Splendor Holidays Kenya
- Located In:
- Size:
- 5-10 employees (Founded in 2014)
- Tour Types:
- Customizable private tours and fixed group tours
- Destinations:
- Price Range:
- $100 to $400 per person per day (USD, excl. int'l flights)
Reviews
US
Email Linda | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
BEWARE OF THIS SCAMMER/CON ARTIST! Stole < $10K from US tourists
BEWARE OF THIS SCAMMER/CON ARTIST! If you come across Splendor Holidays and the owner Lucy Njeri- RUN. We made a mistake of trusting her partner Glory with Glorious Tanzania, who my best friend in the states has known for a decade. Glory was only able to provide services for TZ, so she referred me to her “amazing partner” in Kenya. We started planning this trip back in May of 2022.
At first Lucy was very responsive, the price was fair, and the itinerary seemed decent. Our entire trip was planned around the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. She promised us that she got us a slot on June 5, 2023. We also requested a stay at Mahali Mzuri and she confirmed the dates were free. She confirmed that she had already booked these, and she asked for 50% deposit, which we sent. I sent the funds for a group of three travelers totaling $10,477. We had some conversations throughout the year, and she promised the trip was well planned and in March she claimed her sister died and she would get us a final itinerary.
On May 2, 2023, we were doing the visas when we found out her website was down. When we discovered that, I reached out. She stated that her friend’s mother had died, and she would get back to us. Glory went to Kenya to take Lucy to jail, she supposedly spent 3 days in jail. She admitted on video and via messages she used the money for personal reasons. She claimed that it was for funeral expenses.
When I was in Kenya I went to the embassy and the had me go to the police station, which is how we found out the police report number and court documents were fake. They watched the video of her “arrest” and find it very difficult to believe it was a police station. When Lucy was released, Glory sent me a photo of herself, Lucy, her mom and another person all smiling in a selfie, which is absolutely bizarre.
When I took it up on social media, a few people mentioned her sister died a few years ago. Not in March and Glory confirmed her mother stated the sister died before as well. Lucy, her cousin, and daughter have all been reaching to me and no funds has been returned. They sent a “contract” stating that they would pay it back in 10 months, it’s July and I haven’t seen a penny. The last conversation at the beginning on July, Lucy claimed she is still selling the land and it’s taking time.
She is still doing business and I am here to warn people to stay clear. Through my research, I found out she scammed a local tour operator in 2018 and he was unable to recoup funds. She also stole almost $3,000 USD from a tour agent in Uganda and wanted by police there. She also scammed a Canadian tourist out of a few thousand dollars too.
I hope reading this saves you from the trouble we have encountered.
US
Email Isabel Sweet | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
This company is a SCAM!
I booked a trip with Splendor Holidays (Lucy) for June 2023. When I went to apply for my visa, I realized I had been scammed. Their website and email were no longer working. I contacted the hotels in my itinerary and they did not have any reservations under my name. I lost all my money from this trip, to include fees from airfare, vaccines, items for the safari. Do not trust Lucy N.!... That's if you can even get a hold of her. ;(
CA
Email Gérard | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Deceptive. A con and possibly a scammer.
We booked a 3-day tour for 2 to the Maasai Mara for 1120 USD through Lucy Njeri's Splendor Holidays. This included Park entrance fees, private driver and accommodation. Everything was paid as agreed on time.
All was well until we got at the Park gate on Dec 13 when we were asked for receipt for the entrance fee which Lucy was supposed to have given to our driver. She had not issued one. Assuming it was an oversight on her part, we paid again 320USD for two of us for the 2 visits to the park.
I tried reaching out to Lucy with no response. It must be noted that up until that moment, she was was quick to respond especially when part of a payment was due. She could not take our calls, nor the driver's. Our multiple text messages went unanswered. We had other people reach out because it was clear she was ignoring our calls/messages. We hoped that she'd respond to theirs since she does not have their numbers. We were right. She responded to one of them with some shady story that she'd been mugged while depositing cash in her Mpesa account. I call it shady because we did not have to learn about that from other people. Not even her driver knew about it!!! She was ignoring his calls too.
