Saffron Beach Bistro & Cottages

My stay at Saffron started out well. The pick up from the airport was timely and the car was clean. The driver, Brian, was very respectful and professional. The check-in process was flawless. Promise, the daytime receptionist was so friendly and helpful throughout my stay. The meals were well prepared and they heeded to my requests of special meals due to my food allergies. Their medium fish was so big I couldn’t finish it by myself. They even accepted to keep half the fish for me for the next meal. The rooms were are well maintained and because I extended my stay by a day, they requested whether I needed my room cleaned. However, some of the facilities as shown by the online photos on Expedia were non-existent on ground. For example, the photo of benches on a mowed lawn by the lake which in reality is nonexistent. Similarly, my last morning was the worst. I could not get hot shower, the system had a malfunction and no room had a hot shower. After waiting for 3 hours to have the the hot shower fixed, I was disappointed to realize that nothing had been done and the staff were not really bothered. The other disappointment was the fact that the receptionist’s phone was disabled in the night and early morning making it difficult to communicate with the reception desk as you have to physically walk there yet there are phones in the room which should ease that.

We had a late check-in and we were well cared for even got food as kids were starving from a long flight transfer.

I stayed for 5 nights and although I didn’t ask, no one offered to do any cleaning in my room. The tub had a hole in it near the drain and there was no curtain so between the two the floor got really wet. There wasn’t much water pressure and brown and black sediment often came out in the water. There isn’t much beach but the garden area has a great view of Lake Victoria. There are a couple of small restaurants nearby and the zoo is about a 29 minute walk.

Very kind and hospitable staff; good location; nice room. Important to get a beach view room as the others look a little claustrophobic.