JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge — Hotel in Siana ward

We've been planning this trip for almost 2 years, and now that we've finally visited, we can truly say it was even more magical than we could even imagine! ||The tent was extremely luxurious with excellent hot water pressure and TWO showers (one indoor and one outdoor)! We had been told by friends who had both stayed at other safari camps that sometimes they actually had to have attendees pour hot water for them during the shower. ||The weather was chilly in the morning/evening and hot during the day, so they made sure we had electric blankets at night to keep us warm. The bedding and mattress were super comfortable. I loved their comfortable robes too! They gifted us the best water bottles that really kept your drinks extremely warm. ||The room attendee (Priscilla) left us super sweet notes everyday and made sure our room was kept up two times a day. They even have yummy snacks for you, and they knew we didn't drink so they made sure to give us non-alcoholic drinks instead. We loved that the room amenities they gave us were also sustainability forward. The room even had a jacuzzi which required 3 hours of heating. We didn't actually get to use it this trip, but it would've been nice if we had since we could see some animals across our room. We even saw monkeys on our deck!||Given that we are living in the reserve, there are definitely many animals around so they had Masai warriors escort us during the dark. They told us that elephants, hippos, hyenas and even snakes can be found on the property. It can be noisy at night, so make sure you bring some earplugs.||From the beginning to end, the people working at JW Marriott treated us like family! 'Welcome home' was exactly how it felt! Everyone was warm and helpful. Service was EXCEPTIONAL! We spent most of our time with our Safari guide Eric, who was THE BEST! He was so amazing at spotting animals and took us out for long game drives which is what we loved! He brought yummy snacks and drinks for us to keep us well fed. If we needed to go to the bathroom, he would find us somewhere hidden and safe. His driving was excellent given the bumpiness of the roads. He tried to avoid stressing out the animals, and he really anticipated where the animals would go towards, making sure we got the best angle for capturing photos. Truly going above and beyond! He is also extremely knowledgeable about all the different animals! You can feel that he truly loves them. If you are able to request for him during your stay, I would highly recommend it! ||The Safari trucks were also very comfortable. They even had super warm rain ponchos with lining for you if it rained. The blankets kept us warm. Prior to going, I was a bit concerned about the safety since there's nothing keeping the animals from coming into our truck, but once you're out there, you realize that's not even a concern. The animals really are quite chill and did not bother with us at all. Keep a respectable distance and do not climb outside the truck and you will be very safe. If you need to go use the bathroom, your guide will find somewhere safe. One time, we were stuck in a hole, the other JW Marriott trucks swiftly came to help us out. They're always in contact to make sure we are safe and comfortable.||We weren't certain of how the food would be, but we thought the food was very delicious. I really loved their fish dish with lemon sauce. The soup was delicious too. The food rotated every day, so we didn't have to eat the same food daily. They even had a Kenyan themed night. I personally was obsessed with the dosa and had it every morning. We would recommend you eating on-site vs taking the food to go. The on-site food was definitely better. Benjamin, Josiah and Victor made sure we felt very comfortable and well taken care of every meal. Africa is very dry so make sure you hydrate! Victor made us the most yummy and refreshing mocktails. I also loved their mint tea. It was not only soothing for the mind, but also for my stomach!||They tried to make as much accommodations for you as possible. They even told us if we don't see something on the menu we liked, we could make requests. During our tour of the property, Josiah (who was super sweet and helped us a lot at the dining area) told us that they actually have 3 completely separate kitchens built for their guests. Given that there's only 23 tents in the camp, that is incredible. One kitchen was for the regular guests, one for guests with kosher needs, and another for vegetarian/vegan guests. The Kosher kitchen has completely different utensils and glassware too! They are able to accommodate guests who bring their own chefs as well! ||One of the best things about staying here was that they allowed you to rent their fancy Canon cameras with large lenses for you to take photos of the animals ($25 for your stay). We took so many beautiful photos this trip and it's so nice that they even edit some for you. Moses taught me the settings I should use for different scenarios, so that was very helpful! I would suggest bringing your own SD card or external hard drive so you can keep the large files!||We loved learning about their sustainability initiative where they used black fly larvae to breakdown the leftover food for compost and fertilizers. They have 4 farms on site to grow most of the vegetables/fruits we consume as well. Beyond that, they also give back to the local school system and communities. |||Pro tips: We did get a little air sick on our plane ride to Masai Mara, so I would take an anti-nausea pill before the flight. ||We loved doing 5 nights at the lodge, especially given you get the 5th night for free. ||We used points, but please note that you will have to pay tax at the end which we weren't prepared for.||We also went with another couple who were our good friends, so make sure they know so they will arrange for you to be on the same Safari truck.||They actually have tents for large groups. We hear of people coming with 8-10 family members!||Make sure you bring enough cash for the reserve fee. It was $200/person per day. They had us just pay 3 nights at the airstrip which we could pay using credit card. However, since we went for 5 days, we had to pay 2 extra days in cash on-site. ||Also make sure you bring enough cash for tipping. ||The safari rides get a bit dusty if you're behind other cars, so make sure you bring some face masks/covering.||It can get chilly in the morning/evenings, so bring a jacket. ||Try overlapping on a Sunday (not sure if it changes) since they had the wonderful bush brunch which they only do once a week! It was so nice to eat out in the reserve. I can't believe they brought out all the chairs and kitchen equipment to cook for us there. The porter potty was so luxurious too! They even had an attendant squeezing soap for you and turning on water for you to...