Anyways she told that friend of ours that efforts were underway to issue a refund to us. She did not tell that to us. Days went by with no word from her despite numerous attempted phone calls.
Finally on Dec 15, after multiple calls and tests, she sent a copy-and-paste response she had sent to that friend of ours earlier with the same excuse. We kept asking her when the refund would be issued we never heard back.
We are now back in Canada unsure how we will get our money back. This has left us feeling scammed and deceived. We were referred to this lady by our close friends and up until that moment we were happy with everything. I don't know what else to call this other than what it is: scam, deception, theft and grossly unprofessional.
I will complain to any authority that can resolve this because it is not OK for our vacation to have this awful ending. Other vacationers please be warned!!
IN
Email Meeta | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Lucy our wonderful friendly tour operator took lot of care personally
Lucy took up our trip at the last moment when we had a problem with another operator who fled and we are very happy that we got such a loving lady who personally came with us and saw to all the arrangements.
The roads to Masaimara and Amboselli were really disappointing and hope that government does something about it so that more tourists are welcome.
We did not get accommodation as we would have liked to mainly because of our old operator.
All our drivers were very well behaved and would specially mention James who was with us for 7 days. He has a very good knowledge of animals and birds and made it very entertaining. We managed to see the big five and many animals and birds and captured them with our camera.
I would reccomend Splendor Holidays for all tourists as their personal touch makes them special.
SG
Email Sujit | 50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Very Good
After our original tour operator vanished all of a sudden just two days before the Start, we made a scramble to salvage the tour and we got the reference of Splendor Holidays. We were quite assured once we talked to Lucy (the owner of the Company), yet we were not certain how it will turn out. But the moment we landed in Nairobi, Lucy was there to receive us and take us to respective places in Kenya all the time. She was always available over phone or in person whenever necessary. We must also admit that she quoted us quite reasonable despite being aware that we are in distress to salvage the program.
As she has to fall back on the pre-booked hotels/lodges/camps (booked by the previous operator) due to shortage of time, some of the accommodation in Kenya (Kimana tented camp at Amboseli) was not quite to our expectations.
Her team of drivers were fabulous, quite knowledgeable about safari terrain & wildlife, and they guided us throughout the trip.
Kenyan and Tanzanian people in general are very warm, honest and welcoming. Someone of us got back his lost wallet, someone got back her USD Cash tied in a handkerchief & kept under the pillow even after one hour of hotel check-out. In all the places, The staff listened to all our trivial grievances with utmost courtesy & calmness; and they arranged whatever we asked for & they could.
Masai Mara and Serengeti are the ultimate destination for wildlife safari, we saw plenty of big Five and a landscape never to forget.
We will say that one can go ahead with Splendor Holidays and will never regret.
Lucy is one of the best tour operators that we have seen so far.
Email Mike Kamau | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: over 5 safaris
Excellent
The communication is good and services are up to standard. Safari was exception.
Email MOUZOU CEDRIC | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
The best and Magical expérience
The pricing was very affordable. And they are exceptionnel
Email Michael Gichohi | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Awesome services
They were professional and well versed.
Their care to details beyond my expectations, and I ended up with the right package for my pocket.
US
Email Alexandre | 20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Great Safari / Good ppl and good time
Hi, i am 33 years old and i am passionate about photography - when i did contact Lucy she was really professional and i decided to go with her based on all online comments - as i just came back from Kenya, this safari is the best i have ever done (this is the 3rd one i did after Botswana and uganda) - Our guide was really patient and really understand what we were looking for - the game quality was just unbelievable - price is really affordable for the experience you get (hotel food etc... everything was great)
i can only recommend them (our guide's name was David and he did a fantastic job)
CA
Email Jen | 35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic
Has a wonderful experience with Splendour. They were responsive, quickly tailored a product to our needs, were flexible with changes and pleasant and lovely from start to finish. They made an effort to help us celebrate a special event in a memorable way and all within our budget range. The safari itself surpassed our expectations. It was incredible. I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat