JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge

We went on a once-in-a-lifetime safari with our children. Of the three lodges where we stayed, all of which were high-end, the JW was the best of the best. Accommodations are remarkable, service extremely attentive, food delicious, guides as good as they come. The partnership with Canon is an amazing perk. I can’t recommend this place highly enough.

The J.W.Marriott Masai Mara was one of the very best hotels that we have ever had the privilege to visit. The lodge was beautiful, the game drives were amazing, and the food was incredible, but truly the best thing about this property is just how kind and attentive the entire staff is. From the very first minute that Fintan greeted us at the Keekorok air strip with refreshments and drinks, we knew that we were going to be in for a great week! Thelma greeted us at the lodge for check-in and was so kind and informative, and showed us around the property and our room, as well. She remembered our names instantly and always asked us how our day was going and if there was anything that she could do to make our stay better. Our waitress Naicherwa was the perfect balance of being friendly and professional - and even organized a special dessert and cultural dance for our last evening. Fintan was truly the best guide we could have ever asked for - we were so fortunate to see the “Big 5” and so many other amazing things along the way! From the very bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone at the entire JW Marriott Masai Mara for helping make our dream vacation come true. I promise we will cherish this experience forever! Asante and Ashe!!!

This is the most wonderful resort with everyone making you feel a part of the family. I can’t say enough about how wonderful and welcoming the entire staff was. We stayed for five nights and were so sad to leave. The food was first class! We loved every minute and saw so many animals. Our guides were tenacious at finding some of the rarer cats. They freely shared their extensive knowledge of the ecology of the whole Mara as well as in-depth knowledge of the animals and birds, their habitats and behaviors. We also recommend the balloon ride and the Masai village tours. And you are still able to do two safaris a day Diana shared her knowledge of Masai traditions around the campfire to anyone who was interested. We learned a lot from her We were also celebrating our 46th wedding anniversary and they made something special for us each day.

We just stayed for 5 nights at the one-of-a-king JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge and we can honestly say that it was the best vacation we ever had. Everything was simply perfect. From the staff, to the food, to the location, to the lounge, to the tents, to the amenities…Words cannot even describe how unique this trip was! Thank you to Jacob and Gedeon, who were the best guide we could’ve dreamed of. They did all they could so that we could see the big 5 and even more(hippos, crocodiles, girafes, leopard with her cub, tens of species of very unique birds, and so much more). We even managed to see a lion hunt a hyena as well as three lionesses hunt a warthog(pumba for the reference). They were such sweet people and did everything they could to make our experience unforgettable(such as two picnics in the wild), which they clearly succeeded to do! Thank you to Victor(barman) who made sure we were never missing anything when we were at the lounge, such an amazing person full of energy and positivity. Thank you to Shillian(waiter) who served us every lunch and dinner and made sure everything was up to our expectation and even more. Thank you to Johnson and Anne(house-keeping) who wrote very nice words of wisdom every time they went to clean the room, which was always perfect. They even gave us some souvenirs on the last day which we will keep very preciously. Thank you to Thelma(reception) who was so glad to see us and ask me if she could do anything to make sure that we felt good. I asked her if we could have a sunset tent because my wife adores to watch them especially in this environment and she made it happen. She also noted that it was our honeymoon trip and did a great design on our bed when we arrive, simple amazing! Thank you to Diana for giving us wonderful gifts and souvenirs so that we can remember our best trip ever when we look at them, such a lovely person. Thank you to Kennedy(photographer) who made sure we would be able to keep every single picture we took during our safaris with the camera that they provide. He even edited the best ones to add another great touch to the experience. Thank you to Joseph(mister Hippo!) who taught us so many swahili words and phrases as well as a lot of history about the wonderful culture that they have. And of course, thank you to every other person who made our journey the best that we ever had in our entire lives. Tutaonana baadaye marafiki!

The JW is in the rare air of exceptional properties. It hits top marks on the place, the people and the location. From the minute Eric and Gideon picking us up at the airstrip and letting us know they are the guides for the entire stay to the warm welcome at the lodge by Wilson and Thelma, we felt "home". This feeling continued throughout the stay with the outstanding service of Elias, Robert, Joseph, Timothy and Diane inviting to their home and making it our home. They made our super special, thank you! The safaris were stellar and the adventure started 15 minutes after landing when Eric thought he saw something in a tree a fair distance away and asked it was ok if drove fast...no problem. After about 5 minutes we get to a tree and there's a leopard which then decided to climb down the tree and walk in front of the vehicle. What a welcome! We continued to have amazing luck seeing the big 5 in the first two days and then on the 4th day we say all big 5 in a 3 hour window. You never know and that was part of the fun. We stayed 5 days and took 1 day off on day 3 as a break to visit a Masai village (worth it) and do a nature tour and trying our skills as the Masai version of archery. It's a nice break as on safari days your sitting, eating, sitting and eating. Fairman, the GM, has created an incredible product that celebrates what Kenya and the Mara has to offer, and it starts with the incredible people combined with fantastic lodging and location. The easiest 5 star review I've ever wrote. Oh, lastly the smartest idea is to provide a camera to use on the safari...for amateurs like me I didn't need to bring my DSLR and lenses (helps with packing light).

Amazing in every way. Staff, food and room were stellar. Game drives are magical. They were doing some construction during our stay due to some flooding which is understandable but a bit uncomfortable. Truly my only complaint, otherwise 10/10.