My family and I recently stayed at the Marangu Hotel and had a wonderful visit at their incredibly well cared for grounds. The staff was welcoming, warm, efficient, proving quality... read more food, rooms and preparation to hike Kilimanjaro. They provided a team of #17 to assist us up successfully summiting the mountain. Couildn't recommend them more!

  We Went to Kilimanjaro Summit with Marangu Hotel. What an experience and what a team.
Starting from a hotel owner to a staff = very friendly and helpful.
Chief... read more guide & team = Amazing
We were 17 hikers, and we had 17 porters, 10 guides and 1 chef, and 4 servers.
We never had such delicious food on the mountain, which was our primary source during the summit.

  The team are wonderful, always happy to help and make your experience faultless. Food is unreal. After 3 nights stay, Desmond and the team then organised our trip up Mount... read more Kilimanjaro with 40+ porters and it was pure magic. Huge thank you to all of the team at Marangu hotel, I’d like to come back for a week to just relax!

  What a beautiful place to stay before and after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
The team were outstanding in every way welcoming, friendly, nothing was a problem and they all went... read more out of their way to help.
The rooms are so clean with lovely local touches including a vase of fresh flowers picked from the grounds. The showers were hot and so wonderful after 6 days of hiking up/ down a mountain.
The food never ever disappointed it was nourishing for our upcoming hike, fresh and always a great variety.
The view of Kilimanjaro and the gardens were out of this world. I would loved to have stayed longer.
The hotel arranged the team (over 40) that came up the mountain with us led by Charlie and they were beyond amazing.
Most importantly when one of our group got altitude sickness and had to come down the mountain the hotel team went out of their way to look after her and make sure she wasn’t on her own in the hospital - truly above and beyond service.
I honestly can not fault this amazing place and I am very particular when it comes to hotel stays.
A huge THANK YOU to the team.

  This charming, long-standing hotel has remained for decades a constant stable point in a world of change, & so it was a real pleasure to re-visit it in the last... read more few days after a gap of no less than 36 years. Amazingly, it is still being run by the Brice-Bennett family, with Desmond ably assisted by his nephew Anthony & Anthony's wife Val.

The rooms are comfortable & large with all mod cons, the food is great, & the staff (I am particularly thinking of Jessica & Agnes here) are invariably well-trained, courteous, cheerful & speak excellent English.

I went on a Kili trip last week up the Rongai route organised by the hotel, & they took the trouble to find me a very experienced guide (Geofrey Moshi) to take me onto the edge of the rarely-visited East Face of Mawenzi. Geofrey was knowledgeable & encouraging throughout, & clearly knew a great deal about the mountain. All the other members of the crew (particularly the Cook John Mtui, & his son Amani) were tremendously hard-working & cheerful.

There are no doubt cheaper ways of taking a trip up Kili, but the Marangu Hotel has an unparalleled reputation over many decades, & I would recommend it without reservation. Thanks to one & all for making my trip such an enjoyable one.

  Even though we were only there for one night, Valerie, Anthony, and the team made sure that we had everything that we needed to make our stay comfortable. They even... read more extended our check-out time so we could get a chance to explore the place more as well as organized for a guide to take us around the area.

Marangu hotel has some of the best hotel food I have had, which really gave us the feeling of being at home away from home. The rooms are clean and spacious and the grounds are lovely. We had a very pleasant stay and we will definitely be back.

  I must confess: I had great expectations for this hotel. From the moment I decided to climb Kilimanjaro, I romanticized the whole experience, and that is simply not fair. Real... read more life can never match an unfettered imagination.

Marangu hotel did not match my expectations. It far exceeded them.

I could tell you about the beautiful grounds, but you are perfectly capable of looking at the pictures. I could tell you that I never ate the same thing twice (except at breakfast, when I always ate the same egg and bacon sandwich without complaint) and that I liked the taste of everything. I could tell you the linens were clean, the room was spacious, the bar was well stocked, and the showers were hot.

But many hotels can match those standards. What many hotels cannot provide is the extraordinary hospitality of our hosts. Anthony and Val were strangers to me two weeks ago, and now I believe I will think of them warmly on and off for the rest of my life.

I asked for a hair dryer: they gave me theirs. I asked about day trips, and they gave us six fun and reasonable options. I forgot to bring gaiters and poles for my climb, and they were more than happy to lend me some free of charge. I can’t imagine anything they could have done better, but perhaps what’s most impressive is that I never felt as if our privacy was being invaded.

I’m sure everyone has had the experience of an overbearing host, a person who decided to manage a hotel because they simply couldn’t make friends any other way. That was not Val and Anthony. When I wanted to read and have time to myself, they faded beautifully in the background. When I needed them, they were there.

