Travel reviews by Mr & Dr C from Chicago

"Plantation Lodge is a beautiful, beautiful place with great service and extraordinary food. The rooms are spaced out over a fairly large area.

There are little sitting areas and places to relax spread across the grounds. Beautiful veranda, lots of interesting plants, trees and birds throughout. The food is truly extraordinary — the best food we've ever had in Africa.

Our only complaint was with the shower, which was anemic and had a tendency to die down to a trickle periodically."

"Olakira is a beautiful place with comfortable rooms, located very close to the Mara River and lots of interesting areas of the northern Serengeti. The tents are spacious and comfortable.

They must have recently upgraded the showers — because the literature talks about bucket showers, but in fact the showers are easy to use, hot and powerful, and don't require any advance planning.

The service is superb. Our guide was outstanding. It's a mobile camp, so the individual rooms and common areas aren't as luxurious as other permanent camps that we have stayed in, but it's still very nice, the location is excellent, and the service is exemplary."

"This lodge is very close to the airport and is perfectly comfortable.

The grounds are pretty and the service was very good.

There wasn't anything extraordinary about the place and I wouldn't stay there other than the fact that it's close to the airport — but as a place to stay that is convenient to the Kilimanjaro airport it's great."

"The hotel is clean, modern and generally lovely, and has quite a bit of character.

The lobby and common areas, including the pool and restaurant, are very nice and modern. The room we stayed in was perfectly adequate but not extraordinary.

The hotel has an historical charm that adds to its character."

"This place is conveniently situated close to the national park headquarters and to the activities in the area, so you don't have to drive nearly as far as you would if you were staying in a number of other locations. It's a very charming place with huge rooms and a nice main lodge.

It gets cold at night, and each room has a fireplace that the staff comes and lights for you, and they give you a surprisingly effective hot water bottle under the covers at night. Everyone who works there is very enthusiastic about serving the guests.

The shower left something to be desired, as the water pressure was very weak, but at least the water that did come out was hot."

"The hotel is clean, modern and generally lovely, and has quite a bit of character. The lobby and common areas, including the pool and restaurant, are very nice and modern. The room we stayed in was perfectly adequate but not extraordinary. The hotel has an historical charm that adds to its character."

"We only had a night at Latitude15, but we enjoyed every minute we were there.

It's a beautiful place with great food and a fun lounge.

It seems to be a hangout spot for the affluent Lusaka crowd, which was a nice contrast from many of the places we've stayed in Africa that are generally only frequented by travelers and expats."

"Everything about our stay at Sausage Tree was extraordinary. The facilities – both the rooms and the main lodge – are exquisite, with a particular attention to detail of finishings and accessories that give it a truly special feel.

The setting is beyond words, situated on the banks of the Zambezi with hippos in the river, elephants wading through, vervet monkeys in the camp, and opportunities to see a huge variety of animals without even going anywhere. There are lots of activities – day and evening game drives, power boat and canoe trips, fishing and walking safaris.

The guides are knowledgable and the entire staff are extraordinarily friendly. The food was great. The staff also surprised us with meals in different locations and other things that made it a once-in-a-lifetime, remarkable experience.

If I could give it 8 stars, I would still not think that was enough."

"We very much enjoyed our stay at Stanley Safari Lodge.

The main building and the grounds are very elegant, superbly manicured and well laid out. Each room is very private. Our room was cute, with a stunning view, although the lodge might update some of the accessories and details given the price point. The staff and management could not have been more welcoming, friendly and helpful, and catered to us at every step.

The only real issue we experienced, which is why we did not give this property 5 stars, was a mosquito infestation that was highly distracting and annoying. Apparently there is a water treatment facilities a few kilometers away that has become a breeding ground for mosquitos – and there were truly extraordinary numbers of them in our room and throughout the property. The staff did the best they could with insect spray, mosquito coils and mosquito netting, but it was a hopeless battle. As we were leaving they had brought in an exterminator to work on it, and hopefully they'll be successful. It's a beautiful place with a great team. It would be very peaceful and relaxing without the mosquito swarms – and we would have happily given it 5 stars but for the mosquitos."