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Lodges & partnersArusha City

Villa Maua

Nine garden rooms behind a white wall, a few minutes walk from the Arusha clock tower

01 / 06
Tier
Comfort
Location
Arusha City
Reviews
4.8 ★ on TripAdvisor
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About

About Villa Maua.

Villa Maua stands behind a grey wall on Kanisa Road, in the old residential quarter just east of the Arusha clock tower. The house is white and gabled in the Cape Dutch manner, built as a family home and turned into a hotel of nine rooms. Inside the wall there is lawn, a saltwater pool, a courtyard of potted ferns and a line of old trees, and the town goes quiet about three steps through the gate. Maua is the Swahili word for flowers, and the owners translate the name as the House of Flowers.

Almost everyone who stays here is on the way to or from a safari. Arusha is where the northern circuit starts: Tarangire is about two and a half hours west, Lake Manyara a little beyond it, and the Ngorongoro gate three and a half to four hours on. The usual shape of a stay is an evening arrival from Kilimanjaro International, dinner in the garden, a night of proper sleep and a departure with your guide after breakfast. Coming back the other way, the pool and a long lunch do a great deal for a party that has been in a vehicle for nine days.

The nine garden rooms each open onto the lawn through their own veranda. They are large and plainly done, with wide timber windows, woven baskets on the walls, a king bed or two beds side by side, air conditioning, satellite television and wireless internet, and a bathroom with a walk in shower and a stone basin. A third bed can be added, and three guests is the largest party the villa takes in one room. Rooms are sold on bed and breakfast, half board or full board, so you choose how much of the kitchen you want.

That kitchen runs through the day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the dining room, on the terrace under a parasol or in the courtyard, and the house will feed a late arrival off the evening flights. It is small enough that the same few people look after you from the gate to the airport, which is the part of a town hotel that usually goes missing.

Signature experiences

Why guests choose it.

  1. A proper night before the early start

    Safari days begin before seven. A quiet room behind a wall, a kitchen that will feed you whenever you land and a garden to sit in makes the difference between starting a trip tired and starting it ready.

  2. Breakfast on the lawn

    Tables go out under the trees in the morning and the garden fills with birds. It is a slow start that suits the day you come back from the parks more than the day you leave for them.

  3. The pool between two long drives

    A saltwater pool with loungers on the grass, walled on all sides. Guests use it to wash nine days of dust off before a flight home.

  4. A walk into town

    The clock tower is a few hundred metres away, with the Natural History Museum in the old German fort, the Ngorongoro information centre and the central market all within a short walk of it.

Room types

Where you will sleep.

Garden Room, single use

One of the nine garden rooms made up for one guest, with a king bed, a writing desk, air conditioning, satellite television and a private veranda onto the lawn. Sold on bed and breakfast, half board or full board.

Garden Room, double

A garden room with a king bed, wide timber windows onto the garden, air conditioning, satellite television and a bathroom with a walk in shower. Sold on bed and breakfast, half board or full board.

Garden Room, twin

The same garden room with two beds side by side, which suits friends travelling together or a parent with an older child. Sold on bed and breakfast, half board or full board.

Up to 3 guests

Garden Room, triple

A garden room with a third bed added. Three guests is the largest party the villa takes in one room. Sold on bed and breakfast, half board or full board.

At a glance

The essentials, in brief.

Amenities

  • Swimming Pool
  • Tropical Garden
  • Restaurant
  • Lounge
  • Terrace And Courtyard Dining
  • Wireless Internet
  • Air Conditioning In Every Room
  • Satellite Television
  • Private Veranda With Every Room
  • Daily Housekeeping
  • Laundry Service
  • Parking Inside The Walls
  • 24 Hour Security
  • Family Friendly

Best for

  • The first and last night of a northern circuit safari
  • Travellers who want quiet in the middle of a town
  • Families who need a third bed in the room
  • Anyone landing late at Kilimanjaro International
  • Guests who care about what is on the plate

Wildlife and nature

  • Arusha National Park, with Mount Meru, the Momella lakes and black and white colobus, is about an hour away
  • Tarangire and its elephant herds are around two and a half hours west
  • Garden birds in the compound through the morning, including weavers and sunbirds

Best time to visit

When to go.

  • January: best
  • February: best
  • March: best
  • April: best
  • May: best
  • June: best
  • July: best
  • August: best
  • September: best
  • October: best
  • November: best
  • December: best
Best months

Best months: All year.

