Karatu Tented Lodge

Hotels
8.9 (65 reviews)
Rhotia Valley Road , Karatu , tz

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Free
Children allowed

Facilities

WiFi available
Free WiFi
Parking
Free Parking
Non-smoking rooms
Swimming pool
Restaurant
Room service
Terrace
Family rooms
See all facilities

Review Highlights

Pros:
Very friendly and helpful staff
Excellent food (breakfasts, dinners, homemade bread, varied lunchboxes)
Great location for Ngorongoro crater
Comfortable and clean rooms; attractive family suite
Thoughtful touches (hot water bottles, gifts, staff singing)
Useful services (escorts to rooms, boxed breakfasts when leaving early)
Cons:
Tents/rooms can be cold at night; some dining area reported as cold
Noise from neighbouring tent can disturb sleep
Unheated swimming pool
No on-site lodging available for drivers

Categories

Cleanliness
9
Multiple reviews explicitly note pleasant, comfortable and clean rooms; overall cleanliness is reported as very good.
Service
9.3
Repeated praise for very friendly, helpful staff (gifts for guests, singing after dinner, guides invited to eat); staff warmth and attentiveness are standout positives.
Location
9.2
Several reviews highlight an excellent location for Ngorongoro crater and proximity to the park; location considered very good for the intended purpose.
Room Quality
8
Rooms described as comfortable and a family suite praised, but tents can be cold at night and noise from neighbouring tents was reported—mixed to slightly below-perfect room comfort.
Amenities
7.8
Good on-service amenities noted (escorts, boxed breakfasts, hot water bottles, outdoor areas), but negatives include an unheated pool, lack of on-site lodging for drivers and some cold communal areas.
Value for Money
8.9
Not explicitly discussed in the reviews; assigned target overall rating.
Food and Beverage
9.5
Consistently praised: excellent breakfasts and dinners, varied and tasty lunchboxes, homemade bread and plentiful buffet options; food is a strong highlight.
Overall Experience
9.5
Overall sentiment across reviews is very positive—authentic, charming property with attentive staff and memorable touches (music, special service), yielding a highly satisfying stay.
* This sentiment is summarized by AI based on user reviews.
Updated at: 2026-08-14 03:09

Property Description

Luxurious Accommodation

Karatu Tented Lodge offers a luxurious stay with its 4-star accommodations. Guests can enjoy the outdoor swimming pool, lush gardens, and a relaxing terrace. The on-site restaurant serves delicious meals, and room service is available for convenience.

Convenient Amenities

This hotel provides free WiFi, a tour desk to help plan excursions, and free private parking for guests. The paid airport shuttle service ensures a hassle-free arrival and departure experience.

Prime Location

Located in Karatu with easy access to Lake Manyara Airport, just 11 km away, Karatu Tented Lodge offers a convenient base for exploring the area. Book your stay now for a memorable experience.

Important information:

A deposit may be required at the property.

Check-in and check-out hours:
Check-out: 12:30 PM
Airport code: ARK

Location

Guest Reviews

8.9
Based on 65 reviews
Cleanliness: 9
Service: 9.3
Location: 9.2
Room Quality: 8
Amenities: 7.8
Value for Money: 8.9
Food and Beverage: 9.5
Overall Experience: 9.5
H
Heike • family_with_children • de
9
Schöne Lodge mit super freundlichem Personal
Pros:

Das Personal war sehr nett und hilfsbereit und hielt für jeden Gast sogar ein kleines Geschenk bereit. Der Kamin im Speisesaal lud zum Verweilen ein. Wir wurden nach einem sehr guten Dinner noch mit einer Gesangseinlage des Personals überrascht. Da die Nächte im Juli schon sehr kalt sind, wurde jedes Bett während des Dinners mit einer Wärmflasche ausgestattet. Super Service.

2026-07-15 • via Nuitee
C
Chloe • extended_group • gb
8
Lovely stay near Ngorongoro
Pros:

Staff were welcoming. Pleasant comfortable and clean rooms. Good location for Ngorongoro crater. Loved that our guides got to eat with us.

Cons:

n/a

2026-07-05 • via Nuitee
J
Joy • family_with_children • us
9
Beautiful property right off the main road.
Pros:

Escorts to and from the rooms. Plenty of food for dinner. Was a buffet which was great. We left quite early the next day so they boxed up our breakfast for us. Nice outdoor area for playing cards.

Cons:

No on site lodging for drivers.

2026-06-27 • via Nuitee
S
Sarah • solo_traveller • de
10
Pros:

Es war eine ganz tolle Unterkunft, mit sehr sehr freundlichen, netten und zuvorkommenden Personal. Wir waren 4 Nächte dort und haben uns super wohl gefühlt.
Das Frühstück und Dinner war jeden Tag richtig gut und die Lunchboxen immer individuell anders lecker zusammengestellt :).

2026-06-17 • via Nuitee
W
Wim De Borle • solo_traveller • be
8
Pros:

Personeel

Cons:

Koude, ook in de eetzaal

2026-06-14 • via Nuitee
D
Diana • couple • bg
10
Eco friendly place to stay.
Pros:

It is wonderful place to stay at. Staff are friendly people always looking to help you. They provide hot water bottles for the cold nights as the tents can be quite cold. Food is delicious and the bread is home made.

