Serena Mountain Lodge — Hotel in Nyeri

I stayed with my young family consisting of my wife who is perpetually cold and two young children, aged 7 and 5, who need constant entertaining otherwise they end up becoming feral monkeys bouncing off the walls, much like the monkeys we were warned not to feed. We spent two nights at the Serena Mountain Lodge and had a great time during our stay.

Overall: A photographer's dream stay in a uniquely charming and rustic hotel. The natural beauty of the vista is taken advantage of to its fullest and you have a great vantage point with which to just animal watch or take photos.

Wildlife: The hotel is frequented by leopards, hyenas, warthogs, elephants, monkeys and buffalos. You won't find giraffes or lions here, but leopards are so rare to see in the wild that this is an attract in itself. The monkeys are also practically resident and will steal items from your room if you don't lock your balcony door. They like sugar apparently, but will take anything else that loks interesting! There is also a forward located viewing spot which allows you to get really close to the animals; sometimes as close as 3 feet away, in relative safety!

Rooms: The rooms are small but functional. The beds warm (by an evening hot water bottle) and comfortable. I just wish they weren't so tightly made so that I could move around more easily when sleeping! The furniture all appear to be crafted and not the usual factory produced items. It all seems so charming and interesting when compared to a stay in a modern chic hotel elsewhere.

The best feature however, was the private balcony almost all rooms have, which offer a private viewing space for the beautiful view over the watering hole frequented by the local wildlife. It can be a welcome respite from the larger viewing terraces on the roof or bar area on the roof which can get crowded during peak periods. The balcony has a comfortable bench with cushions for you to sit on and just chill and read a book if that's your thing.

Bathrooms: The ensuite bathroom is small but functional. The hot water is pipingly hot and near instant. The hot water was very welcome given the cold temperature of the local area. The hotel lacks heating/air conditioning, so the hot shower was welcome during the cold evenings and mornings! Having to leave the heat of the shower was done so very reluctantly!

Experiences: My family and I decided to do the nature walk followed by breakfast in the bush. We were escorted by an armed guard (to protect against aggressive buffalos!) and the rather knowledgeable Christine who gave us lots of information on the local flora, fauna and wildlife. The 1.5 hour walk was capped off with a great, full-English breakfast in the green surroundings of the forest.

Staff: The staff gave us a very warm welcome and Kenyan hospitality always shines through everywhere. Everybody appeared keen to ensure our stay was flawless and did their very best whenever we made a request. One issue I did find was that keys always seemed to be with somebody other than the member of staff we were speaking to. It sometimes caused delays, but...

When I was planning my Africa trip, my friend suggested going to a tree top hotel to see animals. The Serena Mountain Lodge was the ideal choice. It is way up in Mt Kenya Park...about a three hour drive from Nairobi. When I arrived, I thought the hotel was very homelike. The staff was very friendly and very helpful. My room was okay. The bathroom was more of a problem. The toilet ran all of the time and the shower was just okay. All of the rooms overlook a small pond with salt licks that attract animals all day and night. The meals are at set times. They offer afternoon nature walks. At night after dinner, the “watchers” come with a list of animals that might come during the night. You let them know which animals you would like to see... and they will come and wake you when the animals arrive. I only got to see a couple of animals... but I’m still glad that I tried the experience. It was quite pricey...so I wouldn’t consider it an...

Siamo stati una notte qui, e ci è sembrato di stare un po' in uno zoo. Non è possibile fare safari in auto, ma solo a piedi con l'hotel (pagando 30 Euro a testa): noi non l'abbiamo fatto a causa del tempo instabile, ma passare un pomeriggio affacciati al balcone davanti ad una pozza non è stato il massimo! Abbiamo visto elefanti, bufali, gazzelle, facoceri, cioè nulla che non si possa vedere in luoghi molto più naturali (e in modo più spontaneo). ||Soprattutto, è riprovevole che l'hotel metta sale nell'acqua della pozza per attirare gli erbivori (che a loro volta attirano i carnivori), e ancora di più che metta esche di carne su un piedistallo innalzato davanti alle camere, per attrarre leopardi o genette, i quali poi si trovano costretti a restare lì a mangiare perchè il ciibo è legato!! In questo modo gli ospiti possono guardare gli animali (di notte c'è la luce elettrica a illuminare la pozza), ma è una pratica crudele (soprattutto perchè ci sono tanti cretini che fanno foto con il flash, nonostante sia probito), un parco giochi triste se si pensa a tutto ciò che si può fare e vedere in Kenya. ||Passiamo all'hotel in sè: vecchiotto, poco pulito, triste (ci hanno detto che lo standard dei Serena di solito è tutt'altro), anche se l'arredamente insolitamente rustico ci è piaciuto. Purtroppo la nostra camera si trovava a pochi passi dai bagni comuni al piano, che emanavano un terribile e fortissimo odore di urina, come (ahimè) il nostro bagno in camera, il quale per di più aveva una porta che non si poteva chiudere dall'esterno! Veramente indecente, per un posto del genere. Carino invece il pensiero della borsa dell'acqua calda per la notte...davvero da altri tempi!||Gli spazi comuni sono carini, ma la sala ristorante è piccolissima e c'è una grande confusione. Il cibo è ottimo (la sera si sceglie un menu, per il resto c'è un buffet infinito), il personale gentile anche se a volte un po' lento e confuso. Non si può fumare da nessuna parte, nemmeno sulla propria veranda, ma solo sul tetto all'ultimo piano (perchè?). ||La sola cosa rimarchevole in positivo è che, se si vuole, si può essere svegliati di notte in caso di avvistamento di animali (si può scegliere quali vi interessano): noi all'1.00 abbiamo visto un branco di 9 iene che urlavano e giravano attorno alla pozza, e devo ammettere che si è trattato di uno spettacolo unico ed emozionante, visto che non è ovviamente possibile a nessuno fare safari notturni. Ci siamo fatti svegliare anche per vedere l'alba sul Monte Kenya, anch'essa molto bella...