Mantis Akagera Game Lodge

Nice place to spend the night in the park

The hotel well located - just few minutes from the park reception, inside the national park. There was everything advertised: good room with balcony and view, bottle water, breakfast, pool, gym... We like our stay here and we are going to visit it once more in future. There was only one drawback on check out - we paid some additional 'fee' per night that was not previously stated nowhere.

Got to say we loved the lodge in the off-season. Our room had a spectacular view of the lake, made for beautiful pictures and a marvellous sun rise. The lodge has all the amenities we needed, the room was comfortable and welcoming. The staff were friendly and helpful. The grounds were tranquil and romantic for us. We enjoyed lovely fireside coffee in the evening and got to meet some cool guests too. Would definitely love to spend more time here and soak in the ambiance.

This was my second visit to Akagera National Park and on the previous one, some 10 years or so ago, I stayed here as the NP opened up. It was 'nationalised, then and the service was as expected rather disorganised and haphazard with staff unaware of their duties and management inefficient. Reminiscent of the old Soviet style. So I was looking forward to see what had changed. Brighter booking system via a chain booker helped and after a false start the booking was as I required. 3 rooms on the balcony floor, first in English, 2nd in 'American'. Strangely and disappointingly there was not the usual concessionary price for East African Citizens which I queried to no avail. Possibly associated with South~African ownership? OH well. we had booked and documentation went well. We arrived to find the building a bit brighter and polished and the reception was excellent and a foretaste of what was to be the norm during our three night stay. Our rooms were together on the same corridor but not adjacent so no grumbles there. They were roomy and comfortable with a nice bed, a balcony with reasonable view to the lake in the valley below, and all modern conveniences. Swimming pool in the spacious grounds and adequate car parking in marked out areas. (This was odd as the 'details on booking said no private parking which had concerned us). Plenty of bars both inside the main building and elsewhere such as the swimming pool. Attentive service at all outlets. Meals such as dinner and breakfast were buffet style although the wait staff would bring dishes such as freshly cooked eggs and pancakes at breakfast to our table. Wine and beer at dinner too. The restaurant was noisy with some ill behaved guests to the discomfort of other diners and the staff offered us special service in another room on the final evening which was nice but why the heck did they just not tell the culprits to behave properly or throw them out which is no less than they deserved? Overall we enjoyed our three night stay and seeing the improvements.

We decided to pay a visit to Akagera National Park and, as some of the activities we wanted to do required an overnight stay in the park, we contacted the Akagera Game Lodge from the park gate to see if they could accommodate us. We were told that a room for 2 adults and a child would cost $252 – so we decided to go ahead. When we got to the hotel, the lady working in reception could not disguise her disdain that a child of 12 would be sharing a room with his parents. We explained that this was our preference and our decision, she countered that their policy was that we would have to book 2 rooms. My husband was asked to access the online system to book the rooms as they were unable to do so from the front desk. He did so and, to the chagrin of the reception staff, was able to book one room for 2 adults and a child. The reception staff reluctantly informed us that they would put an additional bed in the room. As we left to go to our room, we asked for 2 sandwiches as we had booked a boat trip that would begin shortly but hadn’t eaten much that day. After leaving our stuff in the room, we returned to pick up our sandwiches and head out for the boat trip. By now they’d had 20 minutes to prepare 2 chicken sandwiches, and they still weren’t ready. My husband actually had to run up to the kitchen to chase after them so that we didn’t miss the trip. We returned to the hotel later that night after an evening excursion. We went to the restaurant for dinner. It was explained that dinner was served ‘family style’. Family style consists of having to eat what is put in front of you or eating nothing at all. The first course was tomato soup – my son and I are allergic. The last course was a variety of desserts that had been sitting out in the open and subjected to the many insects flying around. Later, when we returned to our room after ‘dinner’ – we found that there was no additional bed for my son! But it was late, we had an early start the next morning, and my husband just couldn’t face any further disagreements with the staff in reception – so he just slept on the floor! The next morning after breakfast – which actually offered a variety of quality, insect free options – we checked out. We were presented with a bill for $385! When we challenged the manager about the lack of an additional bed, she turned puce with shame and offered to deduct the cost of breakfast from our bill. It was only later that we realised that breakfast should have been included in the price of the room – so, in fact she had been offering us no concession at all. Sneaky, sneaky… To top it all off, my son had picked up a stomach bug the previous night so we weren’t able to do the safari we had booked that morning. I guess family style fly saliva doesn’t agree with everyone!

We genuinely loved every moment of our stay here. I cannot express how much the staff made our stay. They were the most attentive / courteous and caring people we have ever met. We loved speaking to them every day, they are a credit to Akagera Game Lodge and really deserve so much recognition. A special thank vou to evervone that was working during our stay, we really wish we got everyone's names as everyone deserves a mention. Gastone in particular was incredible. We were taken care of better than we have been before and we have travelled a lot! The lodge is the most amazing experience, the food is delicious, The scenery and nature that surrounds you is honestly out of this world. We loved every morning waking up here, looking out our balcony to breath taking views, enjoying delicious breakfast's, heading off on our game drive, coming back to enjoy drinks by the pool, enjoying a delicious dinner and finishing our nights by the firepit with a lovely cosy blanket. We are already planning our next visit.

Really deserves to be rate as a 4 star coming on 5 star resort. Place well managed by a South African. Staff lovely and friendly. Generous and delicious buffet for dinner. Very comfortable rooms, spotlessly clean. Nice pool. Good value for money.

Well kept, clean and beautiful views. Pool looked fabulous but it rained when we were there so we couldn’t try it. Room was spacious, clean and had nice seating area . Good shower. Evening set meal was excellent and the packed lunches were good value and really helpful. Breakfast was a bit hit and miss.