Take a Look into Our Competition Winner’s Experience in Mombasa, Kenya

We have received some amazing feedback from our Brightsun Advent Calendar competition winner John Eccleston who recently experienced his grand prize, which was a holiday for two to Mombasa with Qatar Airways and Pride Inn.

What a prize to win, the grand prize in the Brightsun Advent calendar competition which included a 5 night half board stay at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa in Mombasa and flights with Qatar Airways. Finding out I won was definitely a shock to the system and a great start to 2019. Kenya was never on our list for holidays and was the furthest destination we have ever travelled to.

Me and James decided to travel in May and left our humble home in the Midlands to travel to Heathrow for our flights. Neither of us had flown from Heathrow before and we assumed that was going to be a challenge, but it wasn’t. Terminal 4 is clean, airy, bright and welcoming. We used the self-check in service with Qatar who were very helpful and friendly, assisting us with the machine. We enjoyed lunch at the Prince of Wales pub in departures and relaxed around the abundance of high end duty free shops whilst having that “just get me on the plane” feeling that everyone experiences.

As we scanned our boarding passes, we were both dragged (not literally) to one side. Our tickets had been upgraded to Business class. What an amazing surprise this was for us. We boarded our flight which was operated on an A350 aircraft and were greeted with individual pod style seating. This was something I had never seen before - extra leg room is the biggest treat I have ever given myself. The pod had everything; the seat was mechanical and slid down to sleeping mode. We enjoyed TV with films, programmes and music, and we were spoilt with fine dining, wine, chocolates and even a comfort pack. Business class with Qatar was amazing, and definitely a treat which we would never experience again (lottery win next). The service was personal and the comfort was out of this world; you don’t even feel like you’re on a plane.

We arrived at our connection in Doha to be greeted with 31 Degrees Celsius at midnight; wow the heat just hits you. Beats a crummy 13 degrees in London! Doha airport is massive with load of shops and free Wi-Fi which is good for those on longer stopovers. We were met by a gigantic bear at Doha with a lamp in its head titled “Lamp Bear” - this is the centre stage of the airport.

After two hours we left for Mombasa, which meant time for some rest and to enjoy the remaining journey. OK not the luxury of Business class but nonetheless in a great Economy class cabin. The service with Qatar is the same in Economy; the cabin crew are helpful, polite and professional. Qatar Airways have definitely made us decide who we will travel with in the future. You receive all the same freebies in Economy including a comfort pack and blankets, a generous breakfast and drink selection and of course the individual TV with all the same entertainment, just a smaller screen. Rest time was rest time and the cabin crew were discrete and quiet throughout the flight.

We arrived in Mombasa at something o’clock (830 I think), and after an 18 hour journey, you’d think we would be tired and run down but no. We were fresh as daisies and ready for our journey to the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa, and the taxi was there waiting for us. Just a few words of info, a visa is easy to obtain in Mombasa; it cost us $51 at the time, but do check the uk.gov site for official information. Also be careful what you pack; I don’t think they like you bringing in cigarettes and alcohol here, and outside the of airport, keep hold of your case as many people will try to carry your case for you in exchange for some money. A suggestion from a friend was to keep a small amount of mixed change in your pocket such as 20ps or 10ps to show you don’t have enough cash to tip. We knew we were not going to a westernised country so we were expecting this.

The journey to our hotel took around 50 minutes and took us along some bumpy road works! I say road works... It was a free for all area with no traffic controls, and in fact no road! It was an experience in itself, almost like a jeep safari but in a Toyota people carrier. We arrived at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa and it looked amazing; we were happy that this was going to be our home for the next 5 days. We checked in really quickly.

The hotel is beautiful and clean and all the staff are friendly. The food in the restaurants here is plenty and always hot. There is a bistro on-site which is open 24/7 serving food and drinks. The local beer is Tusker which is nice and crisp. The bar prices are reasonable, where a beer costs about £2.40 and soft drinks around £1.80.

Our room was air conditioned which definitely worked! This is one of the first hotels we had been to with proper Icy air con. The shower is large and there was plenty of toiletries given, water, tea and coffee and the best thing ever - 3 pin sockets. No need for adapters here.

One thing that let Mombasa down was the weather; it rained heavy most of the holiday, but this is normal for May. Unfortunately due to the weather we didn’t get to experience a safari or see any wild animals, other than the monkeys around the hotel.

After 5 days all good things must come to an end, but we were graced by 2 flights upgraded by Qatar. We very much enjoyed the A380 Doha to Heathrow.

Thank you Brightsun Travel, PrideInn and Qatar Airways for making our prize a wonderful holiday!