Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
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Nestled amidst wildlife with scenic views, Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort is a tranquil retreat, celebrated for its serene atmosphere and spacious rooms. Reviewers often laud the hotel's clean, well-maintained grounds and commend the friendly service, even though a handful have encountered less proactive staff.
While the diverse activities and wildlife encounters are enchanting, some guests feel the extra costs for drinks slightly mar the overall value. The picturesque location earns praise, but opinions on the boat ride are mixed, and a few suggest room renovations could enhance the experience.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Serene
Rooms
Spacious
Value
Reasonable
Cleanliness
Meticulous
Service
Attentive
Amenities
Abundant
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The Room This really was a long walk to the room as we were one of the furthest rooms from the main area. 2 water bottles in the room, replaced daily Room was a good size with 2 beds and mosquito nets on the bed. Also had a small lounge area that was nice to sit at and relax and enjoy the animals outside the door. No face washer in the bathroom which was disappointing and our the shampoo had been half used. The bed was not made properly when we first checked it. Appears they forgot to tuck the bottom half of the sheet in which wasn't great (see picture) Apart from those small things the room was pretty good Guides were waiting around the rooms at night to escort you to dinner and we had some company with a giraffe that apparently wanted to join us. The escort process was simple and easy
Food & Drink Huge buffet options, although with huge buffets come loads of people. The restaurant is big and heaps of tables which caused some lines in the buffet area. They did have quite a few options to pick from. Most amazing was their were tables set up for guides to sit at and they had the same buffet options as us. Great to see them included
Wifi Wifi was reliable and considering how far away from the restaurant we were it was very stable from our rooms which was amazing
General Gift shop was small but had some interesting items in there. Of most interest to us was a Kenya map – a big one that folded out to see where we had been. We got our tour guide to draw where he had taken us which is amazing to be able to bring home with us Service was ok, but feel because it was so big with so many people it wasn’t very personal like most of the other places that we had been staying at Boat rides were offered, however our guide took us to the Lake and the extra cost for the boat ride was totally worth it!
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Date of stay: October 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
First and biggest unique feature are the wildlife right in the grounds, zebra, giraffe and antelope graze and lawns providing some great photo opportunities. The best of the 3 Sopa lodges we stayed at, the rooms are clean, bathrooms modern and most importantly every room overlooks the gardens. Buffet breakfast and dinner was varied and plentiful with freshly cooked food stations at every meal. Hippos come out of the lake during the evening to graze but there are plenty of rangers around to escort you safely from your room to the main building. Didn’t get to use the pool but it was clean, large and plenty of seating. Wi-fi worked well in all areas, including the rooms.
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Date of stay: March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from SopaLodgesKETZ, General Manager at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort
Responded Mar 9, 2020
Dear Lynne, Thank you for choosing to stay with Sopa and taking the time to provide us with your valued feedback. We are delighted that our Team managed to exceed your expectation, be assured that your feedback helps to inspire our Team to continue to improve our product and service. Kind Regards Management.
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We stayed here 2 nights for New Year - it has a very natural feel like a sanctuary and there are many birds, giraffes, hippos, zebras, antelopes all easily viewed from your balcony. The room is spacious and comfortable. We had an upper floor room, very far from reception (10mins+ walk) and you have to have a security guard take you to/from your room after dark. We had a side/partial view on to the lake/animals so the view really was from the balcony, not from the room itself.
We didn't do the boat trip as we were exhausted on arrival and because we were going to Lake Nakuru the following day. We saw the hippos at night grazing and we did the nature walk with one of the guards, who took us to see a small family of giraffes. There was a young giraffe and it was great to see them close up.
There is wire fencing everywhere, so it's not open. There were many visitors disrespecting the rules and agitating the animals trying to get selfies (what's wrong with people ?) the view is already magnificent but it seems that's not enough.
The buffet/food offering for vegetarians was Asian/Curry mainly which is not really my cup of tea but that's the case throughout Kenya. The buffet is assisted/managed which was very good for hygiene and the majority of guests abided by the mask-wearing protocol.
New Year's Eve celebrations were good fun, there was a live band and a quiz, so that was a real bonus.
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Date of stay: December 2021
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We check in at night just before dinner. The reception is great, they even outline the ground rules, a resident should not move around at night without guards. We are directed to the residents parking. The cottages are beautiful, spacious, the bathrooms are spacious and with a good balcony that gives you great views. At night you get to see hippos grazing. During the day they have gazelles grazing. The rooms are close to the lake. They are fully covid compliant, the rooms have sanitizers and masks. The service is awesome from the reception to the guards. For activities they have nature walks, boat rides, tennis court, swimming pool, horse rides and biking. The dining area is spacious and lovely. The food was awesome. Highly recommend if you enjoy nature and luxury.
