Usuário convidado
31 de janeiro de 2023
Tl:dr There are some high charges at Cottar’s that just don’t match up to the value. With so many other beautiful lodges in the Mara, spend your money elsewhere. Longer review We are residents of Kenya who have spent a lot of time in the Mara. For ages I had wanted to go to the iconic Cottar’s. Sadly, it just didn’t measure up to expectations given the high price point they charge. There were wonderful things - the food, the privacy, the guides and staff overall. However, we also had one issue that they have continued to leave I resolved to this date that I think shows how little they care about value for guests. Background: We needed to be picked up at another camp on the other side of the Mara, which is quite a long way. The Cottar’s office staff quoted us a figure of almost $600. (For comparison, you can hire a safari jeep to drive from Nairobi to the Mara for around $250, albeit not a game drive, but for comparison sake, I share that number here). I thought this was pretty high from Cottar’s, but it was supposed to include a packed bush lunch and we didn’t really have an alternate transport option planned, and I figured it would be a beautiful day. However, when they arrived to pick us up, there was no food. We were traveling with kids, so the idea that we could do a 5+ hour drive without any meals was not going to work. Luckily the other place we had been staying sprang into action and we packed lots of food and were set for the day. The drive was great, the guide fantastic and we arrived at Cottar’s. When I asked about the missing meal, it wasn’t really addressed. Before we departed, I asked again, and they said they could pack a meal to take with us on departure in lieu of the first missing one. But we didn’t need a meal then, and the idea had been to have a nice Bush lunch on the drive the first day. They said we could then follow up with the office to get reimbursement. I have sent now 5 emails on separate days and just get no response. Of course the office was immediately responsive when we were booking, so it’s clear they just don’t want to deal with this and aren’t interested to provide value to clients. I write this long review to just say, there are many, many gorgeous lodges in the Mara. After this experience I wouldn’t go back to Cottar’s, the value is just not there.
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