Samburu Sopa Lodge

The lodge is inside the National Reserve and the rooms are in the style of Cottages/Pods . They are very spacious with two double beds, separate bathroom, dressing table, wardrobe, safe and private terrace with lovely views. The beds were very comfortable with plenty of bedding and pillows. Bathroom was spacious with lots of toiletries and towels. Each cottage is accessible along a paved walkway, not far at all from the reception area. NB: there are no hairdryers and if you need constant electricity (for CPAP users) you need to alert reception upon arrival as a small number of rooms have solar power for overnight electricity. The public areas such as bar, restaurant and pool are very spacious and comfortable. A nice place to relax whilst waiting to go on game drives or for a drink before and after dining. The food is served buffet style and there is plenty of variation with two hot soups to choose from to begin at both lunch and dinner. Breakfast is served buffet, lots to choose from and live egg cooking to your choice. The staff are exceptional. Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and accommodating. This is my second visit to Samburu Sopa and I’m pleased to say it’s every bit as great as my previous visit. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay here. The views are great and I particularly enjoyed the visit from the two genet cats at dinner!

Our small group had a great three days at Sopa Lodge, Samburu. The rooms are spacious and clean, the staff are very friendly and also very attentive. The food was varied and good. The pool is a welcome break from the heat of the day, and the tuskers are cold and refreshing. In 30 or so years of travelling to Kenya (in a variety of accomodations from camping to this sort of cost level), the Sopa Lodge ranks as one of my favourite. Some small caveats: I think we were at low season as there were not too many guests; the rains had just been, so animals scattered, but we saw lots of elephant and plains; the day ratees of US$70 are going up to $85 in June and that's not cheap - but that is not Sopa's fault!

Wow! Where do I begin?! This place was so much fun! It is situated in the middle of Samburu National Reserve approximately 40kms from the gate. Your game drive starts from the moment you enter the gate, all the way to the accommodation. From the moment we walked in we felt like part of the family. We were welcomed by James and given a cold towel and drink on arrival. He gave us a briefing about the lodge and explained that the power is only switched on between 5am - 9:30am and then again between 6:30pm - 11:30pm . This was because power is run from a diesel generator therefore conserving power, being environmentally friendly and being considerate for people sleeping at night. It was a great idea and was never an issue for us as we were out on game drives during the day, in the pool or sleeping at night. WiFi is available in all the main areas. The pool and bar area was great and very refreshing during the warm days between game drives. The rooms are traditional with a thatched roof, they were very clean and offered all the usual amenities including complementary bottled water. The beds come complete with mosquito nets for night time and a turn down service. There is no fencing around the lodge which is a gateway for elephants, lions and cheetahs but there are very friendly rangers who escort you to and from your room during the night. At no time did we ever feel unsafe and knowing this just added to the adventure aspect of our stay. The restaurant offers a great variety of three course meals from a daily menu and the food was lovely. There was always plenty of food and we never went hungry. Our waitress Moreen was the best. She was very attentive and extremely friendly. It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with her at meal times. All the staff were extremely friendly, they all had a great sense of humour and made us feel safe and at home. We would highly recommend this place and would definitely stay here again.

Located right in the National park. Good amenities and facilities and exceptional staff. Traditional buffet food and good choice of drinks. Plenty of wildlife to see in the surrounding areas including elephants, giraffes and predators. Really enjoyed our stay

Our stay at this family-friendly hotel was marked by delightful experiences, heightened by breathtaking views and an immersive wild setting. The customer service, while generally commendable, exhibited some delay in addressing specific queries. A minor setback was observed with the pool, as it was only half full due to a leakage issue. Regrettably, the New Year's dinner and crossover activities on December 31st fell below our expectations. We would have preferred Samburu dancers for their kid-friendly appeal. However, it should be noted that the entertainment catered to those who enjoy alcohol and disco. Despite these minor drawbacks, our overall experience was positive, especially considering that this visit marked our return after a decade. The charm of the location and the family-friendly atmosphere contributed to a memorable stay.

I’ll start with the positives: the food was good and the service was fine. I did not book this location, I am on a 11 day tour through Kenya and the travel company recommended/booked this place. There is no electricity from 11:30pm to 6am and none after 9 am until 6:30 pm. It is hot. Waking up in a pool of sweat, fumbling around the room in total darkness to use the bathroom while bugs are crawling everywhere is just horrific. The pool was filthy and green. It is also barely filled with water. I would not recommend this to anyone. The only reason I gave it two stars is the service and food. I’ll be fair, if you are fortunate enough to get a room with solar, you can ask for a fan. But that fan does little unless blown right on you, and in that case, the other person in the room is hot. And forget charging your phones after a day of safari picture taking. I would never recommend this place to anyone, and having traveled all over the world, it was the most unpleasant stay I’ve unfortunately had.

The staff were exceptional - all friendly and could not not do enough to make our stay comfortable and solve every personal problem that we had. The food was varied and very good. The hotel is a little dated but clean and very comfortable.