Mawe Resort Watamu Boutique Hotel

We had a wonderful time at Mawe in late August, the place is beautifully designed, the pool area and views are stunning - truly unforgettable. Special thanks to the staff who helped us navigate flight cancellations and sickness, offering extra support for us, we are truly grateful. Only thing is that on the last night there was a loud party at the hotel held by the owners kids, didn't get to sleep until 4am.

Worse experience ever! I am really surprised this place has high reviews as their information is completely misleading. Stay away if you want to actually enjoy your holidays. Instead, if you want to have to walk 20 minutes via dirt road and vehicle road in order to reach the nearest beach, whilst the property claims to be beachfront, eat touristy tasteless overpriced food, have no access to shops or bars and stay by the pool all day long, this is the place for you. As the property's online information states it's beachfront and the location indeed seems as such, we booked it for my birthday. It's interesting that upon arrival although the sign at reception says payment is upon departure, we were asked to pay immediately. Only then they disclosed their true 'beachfront'. The property is on a cliff and the beach access is only during low tide via a dump wet tunnel, where you reach a coral 'beach', not a sandy one. This is NOT what I imagined when booking a beachfront property. In the end we had to take tuk tuks or walk via an unpleasant walk for more than 20 minutes each time. Although we asked to pay for one night and leave as this isn't what we booked, they refused. Their 'compensation' was a cake and wine which was offered prior to arrival as a special request, and massage which needed to be coordinated with reception, but they were never there to do so. Maybe a better approach would be to respect a person's request to not stay as you provide incorrect information. My birthday was ruined due to this. Do yourself a favour and go somewhere else in order to enjoy your holidays with no hassle.

We booked this property because it says beachfront, however, in reality, you have to go for min. 20 minutes through dirt road and then vehicle road to reach the nearest beach. They have a tunnel, which they call a shortcut to the beach, but it is impossible to go through there even when the tide is the lowest because this small, dump tunnel leads to coral and dirty " beach", which is not walkable. We were only told about this access to the beach after payment at check-in, which makes you feel cheated on. We explained that we prefer to leave after paying for only one night as this didn't match our plans ( my friend had birthday) and that we expected beachfront. however, management refused to refund us. This is not nice to make your customers feel cheated on and then prisoners at your property. They provided birthday cake and wine as a compensation, but they confirmed it before our arrival as a special request, so it was not a compensation in this case. They have also offered free massage but it still doesn't compensate the inconvenience due to misleading information. If you like to be isolated from shops/restaurants/ entertainment, don't care about the beach and would stay by the pool all day eating at the hotel restaurant overpriced and tasteless food, this is a place for you.

The hotel looks very nice in the internet and even when entering the compound, but it is away from the beach (just some stairs going down the cliff directly into the sea), it is quite a walking distance from Watamu's exit road, and it is that far from Watamu that only motorbikes, but no 'tuktuks' go there. When we realized all this (5 min after checking in), we wished to cancel the stay which was possible according to the reservation. Nonetheless, the staff tried to withhold us by force (with some kind of 'Masai warrior' at the entrance gate) and to extract as much money as possible from us. It required quite some threats from our side (2 families, 5 people) to get out of this mess. In consequence, we have definitely problems to recommend this place...

We were looking for a quiet place for a gateway and Mawe was perfect! The resort is very serene with a fantastic spot with amazing sea views. The team was lovely and the Barman Antony was exceptional. We booked on Bed and Breakfast and the 01 meal we had at the resort was great!! Thank you Mawe for a wonderful stay!

I loved the size of the rooms. The beds were big and spacious. The food was amazing. The staff were very hospitable and the view of the seven islands is amazing. The infinity pool was awesome. I will surely go back there soon.

In Watamu last minute, and found this jewel of a boutique hotel. Lovely to meet friends by the water, overlooking the ocean from the coral cliffs Top Notch sundowner location with modern, spacious rooms. Went off menu and ordered local Swhalil seafood dinner. Simple, fresh and delicious

Mawe Zuri is truly a gem in Watamu. With my team with some perfect vacation away from work and what I loved most is the timely, profesional and hearty service all the way from reception all through to top management not to forget the beautiful views of the ocean from the terrace and also the infinity pool. This is a place I will definitely not get enough of.