Ashnil Aruba Lodge

We stayed for two nights at Ashnil Aruba Lodge while on a safari booked via Marco Polo Safaris. The welcome was great and the staff very good. The rooms were good with lovely views but incredibly hot. Even with two fans, it was extremely difficult to sleep due to the heat. The rooms were nice, basic and you do not have a fridge but can get an ice bucket from the bar. Wifi was only available in the bar. The food was fine and the Indian breads were lovely. The pool area was wonderful to have and our children used it every day. Overall we enjoyed our stay at the lodge. It is not really 4 star accommodation - more 3 or 3.5 star in our opinion. I'm sure in the dry season you will see a lot of wildlife at the watering holes. but we saw nothing as it is the wet season.

14 years since I was introduced to Ashnil. Been to all 3 lodges( Tsavo, Samburu and Mara) multiple times. In these 3 parks, I have never chosen to stay elsewhere. Very consistent with their service , their experience shows. Some people here complain about bugs. Tsavo is a complete package. It's biodiversity is all inclusive. If you have a bug allergy simply don't go to any park at all. If you have a phobia, face your fears, bugs won't hurt you. Food? Amazing! They go out of their way to cater for specific requests ( when reasonably able). Also guests need to understand that unlike city restaurants, these guys are deep in the jungle , completely off grid ( power wise) and limited Comms. It's ok if they run out of stuff at times Staff? They bake you special cakes for no reason at all. They sing and dance around you. They make your beds and spread the nets before the bugs come out. They chase monkeys away while you eat in peace. They wake up at 4 in the morning to make you breakfast, and stay up at the bar passed midnight. I drove there last weekend. I had a minor car issue, wanted to go back to Voi ( the nearest town 35 kms away), they fixed it for me. These are good people , They have good lodges, they are experienced. 14 years of getaways at Ashnil , hopefully many more to come.

Beautiful lodge inside the parc. The staff is great, always trying to make you feel comfortable. The 1st choice for us in Tsavo East. Elephants in front of the door. The sound of birds is magic. Tsavo East is a wonderful place to feel and inhale Africa.

Stayed here as part of a group of 30 on Safari. None of us had a great stay here (2 nights). Most of us wanted to leave after first night. We all expected bugs etc as we were on safari but the amount of bugs in our rooms was awful. When we checked in our room had a large amount of bugs inside and dead ones round the balcony window and door. There was gaps in door and behind toilet so that’s how they were getting in. Staff did provide bug spray in the rooms. Food was buffet still and although the desserts and fruit were covered by nets there were holes in the nets. The other food (bread etc) wasn’t covered and the flies were around it. Staff were helpful

Although we have visited Kenya at least 10 times in the past 15 years, this was our first visit to Tsavo East & to The Ashnil Aruba. Although it looked rather austere from the outside our bungalow was roomy, comfortable and well equipped, with a veranda overlooking one of the waterholes. One small touch which we both appreciated was that the lodge supplied each room with a dispenser of effective insect repellent. The dining room, bar and lounge were spacious and comfortable, and it is worth noting that the bar prices were cheaper than other lodges that we have used. Head chef Freddie and his team provided a wide range of menus over the week, and we have to say that this was probably the best food we have had on safari. In common with all lodges the staff are very attentive and efficient and ready for a chat when the opportunity arises. The grounds are extensive and we were given a conducted tour to take in the wildlife (birds and butterflies). The pool area was well furnished with sun beds & towels. Unfortunately for me, my wife found the well stocked shop which provided a wide range or curios, trinkets and the like. As mentioned earlier, this was our first visit to Tsavo East and we were pleasantly surprised by the variety and numbers of wildlife. It has the additional benefit of being reasonably close to Mombasa and the coast. All in all a very good trip

Very nice location. Staff was super since we came in late, very late after dark but they kept our food warm and wine cold. Small bungalows but nice and tidy. Complex is a bit old but it makes up for it with it's charm and staff. We left just before sunrise the day after but they made sure we got a nice breakfast before we left.

Staff were nice, as was food. In particular, Doctor who served us was friendly, funny, and very good at making sure that we were comfortable and had everything we needed. The tent is nicely laid out but we came back in the evening to find it full of at least 50 crickets. I know we’re in the bush but if I can see where they’re coming in then surely it should be dealt with. I saw I am not the first to have this problem. Someone had been in and sprayed the bugs clearly as some were dying but more kept coming from the drains, sink, behind the toilet, gaps in the wall, and other areas I could not identify. All they need to do is put something like expanding foam in these cracks. A few landed on us in the night so I blocked off all possible routes in which they were entering, in the heat this made me hot, so went to have a shower to find more crickets in there. It’s a shame as the tents are lovely but when you pay a premium then I don’t want to have dozens of bugs in there. I would stay in a building accommodation if you stay.

I wanted to set the record straight after reading the dreadful recent 1 star review. My husband and I stayed for 3 nights in mid-January in one of the tents. We found the staff very helpful and friendly, from our wonderful driver, Tony, who went out of his way to make the most of our game drives, to the restaurant staff (esp Felix) and cleaners. Our tent was clean and comfortable and we had visits from lizards, kingfisher, hornbills and more from our outside sitting area. The pool was a welcome addition and was mostly quiet and a welcome respite from the sun. The only reason not to give 5 stars was the catering. Breakfast was great, with lovely fruit and all the usual items, but the lunch and dinner buffets got a bit repetitive - there was lots of choice but all along the same lines. Sometimes less is more! All in all however we really enjoyed our stay.

We have the been extremely disappointed by the absolutely lack of customer service from this company and also misleading us about compensation due to us. My family visited in December and chose this lodge to stay in during our safari trip. Whilst one of our rooms was fine, the second room had an inordinate amount of bugs, including many within the bedsheets and pillows. We have been on safaris before and understand the nature of staying in the reserve means there will be bugs around however having them crawling all over and within the bed in one room was quite appalling (as the safari driver and organiser also agreed). After running through options with them we opted to cut our trip short and were willing to pay for the rooms and nights we used, but were told we could have some compensation for the night we did not use the room. To achieve this we were told we would be contacted by Ashnil Aruba Savo and furthermore could reach out to them via email and Whatsapp. We trusted them to follow through with this promise however we have been met with total radio silence during our numerous attempts to contact them and are extremely dissatisfied with the lack of transparency as we trusted that we could leave the site and still get the agreed resolution. Therefore, not only would we strongly advise against staying here due to the poor conditions we experienced in one of the rooms, but inability to contact them would place anyone who does face a difficulty/ lack of satisfaction with no means to contact them and unable resolve this.