As avid Marriott people and first-time safari goers, this hotel seemed like a dream come true, and let me tell you…it is. The all-in-one service the JW Maasai Mara provides is definitely the way to go. You get to stay at a pristine lodge in a beautiful setting, with all-inclusive drinks/food, your game drives included, and use of their Canon cameras. And the included daily laundry service really puts it over the top. From airport pick-up to departure, you don’t have to plan a thing. The JW property was amazing, as were the tents, and we enjoyed the nice touches such as warm water bottles in the bed each night for our feet. October seemed like the perfect time to visit the Mara. It was less busy, there were baby animals everywhere, and the weather was great. While it got slightly hot in the tent during the daytime (when we were even there) and chilly in the early hours of the morning, we didn’t mind and it kind of added to the experience. We made use of the hot tub and outdoor shower and enjoyed watching different animals across the river from our room. The pool was great to have as well, and they’ll bring you whatever you want. ||The staff at the lodge, as pretty much every review has said, are just amazing. Truly the kindest, most welcoming people. We could feel their love for the Mara, their jobs, and the family atmosphere they had for each other. They worked as a team almost flawlessly. Josiah was our butler and took great care of us for early morning coffees to-go and all our meals. He’d go out of his way to take care of things for us and was such a warm and nice person. ||The absolute star of our stay was our game driver, Jackson. I’m sure all the drivers are great, but we felt like we hit the lottery having Jackson. First, Jackson is Maasai, and you could see the deep-rooted understanding of the land and the animals that come from growing up there. His intuition and knowledge of how the animals behave led us to so many amazing experiences while also being respectful of the animals - witnessing a cheetah hunt, multiple lioness hunts, and the craziest river crossing with crocs, hippos, zebras, and lions where we felt like we were in a Nat Geo documentary. Anything Jackson said about the animals and what they would do next was exactly what happened. Because of that, he’d be able to position us for the best view. It was seriously like he was the Maasai Dr. Doolittle and could talk to the animals. In addition to seeing the big five, plus all the other animals, we also had several special moments alone with animals because of his instincts - having morning coffee next to a pride of cuddling lionesses, spending time alone with a sleeping male lion next to our vehicle while we ate our breakfast to go, lunch in the bush with a pack of zebras nearby, etc. Jackson was also a very competent driver, which you don’t realize is important until you see other vehicles get stuck. Also, he does photography as well, so he has an amazing eye for setting us up for the best pictures. Overall, we had the most thrilling and also relaxing 5 days…constantly laughing and definitely some fun as well. He taught us a lot about the Maasai people and the animals. Jackson is truly amazing at his job and we thank him for the experience of our lives.||Some tips/info:|- The times for the game drives are flexible. Sometimes we would plan to bring breakfast or lunch with us and stay out on our morning drive until late afternoon…or we would be out and hear there was a leopard and decide to go try and find it and skip the evening drive. The morning drives seemed to have more animals than the evening because you also can’t go as far since you have to be back at camp by sundown. |- Random but bring a good chapstick because the wind does make your lips dry.|- Bring an SD card (compatible with Canon) to keep all your photos and an SD card reader for easy upload to your phone. Or you can directly transfer from the Canon camera to your phone with a USB-C cord. |- The vehicles have a USB port for charging so I didn’t bring a power bank.|- Footwear wasn’t as important as I thought, you don’t really leave the vehicle so hiking boots/etc. aren’t necessary.|- You can order room service if you’re tired but there is a $30 charge. |- We paid our park entrance fees in advance via a link provided by the hotel. |- We brought small bills to tip the warriors who walked us to/from the tent (you must be escorted before 6 a.m. and after 6 p.m.). They never seemed expectant of a tip but always appreciated it.|- Tipping can be done on the food bills (which were just for record keeping) or from what we understood, done through the hotel bill at checkout. There’s a communal tip box near the front desk as well. We personally brought cash and envelopes and tipped our butler, room attendant, and driver. Plus some here and there for the other staff, like the bartender and morning coffee folks.|- While you can arrange to have a driver from Nairobi to the JW, we chose to fly. We used Safarilink. They checked the weight of the bags (33lb limit) departing Wilson airport, but weren’t strict about the amount of travel-size liquids or really anything else. We were able to bring small personal items on as well. And they also held a suitcase for us at the airport free of charge. We heard from JW staff that Safarilink is the most reliable for...

