AA Lodge Amboseli

I honestly don’t know where to start in describing our experience of staying the first two nights of our safari holiday at this awful lodge. In the weeks leading up to our trip we were in contact with our tour company concerning the awful reviews about this place, and were reassured that the local rep’s were making sure there were improvements and that we would be staying in an upgraded Cottage. We were put in a Cottage, No. FC6, and it was dreadful. No way is this the upgraded accommodation! See the photos - curtain hanging off rail ( we fixed it ourselves and it still didn’t cover the whole window), holes in the window mesh so nothing to stop lizards getting in, no mat for the slippery shower floor (I took the pillow case from the extra bed to use as a mat - wished I hadn’t because the pillow unearth it was absolutely disgustingly stained and dirty), mould growing on bedroom furniture, very poor light - just one very dim bulb in a very tatty and dirty lampshade, rotting wood around the wash basin, I could go on and on. And then there was the electrics - a couple of plug sockets simply didn’t work, but there was a trailing socket coming from under the bed which did. So there was no where safe to plug in the electric kettle - not that I would have risked using it, and the nicest item in the room, a large table lamp had a type of plug that didn’t match any socket! Also, the hairdryer was on a broken socket with exposed wires - needless to say I didn’t use it. Outside there were a couple of chairs - they were very old, dirty and falling apart. The dining experience- mediocre at best, with some of the food really not very nice at all and possibly carried over from the previous meal. There was never enough cutlery etc on the tables and the staff would take them from nearby tables if you asked for anything. On our second morning there weren’t enough bowls available to use for cereal/fruit and the urn for making tea was completely cold! Before my holiday I remember reading reviews concerning Chinese guests at AA Amboseli getting preferential treatment over everyone else. No way of knowing if this is the case, but on our second evening there was a large group of people who appeared to be Chinese at a nearby table and the buffet dinner was, in my opinion, considerably better quality than the previous evening. We can only speculate. So, this lodge is popular because of its location, but it’s very run down and needs a considerable amount of investment to bring it to an acceptable standard. At the moment it does not deserve paying customers! Please note- I had to put one Star rating to enable this review to be uploaded - it deserves Zero Rating in my opinion.

We arrived just in time for lunch after a long drive from Nairobi and immediately after checking in went straight into the restaurant. The lunch buffet was not very appetising being made up of mainly spicey wet dishes. Nonetheless we all managed to find something to eat. I ordered a beer and some soft drinks with lunch and was informed that the lodge had no beer. At dinner, the buffet was similar to what we had been given at lunch time. It appeared that the channa dhal curry which was served for lunch was now mixed with green lentils to make it look like a different curry. I again asked for a beer and was told that they still had no beer but if I could give them Ksh1000 they could buy me 2 beers from the driver’s canteen, fortunately I had some Kenyan shillings and was able to do this. To add insult to injury both main dishes on the buffet were finished and there were still people to be fed. The chef eventually came back with a pork stir fry and it happened that neither myself and a couple of the other guests didn’t eat pork. The chef came back with vegetable stir fry for some of the guests but nothing for me. After I complained again the chef came back and offered me some fried fish. By this time my family had already finished their dinner. The same saga continued on day 2 of our stay. Still no beer in the restaurant however having learnt from the day before we made sure that we were in the restaurant at opening time so that we at least didn’t miss out on food again. The property is in a great location and our stay could have been considerably improved and more comfortable if the issues mentioned above were attended to. The accommodation was just OK. The entire lodge needs an immediate refurbishment. The staff at both properties were very willing and helpful but without the stock on hand there isn’t much that they can do. There appears to be a major problem with the management at this property.

We went to film an episode of our chefs competition and TV show ans the management and staff were amazing. We felt so welcomed and they went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed and more. Will definitely be back again and also try out their different locations across Kenya.

May be in the past was a nice place... now everything Is decadent, poor menu and poor accomodati on. The Road to get there is a "massage" road because plenty of holes.. Don t visit the swiming pool...Is a ruin from the medieval Age! The best area Is the reception with the only wife area available

We stayed here as part of a safari tour. We found the facilities a little scarce. The tented accommodation was adequate, but we stayed in much nicer tents in other camps. The food was very limited in choice, but what there was was ok. The road leading up to the camp gates is in desperate need of repair and means a rather bumpy arrival. The one redeeming feature is the velvet monkeysvin the lodge grounds.

If your safari company has you staying here, please call them and switch to somewhere else. Pay extra if you have to. This was by far the worst lodging experience I have ever had. Read all the negative reviews and know that they are true. From the bed (worst I have ever had around the world and I've been to all 50 US states and 38 countries) to the lack of effort by their staff to do anything about any concerns we had, to the rundown rooms and the food quality/selection, and everything else bad (I could go on and on), it was not a pleasant place to stay. It is "close" to the park (a few kilometers), and it's only 1 kilometer from the main road. However, it takes literally 8 or more minutes to get to their entrance over that 1 kilometer. I could have lived with that had everything else been at least acceptable. The only bright spot was Miriam, one of the workers in the restaurant there. She was very pleasant, sweet and helpful. Again, absolutely DO NOT stay here.