The JW Marriott Masai Mara is a luxurious safari lodge in the middle of the wilderness that impresses with personal service, exclusive tents, and breathtaking game drives—from arrival to departure, you will feel completely pampered. Despite the high price (or cleverly used points), the stay is a unique blend of adventure and comfort that is absolutely worthwhile for nature lovers and luxury travelers!
Review #14
All the hotels you find on our homepage and YouTube channel – and many more besides – can now be booked directly through us. In many cases, you can expect additional benefits such as upgrades, breakfast, or hotel credit without paying more.
The JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge currently offers you the following benefits by booking with us:
- Free breakfast for two guests per room every day
- Free basic Wi-Fi every day
- Early check-in and late check-out (subject to availability)
- Free upgrade (subject to availability at check-in)
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Contents
Location
The JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge is located in the heart of Kenya’s Masai Mara National Park, picturesquely situated on a river.
Getting there
Normally, you will probably fly to Nairobi as the starting point for this trip. As the capital of Kenya, it has excellent international connections. We flew there directly from Frankfurt with Lufthansa. If you are interested in this trip, you can of course read our written review.
Of course, you can also travel there by bus or car from neighboring countries, but that takes way longer!
How you get to the hotel
From Nairobi, you can fly from Wilson Airport to the nearest airstrip directly in the Masai Mara. At the JW Marriott Masai Mara, this is the Keekorok Airstrip. The flight is a little adventurous, but it’s an experience in itself! We have also published a written review of this trip on our homepage for you.
If you don’t like flying or are unable to fly, there is also the option of traveling to the lodge by car. Depending on where you are starting from and the weather conditions, the trip takes between 5 and 6 hours. So it’s quite a journey, especially when you consider that you won’t be traveling on paved roads in the park, but on gravel tracks.
Pre Arrival
In preparation for our stay at JW Masai Mara, the hotel sent us an email with all the important information about the lodge, arrival and departure. It’s really helpful to have everything clearly laid out in a PDF file. It certainly helped us a lot with our planning.
Please note that in addition to all other costs, you will also have to pay a parking fee. This is based on the number of days you spend in Masai Mara National Park. When we visited the park, we had to pay $80 per person per day. At the time of publication of this article, the amount had already been raised to $100 and will be increased further to a whopping $200 per person per day from 2025. You should definitely keep this in mind when planning your trip. You can easily pay the entrance fee directly at the airstrip. Card payments are no problem here!
Check-in & Welcome
And this is where the magic begins!
As soon as you step off the plane in the middle of the African wilderness, a driver from the lodge is already there waiting to take your suitcases the short distance to the jeep. In our case, it was Paul, who drove us throughout our entire stay. As soon as you arrive at the car, you can choose between various refreshments and small snacks. The presentation is unique and immediately sets the tone for a fantastic stay.
Once you’ve settled in, it’s time to head to the lodge. The drive takes about 40 minutes. In our case, however, Paul decided that we should go on a little safari first. One of the rare rhinos had been spotted – we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. So we successfully got off the plane and onto the road and saw the first of the Big 5 before we had even checked in. What a start!
About two hours after arriving at the airstrip, we arrived at the JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge. And here the magic continues. Most of the staff are local Masai Mara people, and it was they who welcomed us with a traditional dance and the incredibly friendly and beaming guest relations manager. Of course, we had to join in the dancing and pose for some very funny photos. What a welcome!
The manager (unfortunately, we both forgot her name) accompanied us across the beautiful suspension bridge, telling us stories and providing information along the way.
Check-in is also celebrated here in a very unique way. Immediately after crossing the bridge, we were welcomed once again to the JW Marriott Masai Mara with a cold towel and, a few steps further on, were offered a choice of juice or sparkling wine as a welcome drink. We were then seated on the beautiful terrace. Here we were asked for our passports and signed the prepared documents – that was it.
Once the champagne was drunk, we were escorted to our tent. There were more welcome surprises there. But more about that later.
JW Marriott Masai Mara at a glance
The JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge is built along the Talek River. At the time of our stay, there were a total of 22 tents. One of them was a tent with two bedrooms and a shared living area. Two more were under construction, one of which had its own small pool. If you’re interested in the exact layout, Fabi has some great drone footage of the entire complex in our YouTube review.
The complex with the lobby, restaurants, terrace, and bar is located in the center. Next to it, opposite tent no. 10, is the pool with an adjoining gym and spa. The lodge also has its own garden where many of the ingredients for the meals are grown.
Tent
We were accompanied to the tent by the front office manager. Agnes, the housekeeping lady responsible for us, was already waiting at the tent. Both of them (like all the staff, by the way! Really, all of them!) were absolutely charming!
So let’s take a look at tent no. 6 together. The tents here are called tented suites and are all basically the same. The base is solid and only the bathroom area is brick-built. All other walls and the roof are made of real tent fabric. To get to the tent, you have to climb a few steps. At the foot of the stairs, you will find a Masai staff. If you stick it into the opening in the floor in the middle of the step, it means: Do not disturb! A great idea!
