Located 2km off the main highway, down a short private track, on the edge of the escarpment, Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge has commanding views over Tanzania’s Great Rift Valley, and the northern end of Lake Manyara National Park, 300m below. Green creepers and mature bushes border this Serena’s stone paths, which lead from the main areas to the closely congregated 67 bedrooms. Designed to loosely resemble local houses with thatched roofs and thick stone walls – they are, for the most part, ordinary and simple.
A big hotel like this is designed to accommodate lots of people, but in each room they’ve largely succeeded in creating a welcoming atmosphere with their use of colour, ceramic uplighters, fireplaces, and pots of Maasai spears that lend a local feel.