Hatari Lodge

Really amazing. waking up with giraffes and other ones at breakfast. very friendly and committed staff. In addition, they have a real top chef who makes delicious meals. A beautiful park in a beautiful setting. I can recommend this place to everyone!!!!!!

I was solo, but the staff were very attentive and made me feel welcome. Facilities are first class. The observation platform was where I spent most of my 2 days there, observing buffalo, warthogs, zebras, giraffes, and more! Would recommend.

Breathtakingly beautiful location, giraffes greet you at breakfast! Our suite was spacious and stylishly decorated. Top team: all very polite, kind, capable, skilled and qualified in their role. Especially Watson and Gabriel, who both looked for us, and Emil (Driver). Negative: Wi-Fi in main building always weak, none at all in rooms. Owners (Mrs. Gabriel) present but ignored us several times, which felt quite rude for such an exclusive and expensive place.

We returned to Hatari Lodge this year because of our pleasant stay there in 2021. It is closer to Kilimanjaro Airport than lodges in Arusha, so it is a convenient place for kicking off or ending a visit to Arusha National Park and places further afield in the region. This lodge offers you peace and quiet, being relatively small and intimate, You can indulge in the luscious meals, watch game in the marsh area below the lodge (enjoy sundowners on a small deck), or go on some excursions to Ngurdoto Crater, "Little Serengeti", the slopes of Mount Meru ( fascinating for their different vegetation zones) or to Little Momella Lake and Big Momella Lake fed by springs from Kilimanjaro. Mt. Meru is often clear, in plain view; on clear mornings you can also see Kilimanjaro. You do not have to leave the lodge grounds to see many browsing giraffes; naughty blue monkeys, vervet monkeys and colobus monkeys; mousebirds and other species; antelopes and buffalo. A leopard with a limp frequents the area around the lodge: watch out for her. The lodge specializes in organic and natural foods; the meals are sumptuous. You might be surprised by the offering of baobab juice, hibiscus juice in place of the usual soda drinks. The bar offers a good selection of local beers and South African wines. Try this out-of-the-ordinary retreat, enjoy the friendly and dedicated staff as well.

Me and my husband stayed here for one night on our honeymoon! One of our only regrets is not staying here longer. Hatari lodge was AMAZING!! The staff were so welcoming and the accommodations were beautiful and comfortable. Everyone staying at the lodge eats dinner together and it truly feels like a family atmosphere. The lookout point at the main area was amazing and we loved that a troop of monkeys joined us for breakfast! The only critique we had was that there wasn’t enough warm water to fill the tub. We’d definitely stay here again!!

In years past Hatari was a favorite of mine but it recently changed ownership and new management. It’s no longer the friendly helpful customer service lodge it once was and has gone drastically the wrong direction. It’s sad, the location is an awesome starting point for an African adventure but it’s been ruined. One can only hope management recognizes its errors and changes back to what it once was but I fear that doesn’t seem to be likely. This last visit was my 6th African adventure but will be the last that includes this previously wonderful lodge. 😢 The rules are now demanding and structured more like a military college. Not at all friendly and accommodating. Many of the meals offered few (if any) options, several didn’t even include any kind of protein like (meat, poultry or fish). If you weren’t one of the first to breakfast then you were outta luck. The key items were gone and never replenished. High $$$$ rates, poor food, lousy customer service and a long walks to everything. Not a lot of incentive to return. Goodbye old friend our time together has come to and end. I won’t be back.