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Lodges & partnersArusha City

Tumbili Lodge

Nine rooms in a tropical garden on the southern edge of Arusha, ten minutes from the airstrip, with a lily pond, a pool and vervet monkeys in the mango trees.

01 / 03
Tier
Comfort
Location
Arusha City
Reviews
5.0 ★ on TripAdvisor
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About

About Tumbili Lodge.

Tumbili Lodge sits on Dorobo Road in Olasiti, on the southern edge of Arusha just off the bypass and about ten minutes from Arusha Airport. The plot is a mature tropical garden rather than a hotel forecourt: mango and flowering trees, cut lawns, a lily pond with a timber deck built out over the water, and a pool on the slope below with loungers around it. Mount Meru rises behind the property. Tumbili is Swahili for monkey, and the vervets that work through the canopy in the early morning are the reason for the name.

There are nine rooms in all, which is small enough that the place never feels like a hotel. Three sit in the main house, with king beds, en suite bathrooms that run to a walk in shower, a bath and a separate toilet, and their own piece of garden at the door. The rest are free standing bandas set through the planting, built in timber and thatch with earthy interiors, each with a private balcony where coffee arrives in the morning. Rooms are sold as singles, doubles, triples and quads, and the lodge also keeps a family cottage of interconnecting rooms which it has not yet priced for us.

The restaurant is a real part of the property rather than an afterthought, cooking to order from a menu rather than laying out a buffet, and it is well enough thought of in Arusha that people drive out to eat there without staying. Rates are on a bed and breakfast basis, so lunch and dinner are ordered and charged as you go, and the kitchen will make up a lunch box for a day in the parks. There is a spa for treatments, laundry, room service, full time power and Wi Fi throughout.

It suits the night before an early flight to the Serengeti, the night you come back off the circuit, and anyone climbing Kilimanjaro who wants a garden rather than a lobby at either end. It is ten minutes from the airstrip the light aircraft leave from and about an hour and twenty minutes from Kilimanjaro International, with the centre of Arusha half an hour away when you want it. It is not a game viewing property and does not pretend to be one. What it offers is quiet, shade, a pool, good food and a short drive to the plane.

Signature experiences

Why guests choose it.

  1. Breakfast on the pond deck

    The deck is built out over the lily pond under a thatched roof, and breakfast is served there before the heat comes up. The vervets are usually overhead in the mango trees at the same hour.

  2. A day with nothing in it

    The pool sits on an open lawn with loungers and shade, and the garden is big enough to walk. For most guests this is the point of the stay, either side of a long flight or a week of early starts.

  3. Dinner cooked to order

    The kitchen works from a menu rather than a buffet, which is unusual at this price in Arusha, and dinner is served on the terrace or in the dining banda. Lunch boxes are made up for days in the parks.

  4. Monkeys in the mango trees

    Vervet monkeys move through the garden canopy in the early morning and again late in the afternoon. The lodge is named for them and the garden birds are worth an hour with a cup of coffee.

Room types

Where you will sleep.

Garden Banda, Single Room

A free standing banda in the garden for one guest, with a king bed, an en suite bathroom and a private balcony.

Garden Banda, Double Room

A free standing banda in the garden for two sharing a king bed, with a private balcony over the planting.

Garden Banda, Triple Room

A garden banda sold to three, with a king bed and an additional single bed.

Garden Banda, Quad Room

A garden banda sold to four, with a king bed and two additional beds.

Rooms Main House, Single Room

A room in the main house for one guest, with a king bed, an en suite bathroom with a walk in shower and a bath, and its own piece of garden at the door.

Rooms Main House, Double Room

A main house room for two sharing a king bed, with a walk in shower, a bath and a private garden at the door.

Rooms Main House, Triple Room

A main house room sold to three, with a king bed and an additional single bed beside it.

Rooms Main House, Quad Room

A main house room sold to four, with a king bed and two additional beds.

At a glance

The essentials, in brief.

Amenities

  • Swimming Pool
  • Restaurant Cooked To Order
  • Tropical Garden And Lily Pond
  • Deck Over The Pond
  • Spa Treatments
  • Room Service
  • Laundry Service
  • Wi Fi Throughout
  • Mosquito Nets
  • Private Balcony Or Veranda
  • Daily Housekeeping
  • Safari Lunch Boxes On Request
  • Full Time Electricity

Best for

  • First Night In Tanzania
  • Last Night Before Flying Home
  • Early Flights From Arusha Airport
  • Before and after a Kilimanjaro climb
  • A quiet garden and a pool
  • Couples

Wildlife and nature

  • Vervet monkeys through the garden canopy each morning
  • Garden birds in the mango and flowering trees all year
  • Weaver colonies and sunbirds around the lily pond
  • Mount Meru visible from the grounds on clear mornings

Best time to visit

When to go.