Anthony’s knowledge of the mountain itself was . . . well I would say encyclopedic, but encyclopedias are boring, and I could make a case for Anthony as the most interesting man I have come across in my travels. The briefing he gave us the night before we began our climb up Mt. Kilimanjaro was deliberately honest, but as a result, we were prepared. I summited with a group of four, and all of us agreed that Anthony’s voice came into our heads at the most difficult moments of the climb – whether it was his trick for counting steps at the hardest points, his insistence that we drink enough water so that our pee runs ‘clear and copious’, or simply this sentence ‘I know that at this point many people want to give up. All I ask is this: why not give one more step a try?’

This review is much too long, so let me just say this: Stay here.

If you do, Tanzania will be wonderful.

  Myself and my friend have just returned home after a successful trek on Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Our stay at the Marangu Hotel and Kilimanjaro trek were organised by the hotel owner... read more Anthony and was seamless throughout.
The hotel staff could not have been any more friendly and supportive and their knowledge and guidance certainly helped us to achieve our goals!
The hotel is located on an old coffee plantation and is perfectly suited to its location. It is close to the village where there are lovely walks and waterfalls to view, and near to Mt. Kilimanjaro which can be clearly viewed from the hotel garden.
The large rooms have a big double bed, and a dressing area leading to a bathroom which has both a bath and large walk in shower.
The lovely hot breakfast was accompanied by a selection of cereals and fresh fruit. A light lunch can be had in the bar area. A four course dinner was served every evening and was delicious.
If you are planning to climb Kilimanjaro, there is even a large equipment and clothing area should you forget anything.
If you are searching for a special African experience with very personal service, then look no further. More

  Our family of four, including children ages 13 and 15, dreamed of climbing Kilimanjaro but weren't sure how realistic this would be. Anthony addressed all of our concerns during... read more an in-depth video briefing, and arranged a second call prior to our departure to plan final details of our five-day climb on the Marangu Route. This degree of professionalism and attention to detail, only possible with a family business that has been organizing climbs for many decades, was the key to our successful climb. The entire team from Marangu Hotel earned our complete trust, and we were rewarded with an incredible, once-in-lifetime experience. As Anthony pointed out, the key is not just to make it to the top, but to enjoy the experience, and we surely did. Every one of our needs was attended to by our team of knowledgeable and experienced guides, cooks and porters - from providing us with gear, to the delicious multi-course meals every day during the climb, to sharing their knowledge of the wildlife, natural history and culture of the region. Moreover, we thoroughly enjoyed their company during our time together. We spent the night prior to, and the night after our climb at Marangu Hotel, which we would highly recommend. The rooms and the grounds are beautiful and immaculately maintained, the service is attentive and professional, and the included breakfast and dinner were superb - the best we had during three weeks in Tanzania. All... Our family of four, including children ages 13 and 15, dreamed of climbing Kilimanjaro but weren't sure how realistic this would be. Anthony addressed all of our concerns during an in-depth video briefing, and arranged a second call prior to our departure to plan final details of our five-day climb on the Marangu Route. This degree of professionalism and attention to detail, only possible with a family business that has been organizing climbs for many decades, was the key to our successful climb. The entire team from Marangu Hotel earned our complete trust, and we were rewarded with an incredible, once-in-lifetime experience. As Anthony pointed out, the key is not just to make it to the top, but to enjoy the experience, and we surely did. Every one of our needs was attended to by our team of knowledgeable and experienced guides, cooks and porters - from providing us with gear, to the delicious multi-course meals every day during the climb, to sharing their knowledge of the wildlife, natural history and culture of the region. Moreover, we thoroughly enjoyed their company during our time together. We spent the night prior to, and the night after our climb at Marangu Hotel, which we would highly recommend. The rooms and the grounds are beautiful and immaculately maintained, the service is attentive and professional, and the included breakfast and dinner were superb - the best we had during three weeks in Tanzania. All around it was an unforgettable experience, and we feel very fortunate to have chosen Marangu Hotel - we could not recommend Anthony, Val and the entire Marangu team more highly! More

  Marangu hotel was recommended to us by a friend who had climbed Kilimanjaro organized by Anthony and Marangu Hotel.
Though we didn't spend a lot of time in the hotel... read more we were touched by the kindness and genuine service the hotel staff provided and enjoyed the beautiful gardens.
Itinerary of our climb was very carefully organized to increase our success rate while showing us the beautiful sceneries during our climb. The pre-climb brief was critical in making sure we are properly prepared with great attention to details.
After our successful climb to the summit Anthony had helped organize a magical Safari in Serengeti.
If you are looking for an authentic experience climbing Kilimanjaro I totally recommend Marangu Hotel. They are the most knowledgable with a wonderful crew and have been organizing climbs since 1930s. More

  I was spending in July 3 nights with a friend, and I regret I couldn't stay longer. The land and facilities (with swimming pool, bar & lots of places to... read more chill) are fantastic: clean and organized. Also I tried there breakfast and dinner: were delicious and big amounts. But the best there are owners and workers: you feel there like at home 🙂
If you're up to visit Marangu, I recommend you to have a look to this place!

