Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

This review is written specifically for Four Seasons aficionados. If you have stayed at many Four Seasons, be prepared for disappointment. This hotel should not be in the Four Seasons chain. Honestly, it has probably been dated for at least 15 years and the only way to fix it would be to tear it down and rebuild it. My spidey senses were tingling the moment we arrived at the airport and our driver wasn't waiting for us. If not for a driver from another company realizing the issue and finding the FS driver in his car, who knows how long we would have been standing there? These drivers are assigned to you for the entire trip. He was the least friendly of any we had in Africa. Things continued downhill when we arrived at the FS entrance and there were dozens of those branded tour group duffles. I could hear crowds of people inside the hotel and knew immediately that real issues were brewing. If you are a fan of the FS brand, the crowds at this location will be unlike anything you've seen. The restaurant options are subpar. The menu in the main restaurant looks like a Denny's menu...and the pricing of items feels cheap. Everything about the property is dated...the lobby, the restaurants, and the rooms. On multiple occassions, I overhead the general manager apologizing to other travelers, so the issues weren't limited to my experience. The only reason to stay at this property is because you want to be in a hotel in the Serengeti.

We had a wonderful experience at the Four Season Serengeti. Rooms were so nice and clean. Drinking water in the rooms was delicious. Food at the restaurants was fabulous. We took a Hot Air Balloon ride, trip to Ngoro crater and half day safari. All were perfect. We relaxed around the pool after a long day of travel. Our personal driver Arastu was wonderful. He knew where to find the animals we wanted to see and was so accommodating. Each and every employee was delightful - Marisa, Vicky, Ashley, Mary (reservations) and many many more. I thought this was a perfect place to stay.

absolutely fabulous , best holiday we ever had , location ,service ,staff, food all excellent and the safari was fantastic . Special mention for Sadick our driver and guide who done a terrific job. we will definitely be returning . we have stayed in several Four Seasons & this was the best ..

I’m surprised at some of the negative reviews. This is an amazing property for its location. It has to truck in supplies from Arusha, which is an 8-hour drive on very bumpy dirt roads. It’s hard to believe that you can have such a beautiful, well maintained property in such an isolated location. I was initially expecting a high-end eco-lodge but this is a full-blown hotel with 79 rooms. The hotel is arranged in a campus-like setting with a central building for restaurants, reception, etc. and guest rooms in separate buildings. Our room was about a 5-minute walk from the main building. Some rooms looked like they were farther. We had a standard savannah room which was beautiful with a large bathroom and a large dressing room with plenty of storage. We had a large balcony which gave us a great view of the savvanah. We even had television service with a large number of English channels. The AC could have been better, particularly in the bathroom and dressing room. I was also disappointed that they gave us a cheesy little pencil instead of the nice pens that Four Seasons used to provide. Service was friendly and professional throughout the hotel. The hotel is all-inclusive, including alcohol. In terms of food, breakfast was excellent. Lunch and dinner were good - similar in quality to a Marriott or Hyatt Regency restaurant. For alcohol they offer several local beers and a decent assortment of quality liquor (e.g. Maker’s Mark; Bombay Sapphire; Glenfiddich 12-year old). I had two different red wines by the glass that were pretty bad, though. (Note that there a variety of premium brands available for extra $.) They’re pretty generous regarding the all-inclusive policy. The stocked mini-bar is free and your room also has two bottles of wine. When you go out on a game drive they will give you snacks, lunch, beer or wine if you want it. Our departing lunch was disappointing, however. They gave us a three-course meal without utensils that we were supposed to eat on a small propeller plane that bounces around a lot. A sandwich with chips would have been a much better option. (We saw around 20 other people with Four Seasons lunch bags at the airport so it’s not like we were an isolated case.) We had a $50 laundry credit per day as part of our package. Prices were a little high but they turned it around quickly. Same day turn-around if you drop off in the morning. They have a nice outdoor pool with good food and drink service, They pool was pretty cold, though. There’s a watering hole next to the pool that’s supposed to attract animals. We didn’t see any drinking from it while we were there. It’s likely more popular in the dry season. We did see some significant wildlife in the vicinity of the hotel. There’s a huge group of hippos at a picnic area that’s pretty close to the hotel. We also saw an extremely large group of water buffalo (over 100) and a flock of 12 or so ostriches nearby. The place isn’t perfect but it’s still an outstanding property. We were extremely impressed and were glad that we stayed here.

We stayed at Four Seasons Serengeti Lodge in December as part of our weeklong trip to Tanzania. We were promptly picked up at the Seronera air strip by the Four Seasons Crew-Abdul received us, followed by our amazing guide and driver for the next 3 days- Mr. Roger Busheri. While the lodge is about 40 km from the air strip, we took about 2.5 hours to cover the distance since we stopped along the way to watch wild life and take pictures. We saw plenty of Zebras, Giraffe, Impala, Gazelle and even a Cheetah on the way to the lodge. Upon arrival at the lodge, we were given a warm welcome by the crew and escorted to our terrace suite, which was just phenomenal. We embarked on morning game drives (4 hours each) for the next 2 days. We saw plenty of Lions, Mongoose, Buffalo and a variety of birds. On the second day, Mr. Busheri patiently looked for a leopard and finally we spotted a male leopard after 3 hours of searching! Mr. Busheri was a caring and knowledgeable guide and ensured that we had amazing experience. Apart from the game drives, I have to complement the food at the lodge. We had our food mostly at Nuru restaurant and dinner at Boma Grill on one night. Chef Ritesh took special care of us and prepared amazing vegetarian Indian food (not on the regular menu by the way)- this was such a treat- we had Puri Bhaji for breakfast, Biriyani-Raita, Dal-Rice for lunch and one day we had Kichidi (since we wanted something light). We felt blessed to get such a great service, good quality food and attention in the middle of Serengeti. Sincere thanks to Four Seasons Crew for making our stay so special!