Diani Beach luxury hotel, Kenya

We started operations the early 1980s from the family beach property. During this time we have expanded and built to our present state where we employ 70 members of staff. This number increases to 100 during peak periods. By providing employment to these staff we make a big difference in our local communities, giving stability and income to many, many families encouraging stability and growth.

In house staff training in constant and many of our staff have been with us in excess of 20 years. Several staff have been sent on various training courses including management, catering, accounting and computer skills.

All fresh supplies are purchased locally including fish, shellfish, fruit and vegetables. Due to our location, guests do spend locally both for meals, activities and shopping.

Diani Beach is a popular tourist destination and whilst it brings income to the area, it also has a downside in the destruction of our local habitat and increasing waste in the area. We have many systems in place to ensure we do as little damage as possible to our fragile environment. All our vegetable waste is converted to compost on the property. Non returnable glass and plastic bottles are sent by us to a local re-cycling plant. We have our own wells on site and strictly monitor the use of fresh water in all our outlets. We are in the process of looking into installing a de-salination plant on the property. We have solar heating in place and use energy saving light bulbs.

We have troupes of colobus, Skyes and vervet monkeys on our property as well as bushbabies, mongoose and Crested Guinea fowl. Our property is private and policed by our Masai guards who keep it clear of snares and illegal wood cutters. We also have an agreement with the owners of a large plot adjoining ours to the south ensuring that the whole area remains as one without walls and fencing. Also in our room literature we strongly discouraging the buying of shells.

As much as possible we use local materials including makuti thatch and coconut wood when building. The garden plot is mainly natural forest and the gardened areas populated with hardy plants that do not require much water.

We put a lot of effort in trying to educate people for the need to preserve our coral reef. We provide guests with information in their rooms and also chatting to them. With our staff, it is an on-going procedure of giving them information and explaining the importance of our reef and forest.

We are in the process of setting up a cleaning system geared towards green products – this is not easily achieved as there are very few locally available. We have a compost heap in the grounds.

Community projects/charities we support:

Kwale Eye Centre – we give a portion of gate money on big functions to the Eye Centre regularly. Also we stock their sunglasses in our cybercafé.

Diani Childrens Home – we buy a lot of fresh vegetable from them and also their eggs and chickens rather than from large operations.

Colobus Trust – as with Kwale Eye Centre we give them a portion of profits from the big Kite Surfing Event we hold annually between Christmas and the New Year. The last one that we held recently generated in excess of Sh100,000 (approx £740) for them not including the stall they had here selling various Colobus related merchandise.

Kayas along the Kenya south coast are considered by the local Digo tribe to be sacred areas of forest. The Kinondo Kaya is protected by the Museums of Kenya and has many sacred trees and some old graves. Guests can take a guided tour in this beautiful area and we encourage our guests to visit. Each bedroom has an information sheet advising guests on the local culture and customs.