Alfajiri Villas

Alfajiri is not a hotel but three separate villas on Diani Beach, each let on an exclusive-use basis with its own staff, chef, pool and stretch of garden. The Cliff Villa sits on a coral outcrop above the sand, the Garden Villa among mature tropical planting, and the Beach Villa directly on the shore, each sleeping a family or small group.

The style is Afro-Italian: makuti thatch and coral rag, carved Lamu and Zanzibari furniture, deep verandas and a good deal of open-sided living space where the distinction between inside and out largely disappears. Because each villa is private, the rhythm of the day is set by guests rather than by a dining room schedule, and the chef cooks to order.

Diani's reef-protected water is calm and pale, good for swimming for most of the year, with kitesurfing in the windier months and diving trips to the reefs and to Kisite Marine Park further south. Ukunda airstrip is a few minutes away, which makes Alfajiri a practical bolt-on to a safari in the Mara or Tsavo.