Reviews of Lake Kivu Serena Hotel

"It was good to have a break between the safari and gorilla trekking parts of the trip.

Unfortunately, the rooms at the hotel were very shabby and in need of renovation.

The net curtains were torn, the carpet in the room was very dirty, and the room safe and toilet cistern broken ( although repaired fairly promptly)." See all these reviews: 10n in Rwanda

"The setting of the hotel was stunning.

Our only disappointment was that we stayed just the one night here." See all these reviews: 11n in Rwanda; 2n in Kenya

"The Lake Kivu Serena is not as good as its Kigali counterpart: food was especially disappointing, and the place (especially the very dated foyer) could do with a bit of a facelift. However, its beachside location makes it a lovely spot to stay at on Lake Kivu, especially after an active few days trekking.

The Congolese border and Tam Tam Beach (for much better food at Bikini Tam Tam) are just a short stroll away." See all these reviews: 6n in Rwanda

"A excellently located hotel that could do with a bit of a refurbishment and better staff training. As with everywhere in Rwanda, the staff were friendly, however, they were not as well trained for their roles as you would hope. As an example, one of the bellhops loaded our luggage onto a different vehicle without checking first and the bags were nearly lost when the vehicle drove off.

The pool and beachfront area are lovely and an easy place to spend a couple of days. Good location in walking distance from a local restaurant and bar.

Despite full board, we choose to eat out on the second night because the food in the restaurant was of a poor standard and very disappointing.

One larger concern -- we went to the wrong hotel room by accident and found that our key was able to open the door. Not sure if this is a larger security issue across multiple rooms but it was a little worrying." See all these reviews: 6n in Rwanda

"Good location. Comfortable room. excellent breakfast buffet" See all these reviews: 15n in Rwanda; 9n in Zanzibar

"Pool and beach available. Our guide said we should not walk outside the grounds. We requested towels at the pool from an attendant and were told to go to the beach. 15 minutes later we saw another attendant and requested towels again as the first attendant had not showed up. She brought them after a 5 minute wait. The first attendant turned up half an hour later!

We ordered drinks. They arrived about 20-30 minutes apart. Service was poor and very slow.

We were bored and considered it a very poor experience as even the boats were broken. They had a launch that only went straight out and back and one jet ski but not allowed to go beyond the hotel environs. It would be better to miss this." See all these reviews: 8n in Rwanda

"Great quality of hotel in a prime location." See all these reviews: 12n in Rwanda

"Good place to relax after trekking for four days. Great location right on the beach and we had a lovely boat trip out and round the headland to the hot springs.

Breakfast on the first morning was laid out on the beach which was lovely! Buffet meals were fine, although the prawns from the a la carte menu served on the Sunday night were fantastic!! Staff were helpful and sevice was generally good." See all these reviews: 6n in Rwanda; 1n in Kenya