andBeyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge — Hotel in Arusha

I was on a flight from Arusha to Maynard Airport with two couples, who were also traveling to the Crater Lodge. So initially I was greeter=d by the same driver and we stayed in the airport parking lot for close to two hours doing a briefing and having drinks. This was odd - why the parking lot? Why not go to the lodge?||At the same time, there was another anyBeyond car giving a similar overview and drinks to another couple and I saw the driver of the first car move my bag to that car. When I asked why he said, very curtly, “I’m not you guide, go there’. I had to grab my backpack from he first car and when with the second group with a driver who never even introduced himself to me. ||Upon arrival, we were seated and introduced to our private butlers, though for me that hardly worked out to be the case. The first night’s dinner I was served by someone else. The room was highly uncomfortable, and the food was inedibly bad. I was never offered a wine list, and when I was leaving I was asked if I wanted a wake up call. I asked who would be doing it - since my butler wasn’t serving me or the one asking, but was told he would do the wake up call.||A third, unknown person came to my room at 5:30 am with coffee. I got ready and went to the vehicle to leave at 6, the agreed upon time, but the other couple was late and we didn’t leave until 7. The whole day was spent chasing what they wanted to see. I sat in the back and the ‘guide’ never even asked me what I was interested in. I got the by 3 pm and we hadn’t had lunch because the other couple said ‘we aren’t stopping until we see what I want to see’ I finally had to burst out, ‘no, I want lunch’ and the guide reluctantly agreed. I wasn’t a guest there. I was subsidizing someone else’s honeymoon.||The second night was even worse. I was told I could visit the rest of the property,, couldn’t sit outside, and had to go to dinner. Still no wine menu. No water. Room had four fireplaces going on a day that was only 60 degrees. I was dripping in sweat. Got soup. Then four minute wait for meal, which came out cold, so I think they forgot me. When he cleared it, uneaten, I said ‘it was cold - is it possible to get a hot dinner?’ He just walked off. I tried to get up on my own to get water since I was feeling overheated int he room, and was told to sit down, but still no water.||Finally I left. ||Next day woke up and it was gorgeous weather. I asked to it out side for breakfast and was, unsurprisingly, told no. I was told to go sit at a table in the corner. Finally I refused. The dining room was empty. I sat at a table by the window and told then they would need to pick me up to move me. I ate breakfast - again - in an empty dining room. When I finished, I saw then setting up outside tables for a other group, which I was told wasn’t possible.||This is a horrible, pretentious and rude place where they treat solo travelers like...

What a fantastic safari experience! The staff at Crater Lodge has great attention to detail and made us feel well looked after the entire time. We spent four nights here on our honeymoon, and it was definitely a romantic spot! The wildlife viewing is amazing, and our guide Aziza was very knowledgeable about every. single. thing. She had answers for every question that my inquisitive husband could think of! She was flexible to our needs and made sure we saw everything we wanted to see. She set up breakfast and lunch in the crater during our game drives, and helped coordinate our vacation outside of the crater with other staff. She also drove us into town for our covid test to leave Tanzania, and helped make sure it went smoothly! We would highly recommend her as a guide. Our butler George made sure we were very comfortable - always made sure we had drinks and a bath ready when we arrived back from our game drives, and went above and beyond to pay attention to anything we enjoyed! He had great wine and food suggestions, and made sure we were safe on our walks to/from meals in the dark with all of the wildlife nearby. Our housekeeper Julitha made our room feel very clean and sanitized every day, took care of our laundry, and creatively decorated with rose petals every day! There were plenty of covid precautions in place - the staff was diligent about mask wearing, hand sanitizing, and social distancing. We felt safe the whole time. Our only complaint with AndBeyond was related to logistics with our travel coordinator - due to the covid restrictions, we had several hiccups come up that turned into last minute firedrills. However, this was no reflection on Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, and the staff there were immensely helpful with getting everything figured out. We would highly recommend it to anyone looking to...

Pictures really don't do this place justice because I saw so many online and when I arrived, first thing I thought was this must be how colonizers in the past wanted to live. The uniforms the waiters were made to wear at dinner service was also reminiscent of this feeling. This lodge opened in 1996 and apparently the decor has stayed the same throughout the years. However this is the best in the area so we didn't have a choice but to stay here.

After checking in to my room I noticed that the room has a stale and old smell. Lots of moths and bugs alive and dead fill the room, even though we never opened the windows. One night we kept one of the smaller bathroom lights on and the next morning found dozens of dead flies around the area. The fireplace and heated beds were a nice touch though as it gets cold in the mornings. At night housekeeping would place a bottle of water next to the beds but no glass which can be annoying.

The food served at this lodge is western style, which I figured is to cater to the mostly western clientele. However we asked the chef to prepare us local Swahili food which was really good.

Our guide for the drives, Tema, was very helpful and we really enjoyed our time with him. He was especially good at spotting lions from very far away.

During the first night at dinner, the manager came around to greet us. I mentioned the stale smell and amount of dead bugs around the room which she said she will speak to housekeeping to fix. Not really fixed but the next night she quickly said hi to us and left, probably to ignore another round of complaints. I feel like she only makes appearances at dinner just to show her face, but not sure if she's...