Bed- and living room
At the top of the staircase, you walk a short distance across the terrace, through the glass door, and you are in the spacious living room. Here, more gifts await you. Of course, there was a welcome letter and a specially branded thermos flask for each of us. What a great souvenir of our stay here at the JW Marriott Masai Mara!
In the combined living room and bedroom, you will find two couches and seat cushions, a desk, a cabinet with a minibar, and a four-poster bed with wardrobes. The wardrobes contain a safe, bathrobes, slippers, insect spray, and, of course, a flashlight. Laundry baskets are stored under the wardrobes. During your stay, you can have up to 5 items of clothing washed free of charge per day. Simply leave them in the baskets in the morning and everything will be hung up clean in the wardrobe the next morning. Umbrellas and yoga mats are also available in one of the baskets.
One more word about the minibar. It is well stocked with drinks and snacks. There are also spirits and wines on top of the sideboard. Everything is included in the price here. All food and drinks. Only at the bar are there a few exceptions for exclusive drinks that have to be paid for separately.
Speaking of cooling, there is no air conditioning anywhere in the entire facility! Only fans provide cooling. In fact, it’s hard to imagine during the day. But at night it gets quite cool, and for dinner, but especially on game drives in the early morning, you will definitely need a warm jacket!
Bathroom
An open connecting door leads to the bathroom. The very spacious room has a large vanity unit with two sinks and an incredible amount of amenities for you. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion are from Rituals. We especially liked that aftersun, mosquito repellent, and other items were also available for use. That’s really well thought out!
On the right is the separate toilet and shower. What makes the shower special is that this room also has a glass door leading outside, and there is an outdoor shower on the small terrace in front of it. Showering with a view and under the open sky. That’s something special.
On the left, behind a large window on the terrace, you will find a Jacuzzi embedded in the floor. Here you can relax in the evening after your safari and enjoy the view. If you want to use it, you must let us know in the morning so that we can fill the pool, but it will take until the evening for it to reach a comfortable temperature.
Turndown Service
With such perfect service at the JW Marriott Masai Mara, it’s no surprise that the turndown service is also superb. While you are sitting down to dinner, your tent is prepared for the night.
The curtains are drawn and the mesh windows in the tent are closed. All unnecessary lights are turned off and the important lights are turned on. The curtains on the four-poster bed are opened and there is a bedside rug with a pair of slippers on each side of the bed. But the absolute best thing is: there is a hot water bottle in the bed! That’s amazing! When you come into the slightly chilled tent in the evening and can slip into a warm bed. That’s real luxury for me!
Agnes also gives us a goodnight greeting and, on the evening of our departure, two small elephants as a little gift. How thoughtful! Every detail has been considered.
View
It’s really great! From the terrace, we could watch the river and the wildlife in and around it. The scenery changes with the time of day and is truly uniquely beautiful!
Lodge activities
Pool
Opposite tent no. 10, you will find a chest-deep pool filled with cold water. At lunchtime between the two safari trips, you can refresh yourself here. There are enough sun loungers for the few guests. During our stay, apart from our sun loungers, there were only two others occupied.
At the pool, you will also find towels, water, and even sunscreen at your disposal. There is a covered area, but unfortunately, it did not really provide any shade. We missed having a few parasols here. Otherwise, it is a wonderful place to relax.
Gym
The gym is very special. Located right next to the pool, it is completely open and has no windows. Some classic fitness equipment and dumbbells are available. Towels, yoga mats, and water are also available for your use.
Spa by JW
Located opposite the gym on the other side of the pool, the small spa at the JW Marriott Masai Mara offers everything you need to relax. In addition to two treatment rooms in separate tents, you will also find a sauna and steam bath, and on cold days, a small heated indoor pool for all guests to use.
Kid´s Club
There isn’t a real kids’ club, but the crew is very child-friendly and, of course, the safaris are a great activity for kids! Therefore, no separate childcare is necessary.
Specials
With the Canon Photo Studio, the JW Marriott Masai Mara offers you the unique opportunity to use professional cameras under qualified guidance. Here you can borrow equipment free of charge, and Kennedy, the extremely friendly lodge photographer, will be happy to explain everything and offer to professionally edit 20 of the pictures you take yourself. For a fee, you can also go on a photo safari with him and take photos on game drives under expert guidance. I just borrowed a camera and have to say: I took the best photos of my life!
On the riverbank opposite the restaurant, a waterhole has been created, which is now home to a hippopotamus and often attracts visits from other hippos. If you have good eyesight, you can watch the animals while having lunch at the Hippo Pool. If you would like to get closer, simply let the driver know and he will drive you right up to them.
In the JW Garden, some of the vegetables and herbs that end up on guests’ plates are grown in a beautifully landscaped area. A gardener takes devoted care of the plants.
Game Drives
The real highlight of your stay at the JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge, however, are the game drives. That’s what the safari trips are called here. A normal day starts very early at 6:30 a.m. with the departure of the jeep. To wake you up, you are handed a thermos mug of coffee or tea, and off you go. After sunrise, the animals in the national park are most active and come out of their night quarters into the open; besides, it’s not too hot yet. In our case, it was actually very chilly. Without our jackets, it would have been much too cold.
