Muthu Lake Naivasha Country Club

“Magical Experience”

The rooms at LNCC were lovely, the staff were amazing (one staff member spent nearly an hour walking the grounds with us, telling us about the different wildlife) and the meals are good. We did a boat trip from the hotels pontoon which was a brilliant experience. Where this hotel comes into its o… lisää

The rooms at LNCC were lovely, the staff were amazing (one staff member spent nearly an hour walking the grounds with us, telling us about the different wildlife) and the meals are good. We did a boat trip from the hotels pontoon which was a brilliant experience. Where this hotel comes into its own is late at night when all the animals come out to graze, we were able to stand just metres away from the hippos, zebras and giraffes after eating dinner which was a magical moment that we will never forget. A word of warning that around Lake Naivasha it does get cold at night and the rooms aren't too well insulated, however, there are extra duvets available in the wardrobes which are needed!

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“Perfect location”

The location of the resort was perfect however the rooms are outdated and require refurbishment. Food was okay and not the best. For indian vegetarian food, you can have trouble if the indian chef is on his weekly off. They do not have any back up chef who can prepare Indian meal and take care of… lisää

The location of the resort was perfect however the rooms are outdated and require refurbishment. Food was okay and not the best. For indian vegetarian food, you can have trouble if the indian chef is on his weekly off. They do not have any back up chef who can prepare Indian meal and take care of vegetarian requirements. The stay was very pleasant.

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“No, you cannot outrun a Hippo!”

(A very quick primer on how these types of lodges function in the context of a safari vacation. I had never been on a safari before so I had ZERO idea how it worked. It’s pretty simple; the lodges are just there as a base of operation for you to go out exploring with your guide. I’m sure you co… lisää

(A very quick primer on how these types of lodges function in the context of a safari vacation. I had never been on a safari before so I had ZERO idea how it worked. It’s pretty simple; the lodges are just there as a base of operation for you to go out exploring with your guide. I’m sure you could try to have a relaxing break in one of the lodges - but that would totally underscore the fact that in the miles and miles and miles around where you’re reading your book or doing your crossword puzzle there are untold animals lurking around in their natural habitat and you can pretty passively and harmlessly SEE THEM. Drop your bags off - then go on a game-drive. Come back from that game-drive and dust off… have a meal… then back out again on a game drive. If you find yourself spending too much time around the camp then you are probably either doing it wrong or booked the wrong vacation.) the overall camp: The Lake Naivasha Country Club (AKA the MUTHU Country Club… AKA the MGM Country Club (no affiliation with MGM GRAND hotels and casinos)) was the third stop on our 9 day Kenya safari. By this point we had stayed in a fixed-structure lodge and a tented lodge. This would be the tie-breaker: another fixed-structure lodge. Pulling up into the drive of the lodge was the first real eye-opener: there were baboons, giraffes, zebras and water deer… all roaming around on the grounds as you drive in. The country club is located pretty much on the main strip of the town, so to see these creatures means that the animals aren’t exactly around the country club, rather the country club is within the animals. REALLY astounding.

The Country Club is laid out with one main building that contains the reception area, the bar, the dining hall and a meeting room. As with a lot of the other lodges that we looked at, the guest rooms branch out from the central buildings. There are plenty of staff on hand to help with your bags and to guide you to your room (this will be key after sunset…) the rooms: I want to be kind. I want to be charitable. I want to be understanding… the bedrooms are VERY tired. They are clean. But they have been well used. The furniture was probably top quality when it was purchased new - but after thousands of guests cycled through the rooms they look ‘less than optimal’. Again the room is clean. The linens are clean. The tiles in the bathrooms are clean… but that doesn’t mean they are appealing to the eye.

BUT

You are not staying at the Lake Naivasha Country Club for the bedroom. You won’t see the reason why you’re staying there until after the sun sets… keep reading. … all that said - the bed was extremely comfortable and we slept like babies. the food: The dining room consists of an inside seating area and an outside seating area. Normally I’d opt to sit inside. Not here. At this country club you absolutely NEED to sit on the veranda (…I’m getting to it…). The food prepared for the buffet was some of the best we ate in Kenya. Meats, fish, chicken, pasta, breads and desserts all tasty and made with great pride by the chefs and cooks - and it shows in how good it is and how often you go up for seconds or thirds or fourths. 

As with other lodges not the safari circuit, you are assigned one server (ours was Gideon, assisted by Danson). And just as was the case at the other lodges and hotels - they were incredibly friendly and helpful. BUT

Dinner does get interrupted from time to time. (And this IS why you want to pick the Lake Naivasha Country Club!) While siting outside you will notice guards roaming the grounds. Every once in a while a BRIGHT flashlight will be switched on, revealing the true stars of the club and the show. Here come the hippos! 

In a set-up that seems almost too fantastical to be true, once the sun sets, the hippos come up out of the water and roam the grounds of the hotel. (Do they get close?) Being that hippos are gigantic vegetarian murdering machines you don’t actually want to be TOO close to them. But the guards will escort you to within a reasonable but safe distance. I jokingly asked if I could go up and touch one. The guard asked if I could run at 20 kilometers per hour; he then told me that it wouldn’t be fast enough because hippos can run much faster than that. …I get it - don’t run up and accost the hippos! This aspect of staying at the country club makes up for the dark, worn accommodations in the bedrooms. The sheer novelty of watching the hippos trot around in the background, with the zebras and other animals is far in excess of anything that you may perceive as lacking. the staff: … did you say that the hippos are just roaming around? How do you get to your room? That is precisely why there are guards stationed on the walkways to escort you to and from your door and to make sure that you are safe. They are also there to assist with bags and any other impromptu requests you may have, though there are phones in the rooms so you can dial “0” for assistance from the front desk. ...can you see animals?***: This is usually where I’d say something polite about how you get to see so many animals on the way to the camp through the park. In this case I can say with great certainty: YOU WILL SEE animals in the country club. LOTS of them. All over the place. It is never scary or unsettling… though I do have to wonder what would happen if a hippo really got a bee in his or her bonnet about wanting to sample some of your rice pudding…. But the guards are there to wave them off - you’re safe.

Apart from the grounds of the club itself the area to explore is the Lake (by boat) and Crescent Island (which your lake tour driver will take you to if you book tickets…) Both of these excursions are worth it to see the eagles, kingfishers and cormorants feeding in the water. Crescent Island is something totally unique and I will leave a separate review for this most excellent place. *** It would be wrong to put the presence of the wildlife on the Camp itself. There are other factors that dictate which animals you'll see and how readily available they are. Weather. The season (we went in July which was just about perfect to catch all the animals coming and going. And finally, your guide. If you pick the wrong guide you'll spend all your time bouncing around painfully in the back of a Land Cruiser and missing the animals. We picked Rustic Nature Tours, and our guide Simon was SUPERB! They knew when and where to take us and Simon knew all the routes and patterns within the park itself. It took a good situation and made it into a phenomenal situation.

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“Relaxing experience, excellent water safari, delicious food”

This was a wonderfully relaxing start to our holiday in Kenya. The hotel and lake was very peaceful and relaxing. We had an excellent guide on our boat safari from the hotel, and we saw lots of birds and wildlife. The hippos were spectacular. The staff and security were very attentive. The food was… lisää

This was a wonderfully relaxing start to our holiday in Kenya. The hotel and lake was very peaceful and relaxing. We had an excellent guide on our boat safari from the hotel, and we saw lots of birds and wildlife. The hippos were spectacular. The staff and security were very attentive. The food was delicious and we particularly enjoyed the curries and chapattis

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