Cons:

You can hear the noise from the neighbouring tent, which is ok during the day, but not nice to wake you up.

2026-06-08 • via Nuitee
U
Utsula • couple • fr
9
Super pour un safari
Pros:

Super lodge accueillant

Cons:

Piscine non chauffé

2026-06-04 • via Nuitee
T
Thierry • couple • fr
10
Un très bel établissement à taille humaine, authentique et attachant.
Pros:

Très bel établissement, authentique et attachant, idéalement situé à proximité du parc de Ngorongoro.
Le personnel était adorable, avec une mention à Hassan qui parle un excellent français.
Le restaurant est extra, avec d’excellents petits déjeuners et de très bons dîners.
La suite familiale est absolument magnifique !

Cons:

Tout était parfait !

2026-03-07 • via Nuitee
E
Emma Marie • couple • dk
10
2026-03-06 • via Nuitee
R
Rockwell • solo_traveller • us
9
Loved it.
Pros:

Food. Tents. Staff. Nature

Cons:

Pool could've been a little cleaner

2026-01-30 • via Nuitee
J
Janne • extended_group • no
9
2025-12-27 • via Nuitee
H
Hame Ro • couple • de
8
Entspannte. Atmosphäre
Pros:

The tents are very big, tidy and you can close all sides and make it dark for the night. We had a mosquito net over our bed.

The staff is very friendly.
The food was delicious and a good choice for dinner and breakfast. Amazing.

Yes, you can hear the traffic from the road a little. But not through the whole night and not really bad distributing.

Cons:

The tents are very close to each other. So it can be a little bit noisy if you have bad neighbours - like we had.

2025-10-18 • via Nuitee
D
Daniel • solo_traveller • de
9
Pros:

Nice and cozy tent-style lodge, comfortable large kingsize bed, nice terrace, delicious food, good breakfast, nice pool, nice garden, super-warmhearted staff who does everything they can to make guests feel comfortable and satisfied (they even were singing and making music twice)! I will be back for sure!

Cons:

Lodges right next to the main road, so you hear the traffic during daytime. But since normally you'll be somewhere on safari or whatever till late afternoon, it's not a problem anyway... 😌

2025-10-08 • via Nuitee
J
Jetta • couple • nl
10
Heerlijk verblijf met warme gastvrijheid
Pros:

Na een 10-daagse selfdrive safari was Karatu Tented Lodge voor ons een perfecte plek om even helemaal tot rust te komen. De huisjes zijn sfeervol ingericht, ruim en comfortabel, met een fijn terras om te ontspannen. Ontbijt, lunch en diner waren stuk voor stuk heerlijk en goed verzorgd. Wat ons verblijf écht bijzonder maakte, was het lieve en vriendelijke personeel dat ons zo welkom liet voelen. Een dikke aanrader!

2025-10-02 • via Nuitee
M
Michael • partner
10
Pros:

Supremely clean, extremely well- appointed rooms/tents, the food was superb and the staff beyond friendy and professional! Specifically wanted to mention nBaraka who helped us with rental car issues and advocated for us constantly. Also he was instrumental in helping us get our permits for Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge. As well, Mariam was the kindest person- always greeting us with a smile and going out of her way to help us with any need. The cuisine was five star! Throughout our stay, we were treated like family! Would absolutely recommend the lodge with it hesitation!!

2025-09-28 • via Nuitee
R
Rajiv • couple • be
8
2025-08-28 • via Nuitee
J
Jack • family_with_children • nl
8
Prima verblijf om voor, na of tijdens de safari te verblijven
Pros:

Zeer aardig personeel. De lodges zijn wat ouder, maar van alle gemakken voorzien.

Cons:

Het ligt wat hoger, dus het was wel wat fris maar voordat je naar bed ging werden er heerlijke warme kruiken in je bed gelegd.

2025-08-16 • via Nuitee
A
Adriana • family_with_children • bg
10
So interesting and amazing place❤️
Pros:

This place is amazing, the feeling is like You are deep in the mountain. The staff are wonderful, smile and very interesting people. Except swimming pool have fireplace where we seat and speak late at the evening, was wonderful adventure🍀☀️😊 Thank You

Cons:

Everything was perfect

2025-07-26 • via Nuitee
B
Beccie • family_with_children • gb
10
Pros:

The staff are very very helpful and lovely. We really enjoyed our time here. The food was excellent too.

Cons:

Nothing

2025-07-03 • via Nuitee
L
Laila • extended_group • no
9
Beautiful tropical garden, great staff and food, very nice tents.
Pros:

The staff! They all went the extra mile to make sure, care and provide for us, on a personal an genious level. Such a service minded and professional staff.
The tent was so clean and beautiful decorated.
-Their pictures does not make this property justice. This was a well maintained, lush, and blooming tropical garden, with cosy lights and decorations, lovely seating areas and such a nice property. You cant tell from their dated photos, it is so different with all the gardening done there now.
The food was just great. Lots to choose from, and very nice lunch boxes with deasent, fresh food.
One of our best stays of our 7 stays in Tanzania.

Cons:

They had a nice fireplace in the restaurant. Had been nice if they lit it in chilly mornings and all afternoons as well.

2025-07-03 • via Nuitee