  We were the first guests after the hotel reopened after Covid. Anthony, the manager, and the hotel staff were warm and welcoming. Anthony was very helpful in selecting Rodrick, a... read more local guide, to take us on a walking tour to the Chagga Caves and Ndoro Waterfalls, as well as an AMAZING driver, Penford Magasi, to be our driver. The location of the hotel is heavenly and the food delicious. We would have stayed much longer, if we could have.

  The Marangu Hotel team has years of experience in putting together climbing expeditions for the Kilimandjaro and this is remarkable. Everything was perfect starting with the preparation work and... read more the great advices from Anthony .
Once on site, Agnes was always available to answer our questions and requests .
The climbing team was very supportive, professional and extremely kind. The food, the quality of the material and the deep knowledge of the team made us feel very confortable and safe at all time.
I would strongly recommend the Marangu Hotel for any expedition to the Kilimandjaro ! We came back from Tanzania full of great memories and images, made possible by this wonderfull Marangu team.
Thank you !

  After a long delay due to COVID, my son and I, along with his two friends, made the decision to climb Kilimanjaro despite the continuing pandemic. I cannot speak... read more more highly of the hotel staff and our climbing crew. Before the climb, Seamus and Anthony were very responsive to my many questions. The climb was well organized, and we appreciated the virtual briefing of what to expect before we arrived. We arrived at the hotel tired and hungry at around 1am after a flight delay and long wait to complete the now required COVID health check, and were warmly welcomed by the staff. After taking our luggage we were treated to a 4 course meal! The staff is wonderful and friendly and Seamus and Agnes made sure we had everything we needed. On the mountain, our climbing crew was excellent and I don't think I would have made it to top if it weren't for our wonderful guides. They helped me up and down the rocky parts and made sure all of 4 of us made it to the top. The food on the climb was excellent and the boys are still raving about the banana stew! Back at the hotel after the climb we celebrated a successful summit with our crew. We spent a few days at the hotel before our climb. The hotel grounds are beautiful, the food excellent, and we enjoyed our stay in our cottages. Agnes... After a long delay due to COVID, my son and I, along with his two friends, made the decision to climb Kilimanjaro despite the continuing pandemic. I cannot speak more highly of the hotel staff and our climbing crew. Before the climb, Seamus and Anthony were very responsive to my many questions. The climb was well organized, and we appreciated the virtual briefing of what to expect before we arrived.

We arrived at the hotel tired and hungry at around 1am after a flight delay and long wait to complete the now required COVID health check, and were warmly welcomed by the staff. After taking our luggage we were treated to a 4 course meal! The staff is wonderful and friendly and Seamus and Agnes made sure we had everything we needed.

On the mountain, our climbing crew was excellent and I don't think I would have made it to top if it weren't for our wonderful guides. They helped me up and down the rocky parts and made sure all of 4 of us made it to the top. The food on the climb was excellent and the boys are still raving about the banana stew! Back at the hotel after the climb we celebrated a successful summit with our crew.

We spent a few days at the hotel before our climb. The hotel grounds are beautiful, the food excellent, and we enjoyed our stay in our cottages. Agnes was available for all our requests and made sure we had everything we needed, including arranging a guide on short notice to take us on a tour of the surrounding area, which included a local waterfall and coffee tour.

We definitely hope to return someday to see our Marangu Hotel family! More

  After a long delay due to COVID, my son and I, along with his two friends, made the decision to climb Kilimanjaro despite the continuing pandemic. I cannot speak... read more more highly of the hotel staff and our climbing crew. Before the climb, Seamus and Anthony were very responsive to my many questions. The climb was well organized, and we appreciated the virtual briefing of what to expect before we arrived.

We arrived at the hotel tired and hungry at around 1am after a flight delay and long wait to complete the now required COVID health check, and were warmly welcomed by the staff. After taking our luggage we were treated to a 4 course meal! The staff is wonderful and friendly and Seamus and Agnes made sure we had everything we needed.

On the mountain, our climbing crew was excellent and I don't think I would have made it to top if it weren't for our wonderful guides. They helped me up and down the rocky parts and made sure all of 4 of us made it to the top. The food on the climb was excellent and the boys are still raving about the banana stew! Back at the hotel after the climb we celebrated a successful summit with our crew.

We spent a few days at the hotel before our climb. The hotel grounds are beautiful, the food excellent, and we enjoyed our stay in our cottages. Agnes was available for all our requests and made sure we had everything we needed, including arranging a guide on short notice to take us on a tour of the surrounding area, which included a local waterfall and coffee tour.

We definitely hope to return someday to see our Marangu Hotel family!