Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge

As much as I love Serengeti Serena Lodge, I love Ngorongoro Serena more. Then people at the front desk were great in handling our large party. They give you juice and cold wet washcloths upon arrival. Each room overlooks the crater! The elevation is around 7K feet altitude so it gets cold at night. The food was good, served on a menu but with salad and dessert bar. All the chairs in the bar overlook the crater. I grabbed one next to the window. The hotel is in a great location not far from where the vehicles ascend the crater.

Beautiful location with a unique outdoor walking area that lets you feel closer to nature. Food was exceptional buffet style for most meals with courses including soup, salad, dessert. Beautiful views of the crater from most rooms. Be sure to lock your balcony though or the baboons will get in and leave a present in your bed.

This is quite a unique accommodation in a fantastic location. The staff were pleasant enough however I feel that what was lacking is due to the fact this is a large, busy, chain hotel. It is very expensive and I feel most of that is due to location. Rooms are clean and well appointed though small, the balcony with the views is amazing. Food was ok, plentiful but nothing special. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed my stay here - I was probably just been quite spoiled by other accommodations earlier in our trip.

We stayed at the lodge unfortunately for only one day. Wish we had more day, because this lodge is located in an excellent position on the edge of the crater rim. We had an excellent view from our room balcony. Make sure you get there early before sunset. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food at the restaurant was delicious and the service was good too.

A huge and unusual hotel, but despite the size it was quiet (except for dinner) and nicely laid back. The rooms were beautiful with a terrace to the crater, providing a great view and a beautiful starlit sky at night. It was very well equipped and we were greeted with a lovely fruit basket, which we liked a lot. The entire hotel was sparkling clean, the beds were super comfortable. Dinner with loads of tour groups was very lively, but as individual travellers we had a beautiful table by the window reserved for us. Service was very nice, Helen and her colleagues were taking care well of us and everybody was really nice. There was lot of choice and the food was good. On boxing day, there was church choir, beautifully dressed and singing lovely melodies, which I enjoyed a lot. While we usually prefer Boutique style hotels, we really enjoyed our stay at the Serena Lodge, and I would go back without hesitation.

We went on a trip in the last week of December 2024 to Tanzania where our tour company had booked us with the Serena lodge at Ngorongoro. In the very last minute before our departure to Nairobi from the United States we were informed by our tour company that this booking was not available. At that point we had paid our tour company fully in advance a while back. The reason was that a government convention was going to take place there and they wanted people not part of the convention to be booted out. This threw our entire trip into disarray as we had to change our schedule. This does not seem like a reasonable and professional behavior. Our experience in other Serena lodges including the Serengeti Serena were excellent. Hopefully this feedback is taken seriously. People book months in advance and plan their vacation. It's not a joke to conduct business this way. Please prioritize customers. This was specifically puzzling since we heard the Tanzanian government takes tourism very seriously and even has fines for tour operators who take tourists for a ride. I guess there are double standards here? When it comes to their own convention the tourism department does not care.