Definitely one of the best Serena Hotels, this hotel is without doubt the best of the large hotels in the Manyara area with good views and easy access to the park around 20 minutes drive away. The views really are the reason to come here. While the rooms are beginning to look a little dated as far as the design is concerned (they have attempted to replicate the colours and curves of the local avian population!), the overall feel of the hotel is that it is not actually as large as it is and a drink at the bar is one of the best places in Tanzania!
Lake Manyara Serena - The Facts
Located on the rift escarpment of Lake Manyara
67 en-suite well positioned rooms
A well designed and positioned pool
A host of extra activities.
Lake Manyara - The Detail
What makes this such a good lodge comes down to a combination of factors. The first of these is in the elevated position the lodge has on the escarpment ridge of the Great Rift Valley. Formed though plate movements of the earth’s crust, the Great Rift Valley was formed millions of years ago, with a vast sweeping valley floor, dotted with soda lakes and flanked by a 600 meter high wall, from the top of which some of the best views in Africa can be had.
The next factor, is that the hotel has been designed in such a way that, even though it has 67 rooms in total, it feels open and spacious no where near its actual size at all. Each of the spacious rooms offers either twin or double beds, ensuite shower rooms and floor to ceiling windows, with balcony, allowing unimpeded views out across the valley floor. The hotel is largely centred around a stunning (if bizarre) bar and wonderful infinity pool that extends over the landscape with a stunning 'drop-off' effect. The views from this central point are clear and far-reaching, and with a large fixed telescope to play with it almost rivals Ngorongoro Crater for the sundowner safari experience.
The hotel itself has delicious restaurant food, good standards of service and genuinely friendly staff. Another point worth noting is that the hotel also offers a wide range of activities and so can be worth a couple of nights.
