Name: Cottars 1920s Camp
Address: Maasai mara, Serengeti National Park, Serengeti National Park, Serengeti National Park, 00100, Tanzania
Rating: 10

24-hour reception

Elevator/lift

Gift shop

Garden

Private check-in/check-out

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Bridal suite

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Safe-deposit box

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Diet menu (on request)

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Internet access

Internet

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Transfer

Spanish

German

English

Italian

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Offsite parking reservations required

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Fax and copy machine

Conference Hall

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Massage

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Pets Not Allowed

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At the hotel

Keekorok

Olkiombo Airport

Mara Lodges Airport

Cottars 1920s Camp

Serengeti National Park

child-bed

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external-private-bathroom

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treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

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oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

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partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

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with-view

annex

basement

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We went to Cottar’s for our honeymoon and truly had the most incredible time. We stayed for 5 days and every day was fantastic. From the impeccable decor of the tents to the food to our incredible guide, our stay could not have been better. The staff was like family by the end of the trip and they all went above and beyond to make us feel comfortable and accommodated. I also have a number of dietary restrictions that they were so respectful of and accommodating for. The game viewing was also great - our guide, Neebo, was fantastic. We saw 4 of the big 5 including leopards (just missed a rhino which is hard in the Mara!) we cannot wait to visit again

A must visit in the Masai Mara!

Had an awesome stay at cottars. It's  was a perfect place to relax after I had a busy 10 days.
Excellent food and friendly staff. The tent was beautiful, the biggest I've stayed in. Lots if free activities to enjoy, I did the massai warrior school and taught the staff how to play croquet.

One of my favorite places

This camp is so grossly overpriced.  It's old and lazy , just like the guide Dennis, who could care more about sleeping than our safari.  My husband first noticed how he just seemed to keep driving circles, up and down the same roads.  He never explained in depth about the animals, just "it's an eagle", or "it's an impala".  Then when we were watching some buffalo, Dennis fell ASLEEP!!!  WHO DOES THAT??  We were so disgusted and disappointed in everything at this camp.  Will not return and definitely will not recommend it to all of our friends who frequent Kenya.

Worst guide ever!!  FELL ASLEEP ON THE JOB!!

Our guide, Enock, and our tracker, Salash, were very professional and we had great game drives.  Richard, our room steward keep our room neat & tidy and got our laundry washed.  Peris was the camp manager and made sure everything was running smoothly.  The food was amazing.  The entire staff was very friendly and helpful.

I have stayed in several different properties in the Mara and found the tent could use some updating.  Also, I was sharing this room with a friend and there were two beds.  However, one was a double and the other a single.  If the furniture was rearranged differently, two double beds would be able to fit into the tent.  For the amount of money being charged for this property, the bed situation was unacceptable.

That is the reason I did not give this camp an excellent rating.

very good experience 

We spent 5 glorious days at Cottars with a large group of friends last week.  The entire trip was phenomenal!  The food was delicious and all the staff are truly exceptional.   This was a trip of a lifetime and we would certainly recommend Cottar’s.  Our time spent at your lodge exceeded all of our expectations.  Thank you so much Cottar’s for such a phenomenal experience!

Amazing Trip of a Lifetime!!!

This was our last, third, safari camp of our ten-day travel, and what a fantastic place to finish. The staff was extremely welcoming and attentive to all details. The accommodations were very spacious and comforting. All of the meals were delicious and very accommodating to our schedule. Our guide was very informative on all of our rides. The whole staff was exceptional. I truly cannot say enough great things about our experience at the camp. We really like that they own their own property, so you are not always competing with all of the other safaris in the area.

Perfect end to safari

What an amazing experience! Our family can't say enough great things about Cottar's and the excellent service provided to us. From early morning safari drives to watch lions, cheetahs and leopards to a memorable visit to a Masai village, we were blessed!

AMAZING!!!

Cottar's far exceeded our expectation.  It is, without a doubt, the best safari camp in Kenya. The camp is just as pictured- elegant, comfortable, picturesque, and secluded. The service was incredible and tailored to our needs. Our guide Mako was a true professional and knew exactly where to take us on safari. The animals were stunning. Our respect for nature and Africa deepened. Everyone at the camp was friendly and lovely.  We felt like we made life long friends in just a few days.  Our only regret was that we didn't stay longer.  Stay a minimum of four nights- and take the bush bath!

BEST vacation ever!

We as a family of 5 have just returned from Cottars.
We had a fabulous time however given the stratospheric daily price ($6000 s day) we unsurprisingly had very high expectations and in some regards these were not met.