For breakfast, the driver finds a quiet spot with a beautiful view and spreads out the food and drinks selected the day before on the fold-out radiator grille. Add two chairs and the experience is unforgettable! Coffee and delicious food in the open wilderness. It’s amazing!
At lunchtime, we return to the lodge to rest, and in the afternoon around 3:00 p.m., we head back out into the savannah—usually until just before sunset.
This way, you get to see as much of the savannah, wilderness, and wildlife as possible without arriving back at the lodge completely exhausted in the evening. However, I must say that a game drive is not to be confused with sitting on the sofa. You spend the entire time in an open vehicle, close to the animals and vegetation, but also exposed to the wind, dust, and possibly rain.
If you travel longer distances to find animals, it can be quite exhausting. If you’ve been in the area for a while, you’ll eventually have seen most of it and will have to drive to another area for a while. And importantly, if you need to go to the toilet while on the road, it’s behind the jeep. It’s good to know that in advance.
During the trip, Paul took great care of us, explained a lot, and constantly checked in with his colleagues to find out where the best wildlife sightings were in the area. By the way, we were incredibly lucky: normally it costs $450 per day if you want to book a jeep just for yourselves. But since it wasn’t very busy during our stay, we were able to enjoy this luxury for free. So we could always decide for ourselves when we wanted to leave and what we wanted to see.
Restaurants
Sarabi Restaurant
Breakfast (if you stay at the lodge) and dinner are served here. We had fantastic meals here and were treated incredibly kindly. There is a small menu for dinner, but the kitchen is happy to fulfill you every wish. On the first evening, we were asked what we would like to eat the next day. The chef was Indian, so we agreed on Indian food—great!
On our last evening, there was a Kenyan evening with local specialties. It was simply served, and everything—really everything—was incredibly delicious!
Drinks are of course included and will be served with your meal if you wish. Otherwise, you can choose whatever you like.
Bar / Fig Tree
On our first day, after arriving, we ate under the beautiful fig tree and enjoyed the view of the river. The entire area adjacent to the restaurant has more of a living room feel and is very relaxed. There is also a fire pit on the terrace, and the bar serves fantastic mixed drinks.
Breakfast
As mentioned above, breakfast at the JW Marriott Masai Mara is usually served outside on safari. On our last day, we decided not to get up quite so early and stayed at the lodge for breakfast. There is no buffet. Everything is served à la carte. That makes perfect sense, of course. Here, too, you can choose from a menu, but you can also simply ask for whatever you want. If the kitchen can manage it, the chefs are happy to oblige. On this penultimate morning, Paul, our driver, joined us and had breakfast with us.
Check-out
We decided to pay the day before our departure, which was no problem at all. Everything was prepared, and it went very quickly and smoothly at the small reception desk.
Costs
We were lucky enough to spend three fantastic nights at the JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge. At the time of booking, one night would have cost an average of €4,000. Of course, we could never have afforded that. €12,000 for a stay is a hefty price tag. Fortunately, Fabi is always up to date on the travel market and found out for us that you can book the JW Marriott Masai Mara with points even so soon after it opened. So we paid “only” 364,000 points for our entire stay. And not a cent more – everything is included.
Of course, we left a generous tip for the fantastic crew!
Onward journey
It was really hard for us to say goodbye to the JW Marriott Masai Mara. We have rarely felt so comfortable anywhere else. Of course, we were driven to the airport in a jeep, which gave us one last taste of the real safari feeling. On departure, we were each allowed to choose a bracelet to remind us of this trip.
Back toward civilization, you can of course drive or fly. We decided to fly back again and were rewarded with some truly amazing and exciting views of planes taking off and landing very close by in the African wilderness.
Conclusio
Unbelievable. Simply a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Of course, a stay at the JW Marriott Masai Mara is not really relaxing. That’s not what it’s meant to be. But it is a real adventure. I often couldn’t believe it and felt much more like I was in a movie. You are so close to the animals. It’s simply exhilarating. And then there’s the unique experience at the lodge, where your every wish is anticipated – and with such relaxed friendliness. It couldn’t be better!
Hotel Homepage
Rating
And here it is: we award the JW Marriott Masai Mara an incredible 11 out of 10 points. This lodge simply does everything right. We had high expectations, and they were exceeded. This lodge is a gem, and Marriott has done a lot of things right here.
Go there?
Absolutely. If you have enough points or have saved enough money and are interested in Africa and the wilderness, it is simply an unforgettable experience.
Booking with EVRYWHRE
Want to book the JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge? Then book through our Preferred Partner Rate! It won’t cost you any more, but it will bring you real benefits:
✔ Free breakfast
✔ Upgrade subject to availability
✔ Early Check-in & Late Check-out
✔ Earn points – as usual!
You can find further details on our Booking Hub.
YouTube Review
And if you’re still with us after reading this long review and are still hungry for more spectacular (drone) footage, check out Fabi’s review on YouTube.
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