Lodges & partnersArusha City
Seventy seven rooms around a pool and a lawn in the Uzunguni quarter of Arusha, ten minutes from the clock tower and three quarters of an hour from the airport.
From $133 per person per night
About
Kibo Palace sits in the Uzunguni quarter of Arusha, off Nyerere Road and a short walk from the clock tower, which puts it close enough to town to be useful and far enough back from it to be quiet. The building wraps around a courtyard with a kidney shaped pool, a lawn and a stand of palms, and because the rooms look inward onto that rather than out onto the road, you hear birds in the morning instead of traffic. It is a town hotel rather than a lodge, and it does not pretend otherwise. What it is for is the night before the circuit and the night after it.
There are 77 rooms and suites across the property. The executive rooms run to around 54 square metres, which is larger than most Arusha rooms, with air conditioning, a king bed or two beds, a work desk that is actually a desk, satellite television, a safe, tea and coffee making facilities and an en suite bathroom with a bath alongside the shower. The deluxe suites add a sitting area at around 73 square metres, and the executive suites reach about 100 square metres with a separate sitting room that will hold a meeting. Housekeeping turns the rooms down in the evening and there is room service around the clock.
Downstairs there is the Kilimanjaro restaurant, which serves breakfast from half past six on weekdays and until eleven at the weekend, a pool terrace open through the day, and a wellness floor with a gym, instructors on site, a sauna, a steam room and a massage room. Breakfast is included in every rate here. Lunch and dinner are available and are charged separately, which is worth knowing when you are planning the first evening after a long flight. There is wifi throughout, a lift, a doctor on call, a backup generator and secure parking.
It suits travellers who want a real bed and a real bath at the start and end of a safari rather than a tented experience they have come a long way to have in the bush instead. It suits anyone arriving late into Kilimanjaro, since the drive is around three quarters of an hour and reception is staffed through the night. It suits groups and small meetings, because there are conference rooms for up to 150 and a garden that takes 400. It is not where you would spend a week, and nobody at the hotel suggests you should.
Kilimanjaro International Airport is about 46 to 50 kilometres away, which the hotel puts at 45 minutes and which is honest outside the evening rush. Arusha Airport, where the light aircraft to the Serengeti and the Crater leave from, is about 8 kilometres west, roughly 20 minutes depending on the town. Tarangire is about two hours south west by road and the Ngorongoro gate about three and a half hours west, so a first morning departure from here reaches either comfortably.
Signature experiences
A kidney shaped pool on a lawn ringed with palms at the centre of the building, with loungers and a terrace through the day. It is the obvious place to spend the afternoon you arrive, and the obvious place to sit when you come back off the circuit covered in dust.
A gym on the second floor with instructors on site, a sauna, a steam room and a massage room. Three hours of it will do more for a body that has spent a week in a game drive vehicle than anything else in Arusha.
The Kilimanjaro restaurant opens at 06:30 on weekdays, which is early enough for a proper start towards Tarangire or the Crater rather than a packed box eaten in the car.
The clock tower, the curio market and the cultural heritage centre road are all within reach on foot or a short drive, and there are banks and a hospital within fifty metres of the gate. Few Arusha hotels in this bracket sit this close in.
Three conference rooms taking up to 150 guests between them, a business centre with video conferencing, and a garden that holds 400 for a reception. Useful for an operator briefing or a group departure.
Gallery
Room types
A 54 square metre executive room held for one guest, on a quiet upper floor with garden views. Air conditioning, a king bed, a work desk, satellite television, a safe, tea and coffee making facilities and an en suite bathroom with a bath and a separate shower.
The executive room with a king bed for two guests sharing, looking over the gardens and the pool terrace. Air conditioning, satellite television, a minibar fridge, a work desk, a safe, tea and coffee making facilities and an en suite bathroom with a bath and a separate shower.
The same executive room made up with two beds rather than one, which is what most guides, drivers and travelling friends ask for. Air conditioning, satellite television, a work desk, a safe, tea and coffee making facilities and an en suite bathroom with a bath and a separate shower.
A 73 square metre suite held for one guest, with a sitting area set apart from the sleeping area. Air conditioning, satellite television, a minibar fridge, a work desk, a safe and an en suite bathroom with a hydromassage bath.
A 73 square metre suite for two guests sharing, with a separate sitting area, a king bed and windows on two sides. Air conditioning, satellite television, a minibar fridge, a work desk, a safe and an en suite bathroom with a hydromassage bath.