  • January: best
  • February: best
  • March: not a best month
  • April: not a best month
  • May: not a best month
  • June: best
  • July: best
  • August: best
  • September: best
  • October: best
  • November: not a best month
  • December: not a best month
Best months

Best months: January to February and June to October.

Location & access

Getting there.

Location

Arusha City

Arriving by air

Kilimanjaro International is the long haul gateway, about 1 hour 20 minutes by road. Arusha Airport, where light aircraft leave for the Serengeti and the Crater, is about 10 minutes from the gate, which is why the lodge works so well the night before an early flight.

By road

About 1 hour 20 minutes from Kilimanjaro International on the sealed Moshi to Arusha road, then onto the bypass and south to Olasiti. The lodge publishes this figure on its own fact sheet.

On the map

Where it sits.

3.393° S, 36.629° E

What's included

What the rate covers.

Included

  • Accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis
  • Daily Breakfast
  • Use of the swimming pool and the gardens
  • Wi Fi Throughout The Property
  • Mosquito nets and a private balcony or veranda
  • Daily Housekeeping
  • All Applicable Value Added Tax
  • Parking At The Lodge
  • A baby cot, free of charge, where one is needed

Not included

  • Tourism Development Levy of 1 percent of the rate, per person per night, which the lodge adds to the rate
  • Lunch at 25 US dollars per person and dinner at 30 US dollars per person in 2026, and 29 and 34 US dollars in 2027
  • A safari lunch box at 18 US dollars in 2026 and 20 US dollars in 2027
  • All Beverages
  • Laundry And Spa Treatments
  • Airport Transfers
  • Excursions, Park Fees And Guiding
  • Tips And Gratuities
  • Tanzania inbound travel insurance, 44 US dollars per adult, compulsory from 1 October 2026 and bought online before travel
  • Items Of A Personal Nature

Frequently asked

Questions, answered.

How many rooms does Tumbili Lodge have?

Nine in all. Three are in the main house and the rest are free standing bandas through the garden. The lodge also keeps a family cottage of interconnecting rooms, which it has not priced for us yet, so it is not on sale here.

Where exactly is the lodge?

On Dorobo Road in Olasiti, on the southern edge of Arusha just off the bypass. Arusha Airport is about ten minutes away and the centre of Arusha about thirty minutes north.

How do guests get there?

By road. About an hour and twenty minutes from Kilimanjaro International and about ten minutes from Arusha Airport, where the light aircraft to the northern parks leave. Airport transfers are not included in the room rate.

When is the lodge open?

All year. Rates move between a high season, which runs January to the end of February and June to the end of December, and a low season from March to the end of May.

What is included in the rate?

Bed and breakfast, so breakfast each morning, the pool and the gardens, Wi Fi, housekeeping and Value Added Tax. Lunch and dinner are ordered from the menu and charged as you go. The lodge adds a Tourism Development Levy of 1 percent of the rate per person per night.

Are families with children welcome?

The lodge welcomes children and keeps a baby cot free of charge, but we are not yet able to price a child on this property. Children cannot be booked at this lodge yet.

Is there Wi Fi, and what are the check in times?

Wi Fi runs throughout the property and the power is on full time. Check in is from two in the afternoon and check out is at ten in the morning.

What is there to do from the lodge?

Not very much, which is usually the point of a night here. There is the pool, the garden and the pond deck, the Cultural Heritage Centre and the Maasai market in Arusha, and the Chemka hot spring as a day trip east towards Moshi.

What is the food like?

The restaurant cooks to order from a menu rather than putting out a buffet, and it has a following among people who live in Arusha and drive out to eat there. The kitchen makes up lunch boxes for days in the parks.

Why is it called Tumbili Lodge?

Tumbili is Swahili for monkey. A troop of vervet monkeys works through the mango trees in the garden in the early morning and again late in the afternoon.

What's nearby

Worth the short trip.

  • Arusha Airport

    About ten minutes away. The airstrip the light aircraft use for the Serengeti and the Crater, which is the practical reason most guests pick this side of Arusha.

  • Cultural Heritage Centre

    On the Dodoma road a short drive away. A large gallery of Tanzanian art and carving, and the usual stop on a spare afternoon.

  • Arusha town and the Maasai market

    About half an hour north. The clock tower, the Declaration Museum and the curio market in the centre.

  • Chemka hot spring

    A long morning east towards Moshi. A clear warm spring in a palm grove, and a good way to fill a day between a safari and a flight home.

Nearby

Other places to stay nearby.

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