whalewatcher
Travel Buff
- Joined
- May 25, 2001
DH and I stay at the AKL recently with DS 5 and DS 3 from 1/1 to 1/5. After reading so many reviews on the board, I was anxious to see the place myself. In short: We loved it!
We had two connecting rooms on Arusha savannah, zebra trail (rooms 3413 and 3415). Boy, it's a good thing we got 2 rooms b/c the rooms are tiny. The kids would have driven us crazy in 1 room. I was initially disappointed that the rooms were so close to the Arusha overlook b/c we had such a great view of the tourists with their cameras. However, we grew to love our spot b/c an animal feeding area was right in front of us, keeping animals in plain sight. There were plenty of other viewing areas we could check out as well. They have night vision goggles on the arusha outlook.
The beds were very comfortable. The TV remotes both worked ( a rarity in our experience). The shower was great for a hotel shower. Good pressure, temperature, etc. Loved the double sink. The rooms didn't seem dark to me. There were lights all over the rooms and all you had to do was open the draperies and your room was flooded with light. Housekeeping wasn't superior but I forgot to bring the mousekeeping envelopes so that may have been the problem.
The resort itself is beautiful in design and decoration. The Xmas decorations were lovely. We enjoyed Mara and Boma. It was pretty cold so we only spent about 30 minutes in the pool, although the water was 83 degrees. The slide is pretty much a kiddie slide which is great if you have little kids that usually don't get to use the slide. The hot tub was amazing.
Bus service was fine. The bus drivers were very friendly. DH wants to be on the monorail next time but the bus rides didn't bother me.
One cool thing about this resort is that it's constantly hustling and bustling at all hours of the day and night. We noticed a happy buzz of activity that makes you feel like you are in the middle of something fun and amazing. People really seemed to enjoy being there. I also liked the fact that the resort was in "one piece" and not a bunch of spread out buildings. It was very easy to maneuver around the resort.
The one mistakes we made was spending too much time touring the parks like maniacs. We should have spent more time enjoying the many activities at the resort.
I'd be happy to answer any questions. Sorry this turned out to be so long.
We had two connecting rooms on Arusha savannah, zebra trail (rooms 3413 and 3415). Boy, it's a good thing we got 2 rooms b/c the rooms are tiny. The kids would have driven us crazy in 1 room. I was initially disappointed that the rooms were so close to the Arusha overlook b/c we had such a great view of the tourists with their cameras. However, we grew to love our spot b/c an animal feeding area was right in front of us, keeping animals in plain sight. There were plenty of other viewing areas we could check out as well. They have night vision goggles on the arusha outlook.
The beds were very comfortable. The TV remotes both worked ( a rarity in our experience). The shower was great for a hotel shower. Good pressure, temperature, etc. Loved the double sink. The rooms didn't seem dark to me. There were lights all over the rooms and all you had to do was open the draperies and your room was flooded with light. Housekeeping wasn't superior but I forgot to bring the mousekeeping envelopes so that may have been the problem.
The resort itself is beautiful in design and decoration. The Xmas decorations were lovely. We enjoyed Mara and Boma. It was pretty cold so we only spent about 30 minutes in the pool, although the water was 83 degrees. The slide is pretty much a kiddie slide which is great if you have little kids that usually don't get to use the slide. The hot tub was amazing.
Bus service was fine. The bus drivers were very friendly. DH wants to be on the monorail next time but the bus rides didn't bother me.
One cool thing about this resort is that it's constantly hustling and bustling at all hours of the day and night. We noticed a happy buzz of activity that makes you feel like you are in the middle of something fun and amazing. People really seemed to enjoy being there. I also liked the fact that the resort was in "one piece" and not a bunch of spread out buildings. It was very easy to maneuver around the resort.
The one mistakes we made was spending too much time touring the parks like maniacs. We should have spent more time enjoying the many activities at the resort.
I'd be happy to answer any questions. Sorry this turned out to be so long.
Seriously, the goofy photos are my favorite ones, so if you change your mind, I would love to view them.
