Reviews of Mountain Gorilla View

"Great location, rooms are looking a little "tired", shower was very poor, food OK - although repetitive. Staff helpful - great idea to clean the boots after a trek. Hot water bottle at night essential." See all these reviews: 12n in Rwanda

"Reviews in various places on the web paint a mixed picture of this lodge. We were a party of 5 staying in rooms 1-4 which were located close to the main lodge. We found the rooms comfortable, hot water erratic (as you might of a place with time limited power) and the welcome warm.

On the whole it was a much nicer place than I expected and the biggest challenge is the generally damp, cool weather which could be troublesome for travellers who hail from warmer climbs. The weather ranged from something akin to a beautiful spring day in the British countryside to dark and stormy November rainstorms of the east coast.

The lodge is open and spacious, heating is limited to a wood fire in your room and an electric heater which may or may not work (ours didn't but others in the group were toasty). However, we spent a glorious afternoon in the sunshine after our trek drinking coffee on the lawn in the shadow of the volcanoes. In the evenings though you'll find yourselves sat in the restaurant or bar wrapped in a fleece or jacket.

Overall I thought it was a solid place to stay, in a beautiful location with edible food and friendly staff. I wouldn't hesitate to return and recommend it to all but the most demanding of travellers - if you want a spa, michelin food and butler then its probably not the place for you." See all these reviews: 5n in Tanzania; 3n in Rwanda; 1n in Zanzibar

"Great having a log fire and hot water bottle placed in the bed each night. Boots also cleaned after trek. Staff very friendly.

Have put activities excellent because of the gorilla trekking" See all these reviews: 7n in Rwanda

"As a hotel being used mostly by travellers staying for 1 or 2 days to see Gorillas it is very well positioned

Staff are extremely friendly" See all these reviews: 8n in Rwanda

"a very good location for the Volcanoes Park

personal service and accommodation very good, would prefer more availability of electricity during the mid day period" See all these reviews: 7n in Tanzania; 5n in Rwanda

"Everybody at the Lodge was friendly. We felt that they needed more training.

The experience with the gorillas was very very special. The guides were very helpful. The climb to the forest to see our first group of gorillas was very strenuous and returning was even harder: we had a climb of several hours an dthen the same back. The walk to another group on the second day was very much easier and the gorillas just as interesting.

The trip to the golden monkeys was also interesting (but not equal to the gorillas!)." See all these reviews: 8n in Tanzania; 5n in Rwanda

"Location is great with beautiful views of the volcanoes and a short distance to the Park HQ for the treks.

Rooms were very clean and comfortable

Food is buffet style which became a bit monotonous and wasn't great for vegetarians. Service was good

The shower is set at a height of about 5 foot so not great for taller people.

Electricity is only available at certain times of the day so if you get back from a trek late then you have to shower in the dark and can't use a hairdryer. Also, after tekking you are offered ginger tea but if you don't like this then nothing else is apparently on offer - I asked for coffee but couldn't have any because the generator was off. There is a kettle in the room and tea and coffee so my top tip would be to take a little flask that you can fill with hot water when the electricity is on.

It was great to have our boots cleaned after each trek - very much appreciated

We were prepared for the cold temperature but even so the fire could have been lit earlier (we had to ask one evening for it to be lit as it was past 6.30 and it does start getting chilly at 4pm). there was no heating in the bathroom and this was freezing.

In the evenings there are numerous people coming to the room - person to light the fire, person to bring hot water bottle, person to check the fire, person to bring your boots - this could be disrupting.

There was certainly plenty to occupy birdwatchers and the manager (we think) Victor is very knowledgable about what birds are around the lodge.

The dancers in the afternoon were really enthusiastic and entertaining" See all these reviews: 11n in Rwanda

"Highlights we're hot water bottles, fires in room and boot cleaning service, followed closely by the catering staffs singing and dancing extravaganza in the dining room.

Gorilla trips were awesome.

Buffet style food not to our liking, so reason for lower score." See all these reviews: 13n in Rwanda

"grnerator could be on longer hours
cabins not heated very well by fireplace
matches in rooms are useless
staff was very friendly and helpful" See all these reviews: 5n in Rwanda

"It would be very easy to improve the average score we have given Gorilla Mountain View Lodge to a good score. There were some quick fixes that could be implemented at minimal cost which would significantly improve the user experience.

1. Have a salt and pepper pot on every table so the guest does not have to hunt for one on the other tables.

2. Vary the menu a bit more and make the food less bland. We were there for 4 nights and got pretty bored with the food by the end of it. We appreciate that it is difficult to cater to everyone but most of the dishes were very safe ie irish stew, pasta, grilled fish. We were dying for something with a bit of spice ie a curry or chili con carne by the end of the stay.

3. We were in room 6. We don't know if the quality of this room is typical of the general room quality but if it is, then we would say: buy new towels or bleach the ones you already have. We know they were clean but they were no longer white and had gone grey, which makes them look dirty even if they are not. Likewise with the bed linen, it needs replacing. The room needed a lick of paint as it had gone dingy. In our room we had lashings of hot water but it only came out of the tap as a trickle. This made showering impossible and meant it took 20 minutes to run a bath. Incidentally the bracket for the shower head had fallen off the wall at some point in the past and had not been repaired - with the bracket left sitting on the side of the bath. So even if we had wanted a shower, we would have been hard pushed to keep the head up on the wall.

4. We really wanted to tip as many staff as possible i.e the boot cleaners, fire setters, bar staff and table waiting staff, but soon ran out of small denominations in either dollars or Rwandan currency. But each time we went to the front desk, we struggled to get them to change larger bills for us, even when we explained that we wanted to use it to tip their staff.

5. We had two kingsize beds in our room which is probably great if you are two single travellers but as a couple it felt really odd, almost as if surplus furniture had been wedged into our room. One bed is enough thanks!

If the inside of the rooms were as beautiful as the grounds, then they would be very impressive. And as we said it wouldn't take that much to improve them." See all these reviews: 8n in Zanzibar; 5n in Rwanda