Jambo Mara Safari Lodge

Excellent location, good food, friendly staff

No hot water provision in the resort. It gets very cold in masai Mara specially in the morning when the temperature is around 10 degrees Centigrade. The resort does not have hot water in the shower, also the staff did not arrange for hot water which was inconvenient to us.

It was clean and people were very helping.

Shortage of Indian food options

The hotel had a very beautiful garden, the room was very clean with all the necessary facilities, the hot shower was perfect after the game drive, the staff were very kind and gentle

The variety of food can improve

the chefs lee and Patryk and all the restaurant staff went above and beyond to make sure you were fully satisfied

the slimy penny pinching manager Daniel. firstly after a long flight and a 5 hour drive from the airport we get to the Masai Mara gate. the hotel had advertised that you only pay park fees in the days you go on safari and that they had guest passes to enter, this is a lie. they tried to charge us $160 to come through the gate and we waited 2 hours for the hotel rep to come to get us in and he then tried to get us to pay. we get to the hotel and instead of the solar power they advertise they use a generator which they turn off for 6 hours in the night, 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. I don’t know how they have the cheek to claim to be 5 stars. the room has no air con, no telly not even mosquito nets but plenty of mosquitoes. you can have a fan on but since the electricity is cut for 10 hours a day it’s not much use. this also cuts off the Wi-Fi so there is nothing now for you. I arranged a safari with an outside company. the manager would not let them through the hotel gates to collect me so forcing you to have to use the hotels safari service. I had to threaten to get a refund and move hotels in order for Daniel to agree to let us have electricity for longer time. when you then leave they tried to charge $800 park fees for the days we didn’t go on safari. it’s a disgrace and there is no point staying in the park as you’re nowhere near the animals anyway, might as well stay outside then only pay entrance fees to go on safari. we paid £200 a night to have nothing there then get the $160 a day charge to have the privilege of staying inside the park in a room with no electricity and no amenities. total rip off

Lovely pool, great setting.

Poor WiFi throughout the hotel.

Lovely experience. Was about 12 km from the main gate (Sekenani) on a bumpy dirt road. We had a Rav 4 and it took about 45 minutes to reach the lodge. (I now know that we could have left the car at the gate and the hotel could have arranged better transport to get us to the lodge!) We rented 2 of the glass cottages - one for me and my husband and the other for his 80 year old mother. When the staff heard that she was coming, they went out of their way to care for her (and us! Exceptional service). They gave us cottages near the dining hall, offered her room service, and took extra time to walk us to the cottage with flashlights at night. Meals were included and tasty. Lunch and dinner consisted of buffets with usually had rice, potato, pasta, vegetables, meat (beef or lamb), chicken, and fish. There were salads at dinner and fruit and dessert. Good food! Daniel arranged for a game drive for us and told the driver to go carefully because of mum. They packed us a lunch while we were out on the safari. The following day, we visited a Maasai village and got to learn about the culture and had a chance to buy some authentic souvenirs. Great location for access to both of these activities. Felt safe and secure. The facilities were fine, but it was the staff made this place stellar going out of their way to ensure our comfort. They even packed us a lunch to go when we checked out since we didn’t eat lunch at the lodge on the first day of arrival.

The showers are heated by solar, which meant they were fairly chilly during our visit - we had more rain and clouds than sunshine. Robby at the front desk arranged for hot water to be delivered in a bucket for mum’s morning shower, which was appreciated. You have to go through the gate to get into the park / access road, but this lodge is technically outside the park so for a foreigner, it’s $80 USD a day. Worth it, but also important to know for your budget! The electricity is run by a generator, which was turned off from 12-5 am. Was plenty of time to charge all electronics, but my husband was not able to sleep with his cpap. These things were not deal breakers - it was a lovely place with wonderful staff. Just good to have reasonable expectations!

Beautiful location and glass windows to enjoy the park. Right inside Masai Mara. Buffet was good nightly.

There is NO power from 11 pm till 5 am everyday. Also from 2-5 pm NO power. The showers were NOT hot and barely warm which makes it very difficult to shower on cold mornings with no heat at all. Ran out of soda flavor but they didn't bring in more. This place is close to being highly rated but the no power and no hot showers isn't acceptable for the price. Pool is also ice cold and unusable for more than a minute