The largest of the suites the contract prices, at about 100 square metres, held for one guest. A full sitting room, a separate bedroom, air conditioning throughout, satellite television, a work desk, a safe and an en suite bathroom with a hydromassage bath.
About 100 square metres for two guests sharing, with a sitting room that takes a meeting of six, a separate bedroom with a king bed, air conditioning, satellite television, a work desk, a safe and an en suite bathroom with a hydromassage bath.
At a glance
Best time to visit
Best months: All year.
Location & access
Arusha City
Kilimanjaro International sits about 46 to 50 kilometres east of the hotel and is roughly 45 minutes by road, which is how almost every guest arrives. Arusha Airport, for the light aircraft to Seronera, Kogatende, Manyara and Lake Ndutu, is about 8 kilometres west of the hotel and roughly 20 minutes, so an overnight here puts you about half an hour from a morning departure into the parks.
About 45 minutes. Kilimanjaro International Airport is roughly 46 to 50 kilometres east of the hotel on the sealed Arusha to Moshi road, which is a straightforward run outside the evening rush. The hotel arranges transfers on request and reception is staffed through the night for late arrivals.
On the map
3.375° S, 36.699° E
What's included
Frequently asked
77 rooms and suites in total, across executive rooms, executive twins, an executive triple, deluxe suites, executive suites, a family suite, a presidential suite and an accessible room. Savannah and Sands currently sells the executive room, the executive twin, the deluxe suite and the executive suite.
All year. It is a town hotel, so there is no closed season and no migration window to work around. Reception is staffed around the clock.
Kilimanjaro International Airport is about 45 minutes east by road, roughly 46 to 50 kilometres on a sealed road, and the hotel arranges transfers on request. Arusha Airport, for light aircraft into the Serengeti and the Crater, is about 8 kilometres west, roughly 20 minutes.
Bed and breakfast. Breakfast in the Kilimanjaro restaurant, wifi throughout, bottled water, coffee and tea in the room, turn down service, and use of the pool, gym, sauna and steam room. The 18 percent VAT and the 5 percent service charge are included in the rate.
The Tanzania Tourism Development Levy of 1 percent of the accommodation rate is charged extra. Lunch is 25 US dollars per person and dinner is 30 US dollars per person. Laundry, telephone and room service are charged to the room and settled at check out.
Yes, the hotel takes children and has a family suite. Savannah and Sands is not quoting child rates at this property yet, because the hotel bills children as a cash supplement rather than a percentage and we do not publish a price we cannot itemise. Ask us and we will quote the family rooms directly with the hotel.
Check in is 14:00 and check out is 10:00. Arrival before 07:00 means the room has to be held from the previous night. A late departure between 10:00 and 18:00 is charged at half a night, and after 18:00 at a full night.
There is an outdoor pool in the courtyard with a terrace beside it, a gym on the second floor with instructors on site, a sauna, a steam room and a massage room. All are included for hotel guests except the treatments.
Wifi is complimentary throughout the hotel and the rooms. Arusha loses mains power from time to time and the hotel runs a backup generator, so lights and lifts stay on. Sockets are the British three pin type.
Yes. Three conference rooms take up to 150 guests between them, there is a business centre with video conferencing and secretarial services, and the garden holds up to 400 for a reception.
That is what most of our guests use it for. It is close enough to Arusha Airport for a morning flight into the parks, large enough that a late arrival is no trouble, and it has a bath and a laundry for the night you come back off the circuit.
About 1.9 kilometres to the clock tower, which is a ten to twenty minute walk, with banks and a hospital within fifty metres of the gate. The Cultural Heritage Centre is about fifteen minutes by road.
Yes. From 1 October 2026 visitors entering mainland Tanzania must hold the government inbound travel insurance, 44 USD per adult and valid for up to 92 days, covering emergency medical care, evacuation, repatriation and lost luggage. Children aged 3 to 17 pay half and infants under 3 are free. It is bought online before you fly or on arrival, and residents of Tanzania and of East African and SADC countries are exempt. If you land in Zanzibar first, the Zanzibar policy covers you instead. It is paid by you directly and is not part of our quote.
What's nearby
About ten to fifteen minutes on foot. The traditional midpoint between Cairo and Cape Town, and the easiest place in town to buy something to take home.
About fifteen minutes by road on the Dodoma road. A large gallery of Tanzanian art and carving, a Tanzanite dealer and a good coffee stop.
About an hour north east. Momella lakes, Ngurdoto crater and the lower slopes of Mount Meru, and one of the few parks in the north where you can walk and canoe.
About thirty minutes west at Burka coffee estate. A glass and bead workshop employing artisans with disabilities, open to visitors.
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