Arusha Serena Hotel

The price is so high!

We had a lovely 3 day stay at the Arusha Lodge before beginning our trip. The rooms were nice but the heavy duvet with no sheet in a warm room made sleeping difficult. The fresh local bananas were delicious in the morning. I need to highlight one of the staff members, Praygod a gardener who is a budding naturalist. We took two hikes/walks outside the property with him, his knowledge of the plants/birds was excellent and his enthusiasm was absolutely infectious. The hikes with Pray were the highlight of our stay.

The staff are very welcoming, and the grounds are beautiful. There's a small store onsite with jewelry, souvenirs and a very small selection of toiletries. I had a massage and it was very good. You can use USD here as well as credit cards. If you don't want to/can't walk long distances ask for a room with a lower number. In the room there were some universal outlets, but no outlet in the bathroom on next to the bed. There wasn't a sheet, only a comforter, and there wasn't any hair conditioner. There was a ceiling a/c unit but it didn't work. Lunch is supposed to open at noon but didn't open until 12:30pm so allow for some flexability in meal planning. The website said there's a lunch buffet but it was actually a prefix menu. I sat at the same table again for dinner and the butter hadn't been changed. Speaking of dining, make sure you aren't being double charged, as that happened to me. On their website they advertise "sundowners by the lake" where you walk down to the lake to watch the sunset, but that didn't apear to happen. Instead, there's an option to sit on the lawn outside of the restaurant and order drinks from the indoor bar. While the staff were great and the grounds were beautiful, there are some areas of opportunity here.