What a beautiful lodge. We went in September this year as part of our honeymoon and did not know what to expect, however the lodge far exceeded our expectations. The surroundings and lodge itself were lovely and the game drives started the second you left the the hotel grounds! Our driver Geoffrey was excellent with a keen eye for spotting the more elusive wildlife amongst the millions of zebra, wildebeest and buffalo we saw during the migration. The food in the lodge was excellent with tea and coffee provided before even our early morning balloon flight. The staff were lovely, really friendly and could not do enough to help. We would highly recommend the lodge and hope to return when we are next in the Maasai Mara.

We found the lodge to be excellent. We stayed here for 2 nights as part of the Thorn Tree Safari with Somak which we would definitely recommend also, Somak were excellent throughout. The rooms were of a good size and clean. The staff were very friendly and if you did not like the small walk back to the room from the restaurant and bar area there was always someone there to walk with you during the evening if you wished. The restaurant and bar setting was lovely overlooking the river. We saw 2 crocodiles in the river whilst we were there and monkeys and birds often came up to the hotel also.

It is true that the tracks within the Mara closest to the hotel are closed at present for them to recover, but we still managed to see a large amount of game whilst we were there and the migration of the widerbeast. This was totally fantastic. Also the fact that the migration was little further from the hotel at about 2 and a half hours drive away meant that we got to spend longer in the park as we drove there so we got to see even more of the animals that day.

Defnintiely a trip to be repeated some time!

Be warned that this lodge is not as great as the reviews paint it. The tracks near the lodge are not open and it takes 30 minutes to get into the park to see anything. We saw the same animals in the 2 game drives we did - literally the same elephants and lions. Not great. To see the migration of the wildebeest involved a 5 hour drive - Not great either!

If you book a tent then apparently the accom is nice but if you don't then you will get put in these horrid little rooms with no view and horrible fittings - no marble baths like the tents and a long long walk from the main area.

I know people have been saying the setting is lovely overlooking the river/stream but there are 2 fat crocodiles there which scare off any game - so you don't even see anything coming to drink at night.

The food was pretty average with only a small selection. In my opinion this is a second rate lodge and I would not recommend staying there.

Stayed ate the Mara Simba for 3 nights in April 2005. The hotel has a great setting with rooms along the river with lots of hippos and monkeys. Rooms were spacious. The resturant area was very nice and the food very fresh and good. Great game viewing. Next time will probably try the Serena just to compare the service.