5 Stars Hotels in Western, Rwanda

A phenomenally beautiful ”lodge” in the midst of the idyllic setting of an actual tea plantation. Everything about this lodge was incredibly lovely, understated and had the sort of quiet African luxury available to fortunate travelers on this continent. The staff however may be a bit of an issue (it was for us). Whereas many travelers, in particular at these sorts of lodges, want/expect/enjoy the, at times, excessive sycophancy of the staff (where they repeatedly thank you for the ”pleasure of serving you” and that sort of thing) we find that behavior overly solicitous, not genuine and reminiscent of colonialist attitudes. Another unexpected issue involved one staffer in particular who was dismally far from subtle in his expectation of a tip (and he was the singularly most unhelpful and unreliable person we encountered; fortunately an exception). The accommodations are excellent, top notch in every regard, as is the food. The staff is undeniably helpful. The reason we stayed there was as a base for chimpanzee trekking which we found to simply be not worthwhile. We no more than glimpsed an occasional chimp and saw only their backs and rears and not a single face. The trek was unpleasantly demanding and difficult and, in our judgement, far from worthwhile. If you wish to enjoy the beauty of this setting in Nyungwe apart from chimp trekking, we can highly recommend it. If you are using it as a base for chimp trekking, your time might be better spent.

A phenomenally beautiful ”lodge” in the midst of the idyllic setting of an actual tea plantation. Everything about this lodge was incredibly lovely, understated and had the sort of quiet African luxury available to fortunate travelers on this continent. The staff however may be a bit of an issue (it was for us). Whereas many travelers, in particular at these sorts of lodges, want/expect/enjoy the, at times, excessive sycophancy of the staff (where they repeatedly thank you for the ”pleasure of serving you” and that sort of thing) we find that behavior overly solicitous, not genuine and reminiscent of colonialist attitudes. Another unexpected issue involved one staffer in particular who was dismally far from subtle in his expectation of a tip (and he was the singularly most unhelpful and unreliable person we encountered; fortunately an exception). The accommodations are excellent, top notch in every regard, as is the food. The staff is undeniably helpful. The reason we stayed there was as a base for chimpanzee trekking which we found to simply be not worthwhile. We no more than glimpsed an occasional chimp and saw only their backs and rears and not a single face. The trek was unpleasantly demanding and difficult and, in our judgement, far from worthwhile. If you wish to enjoy the beauty of this setting in Nyungwe apart from chimp trekking, we can highly recommend it. If you are using it as a base for chimp trekking, your time might be better spent.