Reviews of Ashnil Aruba Lodge 4 stars

Good location, individual semi attached houses, space, staff very nice

Buffet meals, food is mediocre at best

Breakfast was good.

Just great place for the family

Amazing location with regards to the animals in the park.

Great location, we could see elephants from our balcony. Facilities are well arranged, quite a big camp.

Great place, nice food, friendly staff.

Tents are much nicer than the stones blocks

Location overlooking park but remember as your in park you pay entrance fees even if you don’t do game drive.

Shower water Cold. Looks dated and run down. Chase you for any drinks ordered like you won’t pay! Full board is only food. Drinks are expensive for kenya.

The accommodation had great views over the National Park and was extremely comfortable. The staff were friendly and there was nothing that was too much trouble. The food was the best I have had at a Safari Lodge. The garden area and pool area was very well maintained.

There were no issues.

location

No A/C which is necessary. Everything seems dated and poor maintenance. Room furnishings is extremely basic, cheap.

Overall experience was excellent !!!

Great views from the rooms and public areas of nearby wildlife.

Food range was quite small compared to other similar lodges. Rooms were quite stuffy.

Direct access to the park View of Wildlife from the room Super friendly staff

Some cheese or good jam at breakfast but overall ok

Interacting with staff. Had a flu and the Clinic Nurse was so helpful. I witnessed firsthand in the breakfast how the hotel treats their own staff very well. It tells why they are so friendly and motivated. Keep it up. Guys, if you need a place to clear off your mind. Ashnil Aruba is the place to be. No doubt.

Nothing

- in the heart of tsavo east - colorful lizards and monkeys in the gardens - pool with elephants walking behind the fence

- bug swarms in the evening and night - lose mosquito nets not really protecting - no air conditioning just fans - dinner/lunch bit pricey considering the selection

The location was the best part about staying at this lodge. You are at a central location in the national park to go on the various game drive routes. We also had two fans in our room which was a huge help dealing with the high temperatures at this time of the year. The shower in the bathroom was very nice and the beds were comfortable. We were allowed to access the breakfast buffet earlier than the posted hours to accommodate our early departure from the property.

There was a lot that we did not to like about the property. To start with we did not find the staff very friendly in general which was a big difference from a similar resort in a national park where we stayed the night before. The only food available was the buffet which was limited in selections and was of average quality. I would compare the buffet to many of the two and three star hotels I have stayed at in Kenya over the last seven years. The biggest difference is at this resort they did not have a menu you could order off of if you did not want the full buffet menu. During check-in we were not told by the reception staff of the coffee and tea service with cookies and cake that was set-up daily at 3:30 outside the bar area. We checked in around 2:30 (after the buffet had officially closed) and only saw this service mentioned in the guide for the resort in our room. There were literally thousands of crickets all across the resort property to include on the buffet line (the staff draped the buffet line with mosquito type netting to keep the crickets off the food) and in the dining room. It seems this is an annual occurrence so I would have thought there would be some better solution to keep the crickets away/out of the dining area. WiFi is only available in the dining room and bar area of the hotel and it is a very poor quality connection. This was a pretty major inconvenience since the bar area is quite small and you are only allowed to be in dining room at meal times. Again for a "four-star" resort this low level of Wi-Fi service seems to be inconsistent with other hotels in Kenya where we have travelled.

Great location in Tsavo East. Our tent was really comfortable and had views over the park. Quiet spot. Swimming pool was great for a cooling dip and lounge area relaxing. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Our game drives with Tony were amazing. Breakfast was good.

Although the buffet food was OK there could have been more variety. At lunch there were lots of flies around (not their fault). We felt they could have provided better cover than cling film - just a suggestion!