Rooms outdated and stuffy,lots of mosquitoes,and bats.faulty air conditioning.quickly checked out and headed to the more pleasant kilili baharini.

Overall a great place to stay. Clean, good buffets and friendly staff. Not sure what all the bad reviews were about. If you don't like the beach boys, the security will shoo them away. The alley next to the resort has many 'shops' where the locals sell souvenirs. They will bargain with you on price.
Special thanks to the activity staff at Coral Key. Mahomed x2 and Charlie gave us extra special attention during our stay. Entertainment was provided near the bar every night after dinner. They were genuinely always concerned with our comfort. Everybody greets you with a friendly Jambo. We felt waited on hand and foot. We weren't Italian either.

Just returned from Malindi and a stay at the Coral Key Resort. Having read the reviews on this site I was unsure whether I was going to heaven or hell. Much, much closer to heaven. I am really unsure what those reviews that trashed this resort were after, but my family and I had a wonderful stay.

The service was prompt and friendly. This is an aging facility, so there was a problem here and there, but each problem was promptly addressed by the friendly staff. My room was clean, air-conditioned and hot water was plentiful. The room was cleaned at least twice a day!

The beach in Malindi isn't the prettiest beach I've been to, but that may have been from an influx of seaweed that can be found anywhere. The hotel does have a large Italian clientele, but so what? Malindin itself has a huge Italian influence, as well as British and African. The staff were friendly and we had no problems at all in that regard. The resort is beautiful with flowers everywhere. At least 7 swimming pools, tennis, a climbing wall, spa services and gym facilities on site.

Malindi is a very, friendly town and getting around is very easy in the ever present tuk-tuks. Safaris (world class) in the Tsavo reserves just about 90 minutes away. We booked a 3 day/2 night safari through JT Safaris. We had an amazing trip with Sisto our driver/guide. We saw 4 of the big 5 on the first day! Sisto was very knowledgable about the animals, flora, fauna as well as African history. This was the best experience we could have ever hoped for!

What I disliked was trivial. Rooms were sparsely furnished, but you don't spend much time there. The "beach boys" arevery annoying, but the hotel does a fabulous job at limiting their access to guests while not on the public beach.

Mohammad - the tour director - arranged our tours to the Gedi Memorial ( a must see) and the Blue Safari. He is very personal, worked hard to please us! He even called when we were at the airportto fly home. He wanted to wish us safe travels and thank us for staying at Coral Key!

Food at Coral Key was good. We chose not to go with full board as we were going to be gone for a few days. We also ate at the Driftwood - very good and The Old Man and the Sea - a must do as it truly was amazing!

The Coral Key Resort is highly recommended

We've just come back from a week at this resort, organised thorugh our timeshare company. Having read the review before we left we were rather concerned that we may be ignored as we are not italian! What a load of rubbish! Yes there are quite a lot of italians there, but there are also quite a lot of polish people, french, a few americans and a few english! All the staff were great and couldn't have been more helpful. We certainly did not feel like second class citizens as some reviewers have suggested. We stayed in Harbour Cottages which are set in very pretty gardens with pools leading onto the beach. There is no denying that the cottages are in need of some updating inside ( especially the noisy air conditioning in some apartments - we asked to be moved and were moved straight away to an apartment with a new quieter air conditioning unit!) Despite the fact that the rooms are very basic, they are very clean and the beds are extremely comfortable. And the surroundings make up for the inside of the rooms - they are so pretty. Coral Key is in a very good position - you can easily get into the centre of Malindi on a tut tut ( a motorised 3 wheel sort of taxi scooter with seats at the back) for less than a £1. The hotel will suggest you pay for their half board or full board option when you check in. Don't bother - it is expensive and unnecessary. You can still eat in their restaurants which are nice and pay as you go along but then there are a number of good restaurants to visit in Malindi. Make sure you go to the Driftwood for dinner one night - the best food and location and not expensive. Also a walk round the market on a Sunday morning is a great experience. Also try to do a safari. We booked ours from UK before we left through Julius Thuvi Safaris in Mombassa. He was great. Check him out and his website as www.jtsafaris.com.