Location & access

Getting there.

Location

Arusha City

Arriving by air

Kilimanjaro International is the usual arrival airport for long flights. Arusha Airport, which the safari flights use, is about 9 kilometres away, 15 to 30 minutes by road depending on town traffic.

By road

About 50 kilometres from Kilimanjaro International Airport, roughly an hour by road, traffic depending.

On the map

Where it sits.

3.373° S, 36.697° E

What's included

What the rate covers.

Included

  • Accommodation on the meal plan you choose, bed and breakfast, half board or full board
  • Breakfast Daily
  • Lunch and dinner on the plans that include them
  • Air conditioning, satellite television and wireless internet in every room
  • A private veranda onto the garden with every room
  • Daily Housekeeping
  • Use of the swimming pool and the gardens
  • Parking Inside The Walls
  • Service charge, service levy and 18 percent value added tax

Not included

  • Tourism Development Levy of 1 percent of the bed and breakfast rate per room per night, which the villa adds to the rate
  • Meals outside the plan you book, charged by the villa at its own extras tariff
  • All Drinks
  • Laundry, telephone calls and items of a personal nature
  • Airport Transfers
  • Excursions, Park Fees And Guiding
  • Tips And Gratuities
  • Tanzania inbound travel insurance, 44 USD per adult (children 3 to 17 half price, under 3 free), compulsory from 1 October 2026 and bought online before travel

Frequently asked

Questions, answered.

How many rooms does Villa Maua have?

Nine garden rooms, all on the ground floor and all opening onto the lawn through their own veranda. It is a small house rather than a hotel, which is why it books up around the busy safari weeks.

Where exactly is it?

At 4 Kanisa Road, in the old residential quarter of Arusha just east of the clock tower. The clock tower is about 400 metres away and the conference centre is next door, so you are in the middle of town behind a wall.

How do I get there from the airport?

Kilimanjaro International Airport is about 50 kilometres away, roughly an hour by road. Arusha Airport, which the light aircraft use, is about 9 kilometres away, 15 to 30 minutes depending on traffic. Airport transfers are not included in the room rate.

What is included in the rate?

The room and the meal plan you book, which is bed and breakfast, half board or full board. Service charge, the service levy and 18 percent value added tax are already in the price. The tourism levy, drinks, laundry and transfers are not.

Are children welcome?

Yes. Children of 4 and under stay free sharing with their parents, and older children are charged by the villa under its own child policy. Because that policy is priced in a shape our builder cannot calculate, children cannot be booked at this villa yet.

How many people can share a room?

Three. The villa adds a third bed to a garden room and will not take a fourth guest in one room, so a party of four books two rooms.

Is there a pool?

Yes, a saltwater pool on the lawn with loungers around it, walled on all sides. The villa runs it on a salt chlorinator rather than a dosed system, which is why it tends to look clear.

Can I eat there if I arrive late?

Yes. The kitchen runs through the day and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, in the dining room, on the terrace or in the courtyard. Late arrivals from the evening flights are routine here.

When is the best time to stay?

The villa is open all year and the town itself has no closed season. Rates are lower in April, May and from 1 November to 15 December, which is also when the parks are quietest and greenest.

How long should I stay?

Most guests take one night at the start of a safari and often another at the end. Two nights makes sense if you want a day in Arusha National Park or in the town itself.

What's nearby

Worth the short trip.

  • Arusha clock tower

    About 400 metres, a short walk

    The marker that gives Arusha its claim to sit halfway between Cairo and Cape Town, and the centre point of the old town.

  • Natural History Museum at the German Boma

    About 500 metres

    A colonial era fort holding the town museum, with rooms on the history of Arusha and on human origins in the Rift.

  • Arusha Declaration Monument and Museum

    About 1.2 kilometres

    The monument on the Uhuru roundabout and the museum behind it, built around the 1967 declaration that shaped independent Tanzania.

  • Central market and the Maasai curio market

    About 1.2 kilometres

    Produce, spices, fabric and carving, busiest in the middle of the morning. Easiest with someone from the villa to point you at the right entrance.

  • Arusha National Park

    About 1 hour by road

    Mount Meru, the Momella lakes and a forest with colobus monkeys and giraffe. The one park in Tanzania you can walk in with an armed ranger, and a good half day from town.

Nearby

Other places to stay nearby.

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