Sweet Surprises at the Acacia Farm Lodge

Acacia Farm Lodge is a special hotel in Karatu, Tanzania near the Ngorongoro crater. We say it’s a special place, because the passion of the people who work there.

Karatu is a small town in the heart of the Tanzania National Park area. It’s the perfect place to explore the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater to the North West, Lake Manyara and Tarangire to the South East.

Acacia Farm Lodge is a new hotel which has been open for just one year. However in that one year it has already shot to the top of lists of places to stay in Karatu and has already won the ‘Luxury Lodge of the Year’ award.

How has this small, new hotel become the best place to stay in Karatu and Ngorongoro? Because the hotel goes the extra mile for every guest.

When you arrive at the hotel you are greeted with a welcome song and drink from the hotel staff.

Welcome Song

The welcome is warm, friendly and makes the hotel standout from its competitors. However, as travel bloggers we’re fairly used to hotels and tours pulling out a little something extra for us. What really impressed us was that every day during our stay we saw the staff not just welcome us but every hotel guest, every night. We even got a send-off song when we sadly left the hotel on our travels.

As the sun goes down, they set up a camp fire and seats overlooking the valley below. It is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the views whilst sipping a cocktail after a long day on safari (see the cover photo above).

Acacia Farm Lodge goes the extra mile for couples as well. The hotel managing director, Asheri Kiisay, likes to do his research on guests and will often surprise lucky honeymooners or couples with a romantic dinner.

Romantic Private Dining

On our first night a couple were intercepted on their way into the dining room and were taken through the forest to a romantic dinner for two lit by gas and candlelight. Asheri will also clear the pool area and set up a romantic star gazing bed for couples to sip Kahlua and tea under the African skies.

One of my favourite things – watching the stars

Most new hotels tend to be concrete honeycombs that lack the warmth and heart of older and established hotels. However, Acacia Farm Lodge avoids that trap by adding those little extra touches to make you feel at home. Flowers are a motif of the hotel with petals sprinkled throughout the hotel and rooms to give it a fresh and romantic feel wherever you are.

It’s the small things that make a difference

We were in for a final surprise on our last morning at the Acacia Farm Lodge as we entered the dining room for breakfast. Instead of being seated as usual we were led back outside and down the stairs towards the lawn. They had laid out a private table for us with a spread of cereals, fresh fruit, homemade jams and of course a cooked breakfast.

Private breakfast overlooking the lawn

However, our favourite little touch of all was a note left to us by our housekeeper Magdelena:

From our housekeeper

So often we talk about hotels, restaurants or even countries and say things like, “It’s the people who make it special.” As we drove away from the Acacia Farm Lodge and the staff’s song faded out of earshot, we felt a little sad. We could honestly say we’ve never had so many people give us so many reasons as to why this statement is quantifiably true:

“Acacia Farm Lodge is a special place because of the people there who go the extra mile to make your stay special”.

Thank you Acacia Farm Lodge for such a special stay.

Enjoying our romantic dinner under the stars

We were invited to stay with Acacia Farm Lodge, however our views are always honest and our own.

Last modified: 24th October 2016