Reviews of Saruni Samburu

"Very interesting drive up the rocks to the lodge. Astounding views across the plains below. Rooms/villas incredible! It would be a challenging walk for some people to get from the main reception area to the villas.

Meals were very good.

The drive from the lodge to Samburu reserve was devoid of wildlife but once inside the reserve plenty to see. We were lucky to see a family of 5 lions just finishing off a waterbuck, including 2 six month old cubs crunching the bones and then trying to run off with the leftovers before being told off by mum.

Samburu is completely different from other areas in Kenya and is well worth a visit." See all these reviews: 14n in Kenya

"the lap of luxury with a fabulous view.

Great spa facility.

Fabulous food and activities" See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"Amazing - Saruni really know what they are doing, a thoroughly professional operation with friendly staff and excellent guides.

The setting is stunning, food delicious, we would recommend without hesitation" See all these reviews: 13n in Kenya

"Another wow of a location absolutely stunning ..again lovely welcome from the moment we landed ..our guide Samarru picked us up from the airstrip and took us to the camp although not in the bush ,high in the rocks overlooking the valley.

Once again our guide for our drives was amazing and very knowledgeable about his area always keen to ensure we were having the best time,taught us his tracking skills which was great ,we had the truck to ourselves which made it very private ,he was also made aware of what we wanted to try and see ..which also made our drives very personal .We also liked the fact the conservancy limits the number of vehicles so any sightings are not overcrowded and respectful of the animals

Once again the food and service was top notch ,Simon looked after us very very well bringing dinner to our room and being there in the morning with coffee and biscuits to wake us up ..the accommodation here is breath taking ,the two pools are very welcome at the end of a dusty morning drive" See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"Saruni Samburu Lodge is located in a private conservancy - so no other vehicles around. Unfortunately because of a drought there was also just little game around. So the game drives had to go to the Samburu National Park - 30-45 minutes away. This was definitely a disadvantage because you had to make this way in and out twice a day if you wanted to observe game (and of course therefore you had to get up more early in the morning!) and on the way was not to much so see (except of some birds and couples of Dik-Diks behind almost every second bush!!). Once you've reached the National Park we had some great sightings with our very good guide Daniel particularly a cheetah with her cubs and a beautiful leopard on ground and tree! Also the landscape around the river is very interesting and offered exciting sightings like river crossing elephant herds.

One reason for us to visit Samburu was the opportunity to observe the typical mammals of the north: Reticulated Giraffe, Oryx, Gerenuk and Grevy Zebra ... and we saw them all and often!

The lodge itself is superb and the location on a hill fantastic! You will not miss anything there: huge rooms all with great views to an endless landscape, friendly staff and tasty food! But the best of all is the pool at the top of the hill with stunning views - really hard to get beaten!!

Despite the long drive to the National Park all in all we would choose this lodge again because of it's fantastic location: alone in a remote area with unique views!" See all these reviews: 16n in Kenya

"We have mixed feelings about Samburu.

The hotel is jaw dropping amazing. The view is spectacular and the rooms are unlike anything we have experienced before. The feeling of the inside being outside is great and we thoroughly enjoyed the outside showers. The room's patio was a great place to sit and enjoy the scenery that stretched for miles.

The rooms were extremely clean, comfortable and luxurious. The communal area was great. The staff were very nice and friendly. Martin who was our waiter for the stay was excellent. He was so friendly and happy to chat about himself and his community. He couldn't do enough for us and was always available, to the extent that he gave us his phone number in case we wanted to text him from the room for anything. We couldn't have been better looked after by him.

The entertainment in the camp was excellent, on Christmas Saruni arranged local village teenagers to put on a dance show and one of the evenings we had a very enjoyable bush dinner.

The downside to Saruni for us was the game drives and the limited amount of time actually in the reserve. The focus here isn't on the drives and you are actively encourages to spend more time in camp. It's a long drive back and forward to the reserve and we found with the drought that there wasn't much to see in the conservancy on the way to and fro.

In comparison we spent 30hrs over 3 days on drives in another camp but only 7 hrs over 3 days in Saruni!

When some of our party booked a special excursion it was assumed the rest of the party would stay in camp and when that wasn't the case it was very difficult for them to accommodate a drive and resulted in only 5 hrs total game drive for the day (3 if you take off the drive to and fro).

When you do get to the reserve the elephants are unreal and its a great experience to spend time sitting amongst them as they go about their day.

In our opinion Saruni is great if you want a little bit of drives and a lot of relaxation and comfort but it isn't the place to be if your main focus is game drives." See all these reviews: 11n in Kenya

"Wonderful upgrade to two bedroom suite.

Great food, great staff, great massage and the boys loved the pool and the environment.

The first guide was very uninspired and I asked for a change - next morning we had a new guide who was great." See all these reviews: 9n in Kenya

"Despite the wet November weather, our stay at Saruni Samburu was really enjoyable.
Everyone talks about the view but believe me, it has to be experienced.
Our villa, (#3) was beautiful and spacious. Service was excellent and we usually dined in our room for a more relaxing experience. Our room attendant, Simon was excellent. However, the food was disappointing. There were no menu options, the Italian-based meals had a consistent sameness, and the chef used a lot of salt on every dish.
The manager Daryll was truly accommodating and he plans further upgrades to the lodge and is dedicated to ongoing maintenance.
Service throughout was friendly and consistently upbeat and attentive. I also had two wonderful deep massages in the wellness centre." See all these reviews: 15n in Kenya

"We spent two wonderful nights here. Our villa (#5) had the most spectacular view I have ever seen. The whole property from the rooms to the pools to the campfire were striking. Because it is in its own conservancy, you really felt like you were in the middle of nowhere.

Again, the season was the downside--no animals at the watering hole and therefore no use for the photographic hide, something my husband had really been looking forward to. Lots of animals in the game drive in the reserve though." See all these reviews: 7n in Kenya; 5n in Tanzania; 4n in Zanzibar

"The rooms/ cottages here are something else and the view stupendous. It is spread out across the side of a hill and takes five to ten minutes to walk from the room to the communal area in blazing heat - meaning we were often a bit late for our activities!

As the rains had come to Samburu by the time of our visit, there was no wildlife at the lodge's waterhole, but we saw plenty on our game drive into the main national reserve - elephants, giraffe, zebra, antelopes, fantastic birds and a pride of seven lions. We heard other lions roaring overnight right by the lodge too.

Local Samburu staff were fantastic - special mention to Kennedy's Dawa cocktails and Benson's knowledge of the night sky. Thanks, too, to Darryl, who was holding the fort as manager.

The menu was quite meat-based and featured imported produce eg smoked salmon as well as plenty of fruit and veg." See all these reviews: 10n in Kenya