Travel reviews by Mr M & Ms C from Dublin

"Lovely lodge. Good food. Great staff. Ideally positioned for walk to Falls.

Big letdown was room 16. It was tired and weary looking. Needs a revamp. Bathroom has no window so extractor fan was essential. Extractor fan not working. Showerhead needed cleaning as it was spewing all over the place. Did my best to improve it and that helped. Poor shelf space in bathroom as well with the result that bathroom essentials had to be placed on ground.There was no fridge in the room. Had to ask for water as there was none. Temperature outside was high 30's! Got response from management. See below:

On behalf of the Management and staff at Ilala Lodge Hotel, I would like to say thank you for your feedback that you wrote on the guest questionnaire regarding your stay with us.

I noticed that you mentioned some problems regarding your room – Firstly the bathroom extractor fan: we do actually have them in the bathrooms but obviously yours was not working – my sincerest apologies for this and I would like you to know that it has been attended to and fixed.

Secondly regarding a mini bar - Unfortunately this is not something we supply them in any of our rooms. I would like you to know that we are looking into it for the future. Once again thank you for your feedback and if there is anything else you would like to add please do not hesitate to let me know.

Please note we were not looking for a mini bar as stated above. Merely a fridge to keep the water cool!!"

"Top class. Nothing more can be said!"

"Very good. Beautiful place.

Great staff. Howard is top guide.

Only negative is breakfast. Cornflakes, all bran, cartons of yogurt and full English. Not everyone wants this kind of unhealthy food especially in such a wonderful place. Need healthy options as in the Hide.

Lunch and dinner were good."

"Wonderful historic place. Great photos. It will take a long time and a lot of investment to make it into what it could be. First room had a noisy fan and a dirty duvet. Second room was bright and airy but again an unclean duvet which had to be replaced. Both bathrooms did not have a shower curtain!

Paul Murray in the Bradt Guide says that it has recently been restored inside and out. Really? Must have been bad before. Well the stairs could do with a good cleaning and the removal of tattered and frayed carpet for a start!

Again Murry says "excellent food served in truly elegant dining room". Diningroom is interesting without being elegant. And as for food. Breakfast was again mainly full English with a few other bits. Dinner was set menu and not very appealing with the result we found other places to dine for the two nights we were there.

Could be great with the right investment and management."

"Five minutes from the airport and close to town.However beside main road which is very busy and noisy from before dawn until after dusk. Also beside the very busy Arusha airport with a lot of arriving and departing flights. Not much chance of rest if you are tired after an all night flight!

Your guide states " .....the excellent restaurant serves a spit-roasted lunchtime grill and a sumptuous a la carte dinner." On arrival we had lunch which to say the least,was not good. Selection was poor ranging from burgers to fish and chips and other appalling choices.

Far cry from the spit-roasted lunch and 5-star accolade given in guide! We went for the burgers as the best of a bad lot. Awful. I left mine. Waiter service was poor as well. For dinner that night it wasn't exactly sumptuous. It was ok....after having returned both dinners as they were cold! Breakfast was fine.

On our return we were offered a set lunch which was quite ok and the service was good. They said set lunch was on offer every day.... so i wonder why we were offered a la carte first visit. Bad waiter? Possibly. The chalets were superb."

"Wonderful location. Superb gardens and chalets. Service appalling. We arrived mid-morning and asked for tea and coffee. We were directed to the awaiting flasks. The coffee was cold, there was no tea or water in a big tea pot, and no milk in the jug! After much tooing and frowing another large tea pot was produced. Except that when i looked in the pot there was no tea in it. Just hot water. When asked for tea they referred us to basket of tea bags which were all herbal! Just wanted ordinary black tea. Coffee eventually came and it was awful. And this on a coffee farm! I left in frustration after 20 minutes. Teresa waited longer before getting her tea which she said very poor.

There were 7 for dinner that night. The bread was stale. The main course was fish or vegeterian. Not much choice for me who is not keen on either. Well at least i could have the vegetables. But i didnt....beans, carrots and something else was hard and inedible. Your guide states ".....and the home-style cooking with organic produce grown on the farm is excellent". Are you joking? Also it was like a fast food restaurant. No sooner were we finished with one course when everything was snatched away and the next course presented. No time to linger and chat between courses.

After our experience with these two recommended places i was so annoyed that i was on the verge of e-mailing you to give you notification that we would be looking for a rebate. A very disappointing start to an expensive trip. We made our complaints to our guide who passed them on to one of the people who now run this place.

On the second night there were 27 for dinner. Food and service was better. One of the owners checked with quite a number of tables how things were. Did not approach us! Nobody seems to take responsibility. Either they are not trained or very badly trained as to what is important for European visitors. Many running about looking busy. Great for welcoming but what good is that if service is so poor."

"What more can one say. Food, service, activities. Wonderful. This is what we have come to expect from recommendations and arrangements by Expert Africa.

The highlights were the staff, the food and the migration, which we were lucky to see in full flow! Could do with cake for the morning break. Long time from breakfast to lunch.

Laundry could be ironed as they only wash it."

"Like Suyan, superb in all aspects. Food, staff, facilities and activities were top class.

And of course we saw the Mara crossing and much more.

Also like Suyan could do with cake for the morning break and iron the laundry."

"No need to have tea delivered at 5.30 as magnificent breakfast is being served at 6.00 anyway.

Food superb as is the service."

"Good tracking by guide. Again, wonderful food and superb service.

But as before, no need to have tea served at 5.30 when having great breakfast at 6.00."

"No tea served at 5.30 allowing us time to struggle out of bed, wash and get to breakfast at 6.00. This camp was the only camp to serve porridge for breakfast. Other camps should take note!

Again food superb. The sightings were wonderful. Guide was amazed at number of sightings we saw over the two days, for instance we saw 4 different prides of lion in two days.

On way to airstrip we even saw leopard turtle to which the the guide exclaimed that we must have seen nearly everything available. We even saw a family of aard-wolf with puppies which was a first for the guide as well! Great place."