Outpost Lodge

I ended up spending three nights here because my tour company had booked it, so choosing another hotel wasn't an option. For our free day in Arusha, my friends and I stayed at the hotel to relax after seeing a lot of the city. That didn't work out very well: the pool chairs sit by a fence next to a fairly busy road, where the exhaust smell is strong and seems almost constant. You can even see it in the air. Traffic noise gets really loud, too.

The quiet street and handy location near central Arusha were real positives. The food was decent, and the staff were usually kind and helpful, though there were a couple of issues with them sometimes trying not to give back my change and charging an illegal card fee, which isn't allowed in Tanzania. Laundry was very expensive, although that seems common in Tanzania. I had two different rooms at Outpost Lodge, and both left me disappointed overall. There was no air conditioning, so the nights were uncomfortable. The showers had uneven pressure and hot water wasn't reliable. One room was extremely damp, to the point that the bed felt wet, and there was visible mold on the mattress and shower walls. The whole room smelled strongly of mildew. I wouldn't recommend Outpost Lodge, since there are better places to stay in Arusha.

The rooms were clean, breakfast had a good range, and the staff were very, very friendly. The complex is lovely, with comfortable places to sit in the restaurant or by the pool. It's a 10-15 minute walk to the city center, though restaurant prices felt a little high to me. You hear street noise now and then, and the morning showers were unfortunately cold. There was a large German Shepherd on the grounds. He seemed peaceful, but I don't like dogs and was a bit shocked at first. WiFi was only available in the restaurant and reception, and even there it kept dropping. Since we needed to plan the rest of our trip, that was frustrating, and I can't recommend this place to people traveling on their own for that reason. We also had a confusing experience with a ride. We asked reception for directions to the city and Tanzanite shop, and got a rough explanation. Soon after, the receptionist came to our door and said a man who was heading into town could take us. He showed us the Tanzanite shop, then waited and offered to take us to the market. Afterward, when we wanted to find a cafe for food, he asked us to pay for the tour. We hadn't understood that we'd booked a tour, and gave him 10 USD after a short discussion. That should have been explained from the start.

The rooms are old and could use a facelift. They can get really cold, and there aren't any heaters. The staff are nice, and the restaurant food is average. With all the traffic noise, I'd say it's okay if you're only staying one night to sleep, but not somewhere to spend the day.