Nimali Tarangire — Hotel in Arusha

This review is based solely on the Manager of the property, Thadel. Although the majority of the other staff was great and the property itself is pretty good, Thadel himself made this a 1-star review. Thadel is a complete amateur, someone who couldn’t manage his way out of a wet paper bag. Upon arriving at the property, Thadel’s unenthusiastic response to our arrival gave me a feeling that our presence was a nuisance to him as apparently, he doesn’t realize that guests pay the bills to keep the property open and profitable. Here’s a list of issues we compiled while staying at the camp:||||1. Lack of Customer Service: After a lackluster welcome and explanation of the property, our guide (who was incredible awesome) asked if it was possible to change our night game drive to a day earlier. Thadel was clearly annoyed at this request as he responded to our guide in Swahili and the tone of his voice was obvious. After a very awkward back and forth between the two, the conversation ended and Thadel’s annoyance was obvious. The following day, Thadel came to our lunch table and confirmed that the night game drive was switched to that evening and would last for 2 hours. ||2. Lying to Guests: Upon embarking on the night game drive, we were excited to explore the reserve. After 50 minutes, we were notified by the guide that the reserve has a law that night drives can only last 1 hour, which was a bald-faced lie and completely contradicted what was told to us by Thadel. We researched other camps in the reserve and their night game drive excursions, which clearly spell out the drives last between 2 to 2.5 hours. Lying to guests is unacceptable, and should be a MAJOR RED FLAG for anyone considering staying at this camp.||3. Laziness: On the day of arrival, we unpacked our bags in the tent. We smelled something awful, and looked out onto the porch and found an injured baboon with open would bathing in the pool. The smell, as it turns out, was rotting flesh. As we had no intention on using the pool, we found the encounter something interesting to talk to our guide about during the morning drive, not as a complaint but as a unique wildlife encounter. Being the consummate professional, our guide took it upon himself to ask Thadel to have the staff add extra chlorine to the pool, just in case we decided to take a dip later. After eating lunch, we were awkwardly approached by Thadel and, in a rather sternly way, told that if we have an issue with our accommodations, that we need to speak directly to him and not our guide. He was upset that he had to take time out of his day to walk the 70 meters to our tent and inspect the pool. I mean, honestly, Thadel is a COMPLETE BUFFOON. He has a complete lack of customer service skills.||4. Lack of Flexibility: Although the plan was take a ride to the Tarangire National Park the following day, I was suffering from some stomach ailment and asked if we could make go/no-go decision in the morning. Typically, going to the National Park would be an all day game drive involving a packed lunch. If we decided to go, our guide asked Thadel if he have the chef prepare quick boxed lunch in the morning. Thadel refused and even went as far as saying that if we arrived a minute past 2:30pm, he would tell the chef not to make lunch altogether. This type of threat is wholly unacceptable and should not be tolerated by Nimali.||||After lunch on our last day, a new Manager (Reuben) arrived and replaced Thadel. Reuben was breath of fresh air. The staff seemed more at ease and the entire vibe of the camp felt different. Clearly, the staff doesn’t have high regard for Thadel and his brutish attitude either. Now if Reuben had been the Manager the entire time, this likely would be a 5-star review. However, unless Thadel was demoted or sacked, I cannot recommend anyone stay at this camp just in case they have the bad luck of having Thadel manage the property...

This place is rated a 4 star I believe officially and that's a joke - it should definitely be a 5 star hands down! We were so sad that we only had 1 night at this beautiful property and wish we could have stayed a few more nights!

Located in Tarangire National Park and it's not fenced in, so wildlife is everywhere around you! Don't be afraid though because they have security that escort you around the property to keep you safe. The main dining tent, complete with a raised fire pit and an in ground pool in the middle of nature make this experience truly unique. They also have a watering hole with a safe viewing point, which draws in various animals like elephants and buffalo for a close encounter. The sleeping tents are also really clean, nice and have their own private decks and really big washrooms that have a full shower. The water was always hot! The rooms also come with bug spray, flashlights and we got a bottle of champagne for our honeymoon! Such a nice and thoughtful touch! There is no mosquito netting because part of the turn down service includes them spraying your room for any potential bugs (and there weren't many). The rooms also have power and charging for your electronics.

The staff are also really what makes staying here such a dream! Moses and Reuben were very nice, professional and paid such great attention to even the smallest detail! They really care about their clients and you can definitely feel this when you are with them! The food was high quality and very delicious and they even set us up with a private table on the deck overlooking the national park for our honeymoon!

If you are planning your safari, please stay here!! You...

Nimali Tarangire was the first “luxury” tented camp we stayed in on our African adventure, and it far exceeded our expectations. The camp itself is beautiful with local art and artifacts and a well thought out, open space lounge/greeting area and restaurant. Our “tent “was very luxurious and included a shower, double vanity, very comfortable bed, everything you would expect from a luxury property. We slept very well, and were excited to fall asleep to the sounds of lions, hyenas, and other wildlife.||We had excellent meals, and the staff was very accommodating, happy, and helpful. The security staff always made us feel very safe and would point out some of the animals as they escorted us between our room and the main dining area. We had a lovely attendant that turned down our room in the afternoon and then once again while we were enjoying dinner to prepare it for the evening. The chef cooked incredible meals, the kitchen staff was very helpful, and all the servers were a delight. We felt very much like we were catered to at every turn. ||One of the most unique things about the property was the adjacent watering hole. Every afternoon and sunset, we would be greeted with elephants, zebra, gazelle, baboons, warthogs… the list goes on and on. As we watched a gorgeous sunset, swam in the properties heated pool, or enjoyed a wonderful candlelight dinner, we were able to watch the animals bathe, play, and interact with each other just a few feet away. At times, it made us wonder why we even needed to go on a game drive!||We cannot recommend the Nimali Tarangire enough. It was an incredible experience, one that we will...