The negatives first:

The family tents have views of bushes / trees and at best a nearby hillside. As other have said they do not have the sweeping views over the Mara you see in pictures from the main mess tent or the couples tents or the bush villa. This was a huge disappointment to us given that part of the reason for staying at Cottars was the views. 

The family tents have a fire place but even with all the tents flaps open it got quite Smokey inside the tent and I had concerns about the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. (As most campers know you never cook inside a closed tent for that reason) I do think as a minimum they should have carbon monoxide alarms in the tents with fireplaces.

The family tents are dark. For sure it’s a tent so what do you expect? Well at this price point enough lights in the tent so it is not gloomy in the dusk / evening ( the honeymoon tents have some pendant chandeliers). There are only only 4 table lamps for the whole of the tented area.

The bathrooms are very tired and need updating in my view. Decent lighting / mirrors / nice stone tiles are all required. They are in the hard standing part of the tent. 

Privacy in the family tents was minimal. 
I was expecting some drapes between the bedroom areas and the living area. However though there are drapes between the children’s bedroom and the rest of the tent. The adults bedroom is open plan with the living  area and fireplace with no drapes. So that if your children are at the table or by the fire there is no privacy from them when you are in bed.

As a result if all of the above I would not recommend a family tent. Minimal views, fireplace safety issues, dark, minimal privacy between bedrooms. In preference I would rent 2 double tents for a marginal increase in cost.

The final negative and also quite a big one is food.
The food was ok but nothing more.
There was no choice at lunch and dinner you got whatever the chef decided to cook that day.
Dinner was always soup, followed by a main course followed by desert. 
Some main courses like the cod were great. Others like the ostrich stew were barely edible. At $6000 per night for 5 I expect a lot more.
Cottars fell massively short on this. Desert on 2 nights was fruit salad! 
Really I would be expecting choices of high end steaks, lobster etc and presented in a fine dining way at this price point. Cottars food was edible but nothing more and to not have a choice is pretty unforgivable at this price point. 
I know they are in the Mara but plenty of other places in the Mara manage this as do high resorts on their own islands in the Maldives.  So their relatively isolated location is not a valid excuse. 
Included wines were basic. Drinkable but nothing more.

The positives:

There is much to love about Cottars

The staff were all lovely and our guides were great.
Being in its own private reserve it is lovely and quite and it was great to see animals without lots of other vehicles around.
The 1920s feel is lovely (baring the above).
The main mess tent has a great communal feel and it was very enjoyable to have cocktails every evening with other guests. The African night dancing was a highlight.

So would I return?
Probably not with the current metrics.
Either the quality needs to improve or the price needs to come down.

Good but not perfect

Tl:dr
There are some high charges at Cottar’s that just don’t match up to the value. With so many other beautiful lodges in the Mara, spend your money elsewhere. 

Longer review 
We are residents of Kenya who have spent a lot of time in the Mara. For ages I had wanted to go to the iconic Cottar’s. Sadly, it just didn’t measure up to expectations given the high price point they charge. There were wonderful things - the food, the privacy, the guides and staff overall. However, we also had one issue that they have continued to leave I resolved to this date that I think shows how little they care about value for guests. 

Background: We needed to be picked up at another camp on the other side of the Mara, which is quite a long way. The Cottar’s office staff quoted us a figure of almost $600. (For comparison, you can hire a safari jeep to drive from Nairobi to the Mara for around $250, albeit not a game drive, but for comparison sake, I share that number here). I thought this was pretty high from Cottar’s, but it was supposed to include a packed bush lunch and we didn’t really have an alternate transport option planned, and I figured it would be a beautiful day. However, when they arrived to pick us up, there was no food. We were traveling with kids, so the idea that we could do a 5+ hour drive without any meals was not going to work. Luckily the other place we had been staying sprang into action and we packed lots of food and were set for the day. The drive was great, the guide fantastic and we arrived at Cottar’s. When I asked about the missing meal, it wasn’t really addressed. Before we departed, I asked again, and they said they could pack a meal to take with us on departure in lieu of the first missing one. But we didn’t need a meal then, and the idea had been to have a nice Bush lunch on the drive the first day. They said we could then follow up with the office to get reimbursement. I have sent now 5 emails on separate days and just get no response. Of course the office was immediately responsive when we were booking, so it’s clear they just don’t want to deal with this and aren’t interested to provide value to clients. 

I write this long review to just say, there are many, many gorgeous lodges in the Mara. After this experience I wouldn’t go back to Cottar’s, the value is just not there.

Cottars 1920s Camp

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