Elewana the Manor Ngorongoro

Location: The hotel is praised for its stunning location within a coffee plantation, providing a serene and picturesque environment.

There are many, many good hotels in the world, but many of them fall into the trap of generic luxury. Open your eyes in the morning, and it can be hard to remember where you are. This is not a problem when you are at The Manor at Ngorongoro. Instead, you are likely to feel like you have taken a giant step back into a world of European elegance nestled on a coffee farm in East Africa. Start with the setting. While being only a few hundred miles from the equator, the hotel sits at 5,700 feet (1,740m), so the daytime temperature in August rarely exceeds 75F (24C). Then layer in the unique architecture, comprised of cabins and larger building modeled on South African vineyards. Add in extraordinary cabins, featuring separate sitting and sleeping areas which share a wood burning fireplace. (NB: You’ll want to have the staff light you a fire: it gets cold at night.) Finally, set the whole thing in the midst of a large coffee plantation. It’s very easy to harken back to another time. Then there is the service. General Manager Altus du Toit and his wife run a very tight ship, one which is luxuriously accommodating to guests. In a previous life, Altus was an award-winning chef, which may explain why the kitchen does such spectacular work. Equally, service is very personal. During our stay, we have had the same dedicated server and butler, both of whom are present at every meal. They are friendly, attentive and detail oriented. (Thank you John and Beatrice!) To the extent that there are downsides… The internet can be a little precarious and the power sometimes go out. That said, electricity is usually restored in a minute or two. And if you’re looking for a television, look elsewhere. However, there is a theatre in the main building (which primarily shows soccer). The location is remote and over some challenging roads that give a good ‘African Massage’. But for all of that, I cannot think of another property that has taken me so out of time. If you are visiting Ngorongoro, The Manor is not to be missed.

This is a beautiful property, the most conventionally luxurious we visited in a trip filled with superb places to stay. Altus the manager and Baraka our butler were on top of our plans, needs and personal preferences each day, making sure that everything was done to our liking. Food and wine were excellent here. Baraka coordinated a special "goodbye dinner" for us on our final night on safari. He personally decorated the table using all natural materials - it was spectacular. Peter was our guide, and he's so amazingly familiar with the area. He told us a lot about the local area, as well as all the details of the Ngorongoro crater during our game drive. This was our least favorite game drive of our trip, not at all due to Peter but just because Ngorongoro is a very busy national park, so there were lots of other vehicles and no opportunity to go offroad to get closer to the animals. However the scenery was stunning - we would have hated to miss seeing the crater. I wouldn't suggest anyone skip this stop, but one day game drive is probably all you'd want. Also we did see flamingos (2 species), the only ones we were able to see on our trip. One note about this property - it is a former colonial manor house, which is part of why it's so beautiful. However, there's also a bit of a colonial vibe to the overall experience. If that's potentially offensive, you might want to give this particular property a miss.