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We only stayed in the Arusha Serena Hotel one night before we moved on to begin our Tanzania safari with Serena Hotels. Happy Ngaile was my contact with the hotel to coordinate the Tanzania 7 day safari. She is based in Arusha and stopped by to say hi at Dinner. She was very easy to work with and we loved the whole trip! The Arusha Serena is on a beautiful property, worth spending some time exploring more than we did. Our guide and driver for our entire trip also is based in Arusha, Olais. He was a fantastic!. He has been doing safari drives for a long time, and was never stumped with a question. He also likes to take photos, so he had a great eye for perfect pictures along the way.

This is a beautiful quiet and elegant spot to start your safari. A former estate, the main lodge is beautifully decorated in British traditional, with a great bar and inside and outside seating. The rooms are spread out over the acreage and look like mini thatched roof cottages. The bedroom is large and extravagant, with very comfortable beds (mosquito-netted) and a very nice bath/shower area. Our breakfast and dinner was included. The breakfast buffet was lovely and you could order hot items in addition to the buffet. The multi-course dinner was excellent, offering a variety of choices per course. Customer service was superb! There is a walking/jogging track around the grounds, worth taking a stroll through to see the grounds. There is not much around except the lodge; it seems to be a popular starting point for many safaris. We loved it and it gave us a day to get over jet lag before the safari portion began. We also took a day trip to the Arusha Cultural Center. Can't go wrong with this selection.

We had checked in late in the evening and the room door could not be safely bolted as the bolt broke. The staff promptly repaired it, which was a relief.

It was a very comfortable and relaxing stay and the food was great. The garden resort is lovely, full of trees and flora with gorgeous flowers.