Name: Jannataan Hotel
Address: Shela, 80100 Lamu, Kenya, Lamu, Lamu, Lamu, 80100, Kenya
Rating: 6

24-hour reception

Gift shop

Terrace

General

Soundproof rooms

Room service

VIP room amenities

Rooms

Laundry

Services and amenities

Restaurant

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Transfer

Tour assistance

Tourist services

No parking

Parking

Swimming pool

Spa tub

Pool and beach

Beauty services

Beauty and wellness

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Shela Beach

Manda Beach

Manda Airport

Kiwayu Airport

Jannataan Hotel

While it’s true that Jannataan could use an upgrade, this hotel is perfectly clean and has all the basics for a budget traveler who wants to stay in Shela. I paid 4,000 KsH to stay in a big room here, the next cheapest place was 6,000 KsH. 

The breakfast here was good, and I really enjoyed the pool on the hot afternoons when it was too scorching to wander around. 

Lamu

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

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king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

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6 bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

park access

Great value for Shela! 

The 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.)

It has SO MUCH potential, but needs action! For now, good budget option for few days

The nearest 5-star hotel is across the channel on Manda Island. It costs 6 to 10 times more than at Jannataan. There levels of service cannot be the same. You get what you pay for. We figured out how to eat well at Jannataan. Talk to staff, set your menu and give them money to buy ingredients. You will have a wonderful meal at a fraction of the nearby restaurant. If you are on a budget, it's the place to stay.

Value for money

First of all I would like to give a big shout out to the owner and the whole staff who were BEYOND helpful and nice during our entire stay. They really went out of their way to make everything great. 
The hotel is 3 minutes from the main beach , 1 minute away from a local Eatery and shop which is very convenient if you are on a budget. 
However, a few points to note that made our stay a bit uncomfortable at times: our beds had bedbugs, and we were covered in bites from the first night; the wifi never worked during our stay; and mostly, the hotel is right next to a mosque (like 1 meter away) and it's speakerphone so we were woken up everyday at the 4 o clock prayer. It's ok and is expected in a Muslim location but the speaker was litterally 1 meter from our terrasse. A heads up would have been nice especially if you travel with kids or need some rest - this is not the place. Finally, the hotel doors were constantly open and many people from outside (locals, friends of staff, boat captains trying to sell stuff) were constantly hanging out in the pool and common area which prevented from relaxing or, for me as a woman, to hand around the pool in my bikini. Uncomfortable and intrusive. We talked about it with the owner and he was understanding but for me that was the biggest drawback. 

Cheapest in Shela Beach and good enough but could use improvements 

I came to unwind  at Jannataan Hotel from the 7th to 12th of Jan 2024. At first, I absolutely appreciated the great value for the stay but it is with deep sadness that I have to give a negative review as my phone was stolen from room 5A as I had just stepped out to have breakfast. The manager tried to help retrieve the phone by asking to search the staff members but it seemed pointless as there are no CCTV cameras and or a safe to store valuables! I didn't receive any form of compensation & had to ask for assistance from back home in order to find my way back to Nairobi. Be cautious!

Be cautious when it comes to valuables.

The firts 2 night I slept in a room which was quite small but not so bad, however the bathroom was terrible. There was not handle in the bathroom door. The WC was dropping water and there was a giant bins to collect the water. The sink was rusty and the bathroom was very dirty, there were even hairs on the floor. Totally disgusting! I slept in many low budget hotels and in hostels but I never saw a bathroom like this, even wrst that a public bathroom!!! The third night I was moved to another room that was bigger and have a more normal bathroom. The manager was nice and gave me a discount because of the terrible experience in the first room. The swiiming pool was ok. The breakfast very small.

Terrible hotel

While you won't get treated badly, the neglect you receive is probably just as bad. I've stayed in hotels all over the world, and this is the first time I've EVER written a negative review...Probably because this was the first time I've gotten so upset by continued neglect that I literally felt like crying.

1. The manager, Hamid, was very friendly for the first few days...But once I'd paid for the entirety of my stay, proceeded to ignore me. Why...I do not know. Up until 2 days before I left, I'd never complained about anything, so it's not like I was the 'difficult guest' - and yet, not a single person from management to owners bothered to see me before I left (which was only at 09h00 so not super early...)

2. Sent laundry in for washing, and had to go and take it off the washing line MYSELF after it had been sitting there for 2 days. No pegs on the line meant that most of my clothes had fallen on the ground and were dirty, and because they had been left under the hot sun for 2 days, some items had gotten sun-bleached...I was STILL charged for it. Spoke to management, all they said was 'sorry for that' ...The fact that I paid for a service that I didn't actually receive didn't really matter to them. And it really wasn't about the money...Just the principle ( or lack thereof) of expecting to be paid for something you didn't actually do.

3. Stayed there for 2 weeks, and not a single member of management bothered to see me when I was leaving, ask if I needed transport off the island etc...By this time I was so used to their neglect that I'd already sorted myself out...Literally left without saying a word to anyone. Can you imagine?!

4. Rooms are serviced daily (yay!!), but on the bare minimum...So the fungus growing in my bathroom went un-noticed by staff ( disgusting!!!)

5. Point 4 above might explain why I got a fungal skin infection on my arms and across my back

6. Male staff members hanging out by the pool ogling you while you swim ( it's a Muslim island after all, so women in bikinis aren't the norm...but still!!) is TOTALLY inappropriate. 

7. Jannataan Hotel is just after your money...As long as you pay, they really couldn't care less about the service they give. 

8. I was NEVER made to feel welcome: Got off the boat and was ignored (until I asked someone whether where I was supposed to go...and then told to follow him); got to the hotel and was ignored (other guests were given big smiles and a refreshing drink...I had to ask); was never told where/when breakfast was ( had to find out from other guests); was never given a towel for the pool ( other guests got one automatically...I had to ask and was treated like they were doing me a huge favour)...It actually just went on, and on. If I hadn't paid for the full 2 weeks, I would have left.

At the same time, for $25 a night, you probably can't expect THAT much...But I've stayed in hotels that were much cheaper but still received wonderful service as the staff/management were genuinely concerned with taking care of people and making sure they enjoy their stay.

Jannataan is just fake...Spend a few dollars more and stay at another hotel that won't make you feel like they're doing you a favour by allowing you to stay there...And making you pay for the 'privilege'!

Jannataan Hotel

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