Honeymoon to Kenya & Seychelles
Katharine Cevallos, 11th July 2022This was very much the trip of a lifetime, I am still so sad it's over. Stephen from Hemingways met us with true Kenya hospitality and we immediately felt at peace and comfortable. Getting to the safari was a breeze and Stephen made sure that we were informed of everything. The safari exceeded expectations, and the night in the hotel in between was a good recharge. Our driver to the first hotel in the Seychelles was lovely but our two nights in Carana is the only thing that is bringing the overall trip down to 4 stars, I'll go more into the hotel later, but the service that Mahlatini provided was 5 stars in the wake of this (specifically Claire.) Once we were in STORY we both cried because we were so happy to be there and it was perfect. When we got back to Nairobi Jason from that shuttle company did not come to get us but thankfully someone from the hotel was there and we arrived to our hotel safely.
Accommodation Visited
Tamarind Tree Hotel
“Clean, good food (amazing breakfast), friendly staff. Was a great location to get to Wilson airport.”
Ol Seki Hemingways Mara
“Ol Seki Hemingways writes the book in hospitality. EVERY single staff member was attentive and friendly and just wanted to make sure we were having the most amazing time. I specifically want to call out our guide Isaac and front house manager Melinda for making this an unreal adventure. Isaac had no easy task as Jared was so focused on the animals and I was more interested in the people and culture. He did an amazing time in educating us on both and no question was "too dumb" to ask. Melinda created a warm environment and made us all feel at home, for example, I left my Chapstick in Nairobi and when I asked her if I could purchase one she literally gave me her own and wouldn't take anything for it. I'd say we weren't typical honeymooners and we became close friends with three other couples and so the resort completely reworked all of the plans so we could spend time together. The facilities were just renovated and there was no detail that they forgot, the "tent" was the most luxurious place I have ever stayed in. The furniture and design were perfectly placed in a mara safari, we could see the zebras from our bed.”
Carana Beach Hotel
“Placing clients at Carana beach hotel will do damage to Mahlatini's reputation. It is not fair to the Mahlatini's hardworking staff, other vendors and clients to ever have to experience what is the tragedy of The Carana Beach Hotel.
Location: This hotel is placed in possibly the worst location in Mahe island as stated by local people from the Seychelles, the waves are too rough and even too dangerous to swim.
Staff: The staff does not even say hello, or care one bit about your experience. When you order anything they ask for your room number a minimum of 3 times. This is not an individual problem but a company problem as Carana beach does not employ enough people to give clients a good experience.
Food: Bad location and inattentive staff are not enough to make something a 1/5 star or damaging to work with. It's serving unsafe food to its clients and failing to fix the problem. Everything including fish, raw meat, pork was all kept at room temperature. The first time we thought it would be just a one off, but it happened every single meal to the point where we kept trying to skip meals because going to eat gave us such bad anxiety that we were going to end up in the hospital with food poisoning. When we talked to the general manager he said "well when you tell us it's not good we can make you a new one". As a client, I shouldn't act as their quality check worried about the health of their other clients. I spent 1.5 hours of my honeymoon having to educate a general manager on food safety from my experience working at a health department.
Please do not send anyone else here, if you have clients booked already change them, and don't make them lose two nights of their honeymoon like we did. This is a failing establishment that knows it and is just raking as much money as possible before inevitably being shut down. I also want to note that Claire did not book us here, Caroline did when we were making this so she should be the one responsible.”
STORY Seychelles
“When Claire in a very speedy quick action placed us at STORY our honeymoon came back to LIFE. We were starving when we arrived and we were immediately shown the dinner buffet and I was a little scared from Carana but from our first bite to our last bite everything was amazing. We even indulged a little and upgraded our stay to the all inclusive to try as much as possible, every drink, every bite, every interaction with staff for 5/5. At one point I went to return my cappuccino cup to the bar and the staff said "no don't do that, that's what we're here for" and this was the theme during the stay. Our room was SOO beautiful it overlooked the garden and volleyball courts, the shower products were so luxurious. I cannot say enough positive things about STORY.”
Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport
“Easy transportation to the hotel, nice staff, good food.”
Staff Review
“Claire Picknell is truly an expert in travel experiences and customer service. When everything is 5/5 it's easy to be a good travel agent but it's when things go wrong that you see someone's strength. From the moment I told her things were not ok at Carana she JUMPED on the situation and got in touch with the management. The only reason we had to spend 2 nights instead of 1 was because the GM of Carana was on PTO. The minute after I told her we had our conversation with him that morning she started working to rebook us somewhere else. We were able to go on our snorkeling excursion and return back to Carana to just pack while Claire took care of everything, our shuttle, stay and ride back. She left no detail unthought of.
Before we left Claire was so helpful in helping us prepare and taking calls from me and explaining every last detail and we felt fully prepared. I loved working with Claire and would be happy to recommend her to all our friends and work colleagues.”