KARATU VILLAS LODGE — Hotel in Arusha

This place is great! Easy location for visits. New large rooms, huge bed, huge bathroom with plenty of hot water.

The staff is outstanding. Very interested in your happiness and enjoyment. Mr Richard is a seasoned manager. The restaurant and kitchen team accommodated my breakfast travel box requests and even cooked up a special dessert for me one night with the honey I purchased from the Massai ladies outside Olduvai.

Imma the reservation manager set up a bunch of great visits the Ngorongoro crater, Olduvai, hiking in the forest to the waterfall and elephant caves and even a very interesting cultural visit with Iraqw tribal elder Mr Daniel. It was fascinating to meet him and hear his stories and tour his traditional home.

Most of all Imma spent hours giving me invaluable assistance when I had a serious banking problem. I am indebted to him for his calm patient assistance while my bank gave me no end of trouble.

This place is a great value for the quality. I had booked 2 nights and ended up staying 4, it was a great choice.

Shout out to the awesome driver they set me up with, Felix and his mighty Range Rover Defender. He also has the eyes of an eagle for spotting game. He even spotted a leopard lurking in the brush. He’s a good solid dude. If you see him buy him a...

We stayed here twice during our safari, and we really liked the service and accommodation. Most of the same staff were there for both of our stays and we became quite friendly with some of them.||The rooms are very spacious, the bathrooms have plenty of counter space and room to move around. The shower was a bit slippery, but they provided shower sandals for us, which helped quite a lot. The mosquito netting is installed in a novel way, it's on a curtain rod, so slides to the side like drapes. The downside is that there are many more spaces for the insects to get in.||The breakfast, lunch and dinner were great! Lots of choice, hot and cold food, fresh fruit, toast and coffee for breakfast.||Dinner was unique as well, and although it was essentially a buffet, they provided a menu at each table, which was a very nice touch. Staff are very friendly and chatty, they make you feel welcome. The dining lodge itself is beautiful, the decor is very rustic with lots of brick, wooden furniture and open space. There's a wonderful veranda in back overlooking the pool, and the overall feeling is very calm and peaceful.||Can't really go wrong staying here. We wouldn't hesitate...

Karatu Villas Lodge left us with mixed feelings, but unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives. The biggest issue arose right at the start – despite having a confirmed Booking.com reservation for two rooms, we arrived to find that only one room was available. The staff tried to resolve this by setting up makeshift extra beds, which was far from comfortable. We had no choice but to stay as it was late, and there were no other available options nearby.

The staff was completely unorganized and seemed indifferent, almost “sleepwalking” through their duties. The rooms lacked bathroom doors, which made the stay even less comfortable. To make matters worse, a neighbor started burning trash nearby, filling the area with smoke and ash, and the staff made no effort to address the situation.

The food was decent but definitely overpriced – overly elaborate yet lacking in real quality or taste.

Karatu Villas Lodge could have potential, but the lack of organization and the staff’s inability to handle problems seriously detract from...