Papillon Lagoon Reef

Comment:
Two of us went to Papillon in March and had a great time. We upgraded to the seaview rooms which was worth every cent, waking up to a view of lapping waves and palm trees was great. It also included a free mini bar and a bath instead of just the usual shower. The room otherwise was basic but I believe they being upgraded soon. Found the pool and pool bar fabulous. Neither of us drink spirits but the beer was always cold and never ending. There have been some bad write ups about the beach boys - try and take as little with you on the beach, if they see there is no space for a wallet and that you do not have any money, they generally leave you alone. The glass bottomed boat to the sand bar is a must. We also did the deep sea fishing which we enjoyed (maybe we had a different charter company) and the mangrove jet ski safari. Sundowner drinks at Ali Baba's is also recommened. Overall an enjoyable stay.

Comment:
Stayed here with large group of friends & family for New Year 2005. It is a little tired here and there BUT is excellent value if you are in a family group. The facilities are very good - especially if you like pool games, the tennis courts could do with some tender loving care and then there is the subject of food...breakfast and lunch is fine all freshly cooked and extremely good value. Tea - is perfectly adequate. Supper is terrible. The food is of a very low standard (apart from the rice which, strangely, seemed fine!) - tough & tasteless! The salads were limp and puddings uninspired. It was done on a serve yourself basis - apart from the over cooked carver - anyone for tough/dry lamb? The inclusive drinks cost should be considered...it might, on initial consideration, appear to be a good deal but the wine is fresh out of the carton (not always a bad thing but in this instance a revolting thing) and the obscure brand gin was like tipping floral scent into very sweet tonic. Beer seems ok. Luckily there are other restaurants locally which are very good and reasonably priced (this was our preference for the evening meal) and you can always take your own spirits and wine - which having been warned we did just that! We did not go there just for the evening meal and the booze so it was not a huge problem - but if you are going to use the hotel for all of your food and drink needs the comments about food & drinks might be worth a thought. Just in passing please be aware of one of the companies recommended by the hotel for the hire of a boat and crew for a days fishing. Do not be tempted to pay up front in full. The company that the hotel arranged for us where potentially lethal: The captain and his limited crew managed to get the boat going two hours after the appointed time we were due to set off, strand the boat about a mile out, fail to make radio contact to get an engineer or replacement boat to fix our boat - ensure that his paying guests for the day, because he could not get his boat back to his home base had to trudge through the mangrove to get to a village and try and get a taxi back to the hotel. The guy is a disaster waiting to happen. Luckily we paid by CC at the hotel - they did not get the machine to work and we refused point blank to pay. If you feel like a lovely day out on a boat - go out to Wasini Island on a dhow. We had a fantastic time - go to pillipipa dot com and organise it directly - really nice people Overall - hotel and facilities 8/10 Breakfast: 7.5/10 Lunch: 7.5/10 Tea: Okay Evening meal: 4/10 (okay for kids who just need a quick meal & off to bed!). AApologies for any typo/grammar errors - just seen the time and a girl has to do what a girl has to do! Grrrrr - no use of inverted commas or apostrophes allowed