Distant Relatives Ecolodge & Backpackers

Distant relatives is the perfect place to stay in Kilifi. The whole staff is very friendly and make you feel like family. My wife and I arrived during off season, so when we showed up at 04:30 there was already a room available even though our check in was technically not until 12:00 that day. Mohammed at the bar made sure we were taken care of whenever we wanted something to eat or drink. The food and drink prices were reasonable, after 5 days we only spent around $100 USD. The pool was our favorite spot to sit and relax while reading our books. But reception was also able to help us call a Tuk Tuk into town and to the white sandy beaches and that was about $10 USD round trip. Beware of the Vervet monkeys though, they live in the trees surrounding the property and they will steal your food if you turn your eyes for even just a second! The toilets outside the Bandas are composting toilets, and that isn’t for everyone, but they do have traditional flush toilets as well near the pool area.

Setting is lovely, most of the staff are really friendly, bar one. There was no kettle (electric or gas) in the communal kitchen so I was told to ask for boiling water at the bar. When I did one of the staff told me to boil water in a pot in the kitchen. I am not above boiling water in a pot but a) the pots and sparse utensils in the rather grimy kitchen were, well grimy and b) she was standing right next to an electric kettle when she told me this. She clearly just didnt want to help me. Thankfully one of her colleagues was really helpful and gave me a cup of boiling water. Another complaint is that most of my groceries were stolen out of the cupboard in the kitchen-yogurt, eggs, nuts, biscuits etc. You cant keep food in your room because of monkeys so seems like youre damned if you do, damned if you dont. Final complaint-I was only told on checking out that breakfast was included in my stay. This would have been helpful to know when I checked in rather. Other than that, was a great stay. Not sure Id come back but ja.

I think I would have been ok with this place in my 20s (it has a chilled/party vibe) but now travelling with family it wasn’t for me. The showers were cold, our room was dirty, and the mosquito nets were ripped and full of holes, so we were covered in bites every morning. We moved on after 2 nights. Sure, it’s an ecolodge but the banda we stayed in needed some serious cleaning and maintenance. Food in the restaurant was tasty but felt overpriced compared with other places in Kilifi and service was sometimes slow. Staff onsite always friendly and helpful.

Booked two rooms for family members.Check in was seamless, friendly staff and will definitely recommend.

Fantastic service, from we arrived and until we left. The 3 dogs was for me a bonus. (i'm a big softie when it comes to dogs) The food at the restaurant was great, though a little pricey. The staff goes above and beyond to make you feel welcome. The Manager of the place even invited us to see his boat. (Sadly we never found the time) Only negative is that the showers are cold... like COLD. It was explained that it was due to the water normally being heated up by the sun and we were there in the off season which is a little colder. (Not that cold though) If you don't mind the cold showers, then I highly recommend this place.

If you like hostel/backpackersl vibe, this is the place for you! There are not so many options in Kenya, so Distant Relatives really stands out. You will be surrounded by nature, friendly and helpful staff, animals (monkeys, cats, dogs, insects, birds) and interesting people. When it rains, the roof might be leaking in some rooms, but the administrator resolved the issue quickly and moved us to another room. Communal toilets and shower were always clean and well-maintained. The location is a bit far from the main beach but there are always boda bodas outside the gate, and you can also call a tuktuk. They host different events such as musical jams and night parties. The food in the restaurant is also very delicious! A few suggestions for improvement: 1. Communal kitchen is not very well equiped as there are few cooking items available, especially clean ones if someone who cooked before did not clean after themselves. Maybe additional pots for heating water for tea/coffee and a couple of more frying pans would be good to have. 2. There should be dedicated smoking areas or much more non-smoking areas. It was unfortunate that many people smoked around all the time meanwhile we came to enjoy nature and fresh air - it just did not feel right that in the Ecolodge smoking is allowed almost anywhere. 3. Music sound control. Sometimes I felt like the music in the bar area was a bit too loud for morning hours when I would prefer to relax in silence as the day unfolds, but maybe I could just ask to lower it a bit. Sometimes at night it was a bit noisy too and there was some noise at around 4 am on Sunday coming from the village (must be the church!) Just bring your ear protectors :)