What a fantastic place! I think the kindness and service provided by the staff are just as special as the lodge itself. Everyone was extremely friendly and willing to help if you needed anything. I even needed some medicine and their nurse was able to assist and they delivered it to our villa around 10PM. We were in villa #1 all the way at one end. It was about 5-7 minute walk, but due to all the camera gear we brought we used the golf cart to get there many times. Longest wait for one was about 3-4 minutes one morning at 5:45AM. ||Meals were very fresh and well prepared. Most days we had no problem debating between a couple items. Even ordered one main dish with the meat from another and they gladly brought it that way. Salads were great with fresh vegetables from the JW Garden we some type of protein (eggs, tuna, smoked salmon, chicken, etc) was very nice. Very nice selection of spirits though we only had 1 drink during the week. Victor at the bar was always willing to whip something up for you. I asked for a lemonade a couple times and he came up with a refreshing lemon tasting drink for me. Meal times are kind of centered around game drives, but if you happen to miss one of those windows they do have some snacks you can order. Patrick our waiter was great. Your dinner server stays with you for the week, though we had him a few times for breakfast and lunch as well. Chef even cared to make rounds and check with most as to how their meal was and if they could do anything to make things better.||Since we used point for our stay we did partake in some of the extras they offer. We did a couples spa treatments and it was very relaxing and enjoyable. We also chose to do private game drives. This is what we did on our 2 trips to South Africa and we are kind of spoiled and it does allow us to shift left or right to get in better position to take photos. We like to take photos about 4500 in 5 days. They were very flexible and accommodating as to what we wanted to do. Chose to have breakfast one day with lunch in the bush another day breakfast in the bush and back for lunch. Nick was phenomenal! Very friendly, knowledgeable and conscientiousness for our safety when making certain crossings/ large bumps during a drive. He made our drives special as well as found lots of great sighting. We also chose to do a photo safari with one of the Canon studio staff. Moses was able to convey lots of good tips and we definitely came back with some fantastic photos. One bonus we did not know would come with this services was getting to take some photos was some very nice lenses. Lenses we would not purchase on our own nor be able to easily travel to the Masai Mara with. Bad thing was after using some of the more modern Canon cameras and lenses I think a new camera body is in my future. He even spent some time showing me a few tricks I had not used yet with Lightroom. Now I am spending time sorting through the 4500 photos and editing many of them. ||Our room person Francis made sure the room was always well taken care of. Even getting extra blankets for my wife whose biggest concern was being cold at night. She was cold the 1st night with water bottle, electric blanket and comforter, but after adding a 2nd blanket she was great. I am just the opposite, but did get a little chilled when using a light blanket towards the early morning. I read something somewhere about the hot tub not getting hot. When the power is 1st turned on it defaults to 30C. You can change to 40C and after the 1st evening it was nice and hot every others evening. Room was very well appointed and tons of amenities if you forget something (loofa, sewing , shoe shine, shaving, toothbrush, brush kits). There is a universal plug on each side of the bed as well as a USB-A on each side of the bed as well as a couple plug on the floor below the desk. I wish I brought a plug strip/ extension cord so I could plug in my 4 battery chargers on the desk vs bedside, but we made it work.||Pool is cool as many have said, but we did get in one afternoon. Nice to have water (sparkling & still) poolside with some cups and ice as well as towels. ||Tips:|- Used our bug repellent wipes a few times for annoying flies not tsetse flies and glad we brought them. They had some high percentage DEET in our truck that we could use, but chose to use our wipes|- Do a photo safari day/ half day if you want to come back with some fantastic photos|- If you don't like what you see on the menu ask for something else. They will try to accommodate...