On arrival in Gazi we turned off the main road and drove down a track with a village to our left and cattle wandering in the fields. Once we were in the Tented Beach Retreat we were met with a lovely garden full of bougainvillea and beautiful smelling flowers and the fantastic pool area.
Stephanie the owner greeted us and made us very welcome, she also introduced us to our butler for the holiday Richard. We were taken to our tent, no such thing as waiting to check in, we were left to settle in and relax.
The tents are lovely; they have a wooden patio area with a table and chairs the patio leads into a sitting area with a sofa and fridge. This then leads into the bedroom that has a huge wooden hand made four-poster bed, two beside tables with side lamps. There is a hanging rail for clothes and an area for storing tee shirts and swimwear etc. The bedroom area has an air conditioning unit which works whilst the generator is operating. At night just unzip the windows and let the breeze in from the mangrove. Beyond the bedroom is a large bathroom with a great shower. Clean towels are supplied daily. We never had a problem with hot water, we would shower in the morning and then the generator would come on at about 5.00 p.m. so there was plenty of hot water again by 5.30. I am sure that if you needed hot water earlier you only have to ask and they would put the generator on.
The service from our butler was absolutely fantastic. You can choose to have your meals brought to you to enjoy on your patio, eat by the pool or sit in the restaurant. The food is freshly prepared and delicious. Breakfast is served either on your patio or in the restaurant or anywhere else you want, Richard would bring our coffee to the patio and take our breakfast order, he would always ask at the end of the evening what time we would like our coffee, he would not assume that we would want it at the same time every day. We would sit on our patio to wake slowly with fresh Kenyan coffee watch the birds dipping in the pool and watch the family of monkeys move through the camp on their way to the mangrove. These monkeys have not been fed by humans so were not a nuisance. The chef comes to see you to see what you would like for lunch (fantastic lamb samosa). He would visit again in the afternoon with the menu options for the evening.
Our butler was always around if we needed anything but was never intrusive.
The bar area is in the raised restaurant area with lovely big comfy sofas, all very relaxed. The evening entertainment consists of watching the moon come up, listening to the sounds from the mangrove and lots of chat and laughter. After a lovely 4 course meal a few drinks get you torch and wander back to the tent where the mosquito nets have been pulled down around the bed and the bed turned back. Bliss! About 30 mins after returning to your tent the generator would be turned off, lights out for a great nights sleep.
Out and about around Gazi.
Our Butler took us to the local village Gazi where we met two wonderful women from the Mangrove Boardwalk project. The ladies had such a great sense of humour we had a wonderful time with them.
http://www.vub.ac.be/APNA/staff/FDG/Gazi_Women_Mangrove_Boardwalk_brochure_low.pdf
We spent a lovely afternoon, walking around the village being introduced to various family members along the way. And of course we did the boardwalk, the boardwalk provides a 300m long relaxing walk through animal-rich mangrove forest with several cool resting points strategically located.

If you walk in the other direction away from the village after about 15/20 minutes you come to a stunning location where the river runs down from the hills and meets the sea. There is a beautiful sandy area where one or two local fishermen were catching fish with their nets. We spent a wonderful couple of hours one Sunday afternoon with the owners Stephanie and Rowland and our butler Richard we had a cold box with a few beers and we sat and watched the sea eagles overhead, did a little fishing and watched the sun begin to dip. Total relaxation. I would say that parts of the walk are quite rocky so probably not suitable if you are unsteady on your feet

We hired a taxi to take us into Diani (all arranged by Richard our butler) to do a little shopping and to have lunch at the bar on the beach. The driver stayed with us and waited while we shopped and had lunch. On another occasion Stephanie and Rowland gave us a lift into Diani and then picked us up later in day. While in Diani we arranged a two-day safari to Tsavo East. We got a really good deal and had a fantastic couple of days, the local guys will arrange everything pay a deposit and settle the full amount on the day.

Overall

This was a fantastic holiday, so good that we are returning in a couple of weeks. We have been lucky enough to have experienced some fabulous holiday including the Far East, The Caribbean and the Maldives but this is the first time we are returning to the same resort for a second time. This is a remote location, great for a relaxing away from it all holiday but with enough to do if you want to make the effort.
The accommodation, food, staff and overall management are without fault as far as we were concerned. Can’t wait to get back.