Unfortunately this was the worst of our accommodations in Tanzania so far. We've stayed in one slightly higher priced accommodation and 5 cheaper ones before we got here. They all outweighed this one by far considering the price performance ratio. I try to be objective, so that you can make up your mind, if this is for you:
PRO
+ Location: It's very close to the Ngurdoto Gate of the Arusha National Park.
+ Staff: Most of the staff members are really nice and welcoming, especially Marguerite.
CON
- Food: So far we've been amazed by the Tanzanian kitchen. Here you get some kind of German adapted food, which really cannot match the category "fine dining" they advertise. Vegetarians get served the same options just without meat, which is a little unthoughtful. You will pay $15 per dinner per person. Breakfast was okay, although limited in healthy options.
- Location: The property is very close to a loud street and the walls of the bungalows are thin.
- Knowledge: We were doing a self-driving-safari and asked the owner for advice. The ones he provided were not all accurate. We actually could drive a lot more routes he did not advise for our car and we're happy, we did.
- WIFI: Although this was very common throughout our accommodations, WiFi is only accessible in the communal area.
- Water-Refill: You could buy water on the grounds, but there was no possibility of refilling, which we often enjoyed in other accommodations.
- Communal Area: There was German Schlager playing all over again, which annoyed us a lot when visiting a country that's got nothing to do with it.
- Payment: Credit card payment comes at an extra charge of 3,5% which is quite expensive considering the rates of the rooms.
- Laundry: Although they have a washing machine (lots of accommodations wash by hand still) they charge for every item, which should be quite expensive in the end. We did not do our laundry here though, because the prices were properly advertised.
- Power Plugs: Be aware, that they have German power plugs (Schuko, Type F) in their rooms.
TO SUMMARIZE:
We felt, this was rather an accommodation for all inclusive tourists and not even a very charming one. The Arusha National Park is quite small. We drove through it with our rental car (Toyota RAV4) and came back in the afternoon. So you can easily find yourself an accommodation that is not so close to the park, but worth the price they charge. It will not be the Meru View Lodge.