NGORONGORO LODGE MELIA COLLECTION
CRITIQUE MY STAY RATING: 6/10
AVG. NIGHTLY RATE: $1,300
We stayed at Meliá’s new Ngorongoro Lodge and had some pretty high expectations given its $1,300+ per night price tag. Situated within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Ngorongoro Lodge opened in the summer of 2023. The hotel does place a high importance on sustainability and the environment, which is great to see, and attempts to celebrate the culture of the region with products procured from nearby villages. However, this stay was an unbelievable let down. If you are considering a stay at the Meliá Ngorongoro Lodge, read on to find out why.
LOCATION
8.5/10
By far the best thing we can say about this hotel is with respect to its location. Nestled within the expansive confines of the planet's largest intact volcanic caldera, the hotel enjoys a prime location for those that are visiting with the intent of spending most of their time inside the crater itself. While most visitors will have to endure a lengthy hour-long drive into the crater, the guests at the Meliá only have a 25 minute drive to get down to see the wildlife. However, note that none of the crater activities, including game drives and car fees, are included and you will be adding additional cost for each day you would like to go see the wildlife. And while the surroundings create a spectacular backdrop for this hotel, you should also know that the hotel’s location also has its limitations. Given that you are within the national park, you are not allowed to leave the hotel outside of park hours and there is absolutely nothing nearby. So if you’d like to venture out for dinner or any other activities, you will not be able to leave - you are essentially trapped. That really made our experience challenging as you’ll find out when it comes to the food options.
AMENITIES
6/10
GYM 7/10
The Ngorongoro Lodge’s gym is open 24 hours and is equipped with LifeFitness equipment, including 2 treadmills, 2 bikes, 1 elliptical, a very poor all-in-one strength machine, and a Smith Machine for squat and bench press exercises. Free weights are also available. The gym has some great natural light coming in and while there is a view of the top of the edges of crater, you cannot see inside of it. The gym falls short in terms of size, and considering the luxury status of the hotel, it would have been nice to see some high end equipment instead of the basic equipment that was installed. Clearly, there wasn’t much money spent on this hotel amenity.
SPA
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to experience the spa facilities during my stay because it was out of service.
POOL
The pool was also undergoing maintenance. The hotel offered no alternative pool or spa facilities to enjoy while these facilities were out of service.
OTHER
The best thing we can say about the hotel’s amenities is that it does have solid WiFi and cool binocular machines to see into the crater from the hotel’s lobby. There is concierge assistance to help plan activities and complimentary parking is available.
ROOM
7.5/10
One of the most disappointing aspects of our stay at the Melia Ngorongoro Lodge was our room. The Rim Room, the hotel’s standard room, offered a comfortable but small space with a disappointing view of the tops of some plants and trees and some of the inside of the crater. The room was decorated with pale wood furniture and adorned with some local crafts. The bathroom, was also pretty compact and had a walk-in rain shower, and a single sink countertop. While there was a small round coffee table and two chairs by the window, there was no designated workstation in the room. The room was equipped with a smart TV, a mini bar, a tea and coffee station, air conditioning, a safe, and a hairdryer but it was incredibly disappointing as it really was a room you’d expect to receive in a $250 per night hotel in Europe, not a $1,300 per night hotel in Tanzania.
FOOD
5/10
Yikes. The price of the hotel does include board for two people but you almost wish it didn’t. The food that we ate during our one-night stay at the Ngorongoro Lodge was beyond subpar. The best meal that we had was the lunch which had some simple dishes like burgers and fries. The dinner was by far the worst. The Asian themed dinner was absolutely disgusting and featured nothing but horrendously executed “Asian” food with inauthentic ingredients and a true lack of flavors. For example, the sushi that was served was rolled wet rice with vegetables inside, the tom yum soup had potatoes and no spice or flavor, the slaw had no peanuts or anything close to an Asian style dressing, the beef in the beef with vegetables had zero taste and the noodles were very plain and not Asian in any way. It was a lot of food, but unfortunately it was a lot of bad food.
Breakfast was slightly better than dinner with the best part being the pastries. Eggs were available to order and there was some very basic fruit and some packaged yogurts. We ordered an espresso which laughably came to us as drip coffee in a tiny cup and an iced latte which came out as a scorching hot latte with three small ice cubes in it.
Between the absolutely terrible food and the fact that the meals don’t include soft drinks or alcohol, this was an absolute disgrace for a hotel charging over $1,300 per night for a stay for two. You can compare the food here to that of a below average all inclusive resort in Mexico.
THINGS TO DO
The Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania is a unique destination but we found the Serengeti and every other safari destination we have visited (Kenya and Eswatini) to be far superior in terms of experience. However, if you do visit the Ngorongoro Crater, here are some things you can do:
Game Drives (25 minute drive) - The main attraction of the Ngorongoro Crater. Take a game drive to explore the diverse ecosystem and spot a wide range of animals. While the crater's enclosed nature makes animal sightings more likely, you are often too far from the animals to get an up close view.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (30 minute drive) - Besides the crater itself, you can explore the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This area is rich in archaeological and paleontological sites, providing insights into early human evolution.
VERDICT
Trust us, take your money and spend it elsewhere. Melia’s Ngorongoro Lodge has a nice lobby with a great view and is located in a convenient spot for a crater visit, but it is absolutely not worth $600 per night, let alone $1,300+ per night. Regrettably, the safari to the Crater added to the disappointment but this was easily the most disappointing hotel stay of our lives. We decided to spend our second night in the region at The Retreat at Ngorongoro which was a far better experience for $400 per night.
Ngorongoro Lỏdge Melia Collection
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, B144, 1184, Tanzania