Kitela Lodge — Hotel in Arusha

We just returned from an incredible trip to Tanzania, and our two-night stay at Kitela Lodge was an absolute highlight. From the moment we arrived, the entire team made us feel genuinely welcome—with warm towels, refreshing drinks, and light snacks that set the tone for a truly relaxing experience.  We stayed at Kitela lodge two nights on two separate occasions on our adventure and both were wonderful.||The lodge is set in a peaceful, lush setting that immediately put us at ease after a long day of travel. We had two rooms, both spacious, spotless, and beautifully appointed with stunning views of the surrounding landscape.||One of the first things we did was take a dip in the pool, which was clean and wonderfully refreshing. The property itself is serene and very peaceful.||Dinner at Kitela was one of the best meals of our entire trip. The family-style dining added to the homey, welcoming atmosphere, and the food was both delicious and plentiful. As someone who is gluten-free, I truly appreciated how accommodating the kitchen staff were—they went above and beyond to ensure I had satisfying, safe options at every meal.||After dinner, we enjoyed cocktails and played cards by the fire in the cozy lobby. It was such a lovely way to end the day—comfortable, relaxed, and with great service from staff who felt more like hosts than hotel employees. Each morning we had a wonderful breakfast buffet, including a chef making eggs to order which was lovely. We then packed lunches for the adventure ahead. They had so many options which was, again, so accommodating for our family.||All in all, Kitela Lodge is a gem. It strikes the perfect balance between comfort and charm, and we left feeling restored, well-fed, and deeply grateful for the warm...

We spent one night here in July after a day in the Ngorongoro crater. We really enjoyed it. We arrived late afternoon during happy hour and started our stay with some snacks and complimentary G&T. This place is on a coffee plantation with lots of greenery and flowers around the premises as well as coffee plants. Not sure if all the units were the same but we stayed in a building that had a shared entrance and a self contained accommodation on each side of the entrance. Huge room with a big deck overlooking coffee plants and flowers. King bed and another double bed. Lots of tables in the room and some chairs. A fireplace that staff will come light for you in the evening. Large storage area. Coffee/tea making area with snacks. Water cooler. Huge bathroom with a toilet, shower, double sink with big vanity, and a claw foot tub. Supper was a big buffet with lots of selection. Lots of hot and cold dishes. Dessert section as well. Staff had turned down the bed and dropped the mosquito netting in the room by the time we returned from supper. Also put hot water bottles in the bed. Breakfast was good as well. Omelette station with lots of hot and cold selections as well. We had a boxed lunch to take with us when we left. I liked the fact that you could make up your own boxed lunch here and only take what you wanted. Lots of selection for lunch box items as well. I would recommend this place to anyone. There were really no negatives. I will just comment that when we stayed here 6 years ago they didn’t have a buffet for supper. They brought out multiple dishes to the table to share and I felt that was nicer. That would be my only constructive criticism. We truly enjoyed...

Worst accommodation on this trip. I cannot recommend Kitela to anyone. We have had three other accommodations on this trip, and Kitela was among the more expensive. All the other were significantly better.

For four people, we got a room with four single beds put next to each other, instead of interconnected rooms. The price that we paid was for four people. Because of the way beds were put together, light switches and wall sockets were inaccessible. Dinner was a lukewarm buffet with few choices. And the morning after we all had diarrhea. Breakfast is not better. Few choices. Jam came out of a large tin can. Expired yogurt. Instant coffee. You got to put together your lunch packet from leftovers from dinner. It's frankly pretty depressing. Wifi is metered and limited unless paid extra. In 2022. Safe in the room is broken and since the lodge is explicitly not responsible for your valuables, you get to carry around everything important when you leave the room. Warm water is limited and sufficient for two people. Except, again, the four of us were put into the same room. The location is in the middle of nowhere, two hours or more drive to any of the national parks in this area.

I honestly have no idea what the other reviews are talking about....