Muthu Lake Naivasha Country Club, Naivasha

Stay was good and the hotel included meals which were nice. Though the room would be better if it was renovated

RAS, very nice place

some rooms are still old and have rust... but generally a good place to stay. Just ensure you tell them to clean the bedsheets before you attend.

The rooms at LNCC were lovely, the staff were amazing (one staff member spent nearly an hour walking the grounds with us, telling us about the different wildlife) and the meals are good. We did a boat trip from the hotels pontoon which was a brilliant experience. Where this hotel comes into its own is late at night when all the animals come out to graze, we were able to stand just metres away from the hippos, zebras and giraffes after eating dinner which was a magical moment that we will never forget. A word of warning that around Lake Naivasha it does get cold at night and the rooms aren't too well insulated, however, there are extra duvets available in the wardrobes which are needed!

(A very quick primer on how these types of lodges function in the context of a safari vacation. I had never been on a safari before so I had ZERO idea how it worked. It’s pretty simple; the lodges are just there as a base of operation for you to go out exploring with your guide. I’m sure you could try to have a relaxing break in one of the lodges - but that would totally underscore the fact that in the miles and miles and miles around where you’re reading your book or doing your crossword puzzle there are untold animals lurking around in their natural habitat and you can pretty passively and harmlessly SEE THEM. Drop your bags off - then go on a game-drive. Come back from that game-drive and dust off… have a meal… then back out again on a game drive. If you find yourself spending too much time around the camp then you are probably either doing it wrong or booked the wrong vacation.) the overall camp: The Lake Naivasha Country Club (AKA the MUTHU Country Club… AKA the MGM Country Club (no affiliation with MGM GRAND hotels and casinos)) was the third stop on our 9 day Kenya safari. By this point we had stayed in a fixed-structure lodge and a tented lodge. This would be the tie-breaker: another fixed-structure lodge. Pulling up into the drive of the lodge was the first real eye-opener: there were baboons, giraffes, zebras and water deer… all roaming around on the grounds as you drive in. The country club is located pretty much on the main ***** of the town, so to see these creatures means that the animals aren’t exactly around the country club, rather the country club is within the animals. REALLY astounding.

The Country Club is laid out with one main building that contains the reception area, the bar, the dining hall and a meeting room. As with a lot of the other lodges that we looked at, the guest rooms branch out from the central buildings. There are plenty of staff on hand to help with your bags and to guide you to your room (this will be key after sunset…) the rooms: I want to be kind. I want to be charitable. I want to be understanding… the bedrooms are VERY tired. They are clean. But they have been well used. The furniture was probably top quality when it was purchased new - but after thousands of guests cycled through the rooms they look ‘less than optimal’. Again the room is clean. The linens are clean. The tiles in the bathrooms are clean… but that doesn’t mean they are appealing to the eye.

BUT

You are not staying at the Lake Naivasha Country Club for the bedroom. You won’t see the reason why you’re staying there until after the sun sets… keep reading. … all that said - the bed was extremely comfortable and we slept like babies. the food: The dining room consists of an inside seating area and an outside seating area. Normally I’d opt to sit inside. Not here. At this country club you absolutely NEED to sit on the veranda (…I’m getting to it…). The food prepared for the buffet was some of the be