 based on 8 reviews
The vision behind Waridi House was to create a home which was an integral part of the village of Shella. An environment that is welcomed by the villagers, where visitors can experience the unique flavor of community life, feeling being a part of the community, combined with absolute privacy, in an oasis of calm and tranquility.
Terrible treatment, ignored by the owner. Deposit stolen. DO NOT BOOK HERE
Reviewed By Kevin BWe sadly had to cancel our holiday, in advance of the time limit for a refund. But the owner has refused to refund our $840 deposit, is no longer answering our emails and has effectively stolen our money. This is serious money, and the owner, Crispus Mwaro, is a thief. DO NOT BOOK HERE
4. Samaki House
Overall Ratings
4 based on 4 reviews
Extraordinarily Beautiful House
Reviewed By shaghayeghkoupSamaki is a super beautiful house located in the center of Lamu, very close to the fort and the museum, with a 30 minutes walking distance to Shela beach. We had an amazing time there and it was one of our best and memorable stays in Kenya It's good to know that the ventilation in our room was not good, which made it too hot at night. But all other parts of the house were fine getting a good breeze. You will hear donkeys and a very loud Islamic call to prayer in the morning, but that's it in the whole city, there's nothing you can do about it! The location point mentioned is totally wrong
5. Shiban House
6. Mangrove House
7. La Joya House
8. Deuli House