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Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Masai Mara Sopa Lodges, Other at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort
Responded Sep 14, 2020
Dear Reubenkimani, thanks a lot for your online review, we are delighted to know that you have enjoyed your stay at the Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort and we will of course convey your message to all staff members. We are all looking forward to welcoming you back at the Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort to again meet and exceed your expectations. Again thank you for your online review and making the Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge your premier choice. Sincerely yours, THE MANAGEMENT
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Sopa Lodges can be counted on to have great physical infrastructure. The rooms are large, comfortable and well-equipped with all of the conveniences of a city hotel. This was true at Lake Naivasha. There is a huge staff, all efficient and friendly. The other thing that you can count on at a Sopa Lodge is that it caters to large tour groups. This was also the case at Lake Naivasha. It was the only lodge (among 7), that was full to capacity (or nearly so). An international road rally was scheduled to start and the dining room was packed with racing teams from Hyundai, BMW and other competitors. Because it caters to large groups and offers very reasonable prices, some of the luxury touches of its competitors are absent. All meals are buffets; napkins are paper, not cloth. Butter comes in pre-packaged plastic pats, not fresh. There is no turn-down service in the evening. These are minor details and don't detract from the high quality of the rooms and facilities. But it does take away that fifth star for us.
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Date of stay: June 2021
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Masai Mara Sopa Lodges, Other at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort
Responded Jul 2, 2021
Dear SWNH, thank you very much for your recent stay at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort in Naivasha and your most welcomed online review, we have of course taken note of your concerns and kindly rest assured that we are working on rectifying and correcting presently. As we are taking every feedback very serious we thank you very much for your objective review and we hope that we will be able to welcome you back at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort in the future. Sincerely yours, THE MANAGEMENT
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I am writing on behalf of the entire group of friends and family to thank you and your wonderful staff for making our friend’s surprise 50th birthday party and wedding anniversary celebration the event of a lifetime. Right from the assistance from Judy from reservations in coordinating the bookings and allowing us to carry out the recce which really helped to bring the whole function into perspective.
The decorations you placed in their suite were gorgeous and the room was spectacular. The food was absolutely scrumptious, your staff treated us like royalty at the dinner and their service was absolutely impeccable.
We cannot thank you enough for helping us arrange the party at your swimming pool area. We could not have found a more perfect setting anywhere. We were all pleasantly surprised at the lovely decorations you were able to display in the garden and swimming pool area in spite of the less staff due to the current situation.
Gilbert, you were hands on running around to ensure all was running like clockwork and never missed a beat, all our guests were extremely happy from the young to the old, thank you for staying till the end and ensuring we all retired safely into our rooms. The following day the lunch was extremely delicious, and checkout again handled very efficiently.
We are going to refer your hotel to all our clients. In addition to the amazing food, service and accommodations, your prices are quite reasonable which made our event even better. Thank you again for contributing to our cherished memories.
Sincerely, Nutan Bhudia Destinex Travels Ltd
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Date of stay: October 2020Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We were served raw meat, raw rice, uncooked vegetables. When we complained no action was taken. Possibly the worst weekend we had. Service was beyond poor. For the entire stay every meal we had to wait for the staff to prepare a table for us. How is it that the management do not prepare tables for groups when they know guests have come as a group? After complaining about all this no improvement in service or quality of the food and the fact that we booked before the hotel decided to host an event is even worse. The event was the worst entertainment i have ever seen. Extremely loud music, uncomfortable atmosphere, forced us to walk in the rain. Forced us to join the event even though we wanted nothing to do with it. We would have been better off camping than staying here. Management so far have only decided to compensate us by hosting us 1 FREE MEAL. I mean i can cook better than their staff so why would anyone want to eat their food? Naivasha Health and safety should go and visit the hotel to check whether what they are serving guests is really safe to consume. This isn't part of Sopa as it seem it is being management by completely inexperienced staff
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Date of stay: October 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Worst stay experince of my life. Was left unattended to at the reception on arrival after a long drive from Nairobi, whereas other guests around us were being greeted with welcome drinks on arrival - coincidentally we were the only Indian guests there at the time, the rest were mostly Caucasians, which I suspect was the reason for their behaviour towards us . Some extracts of what went wrong are for example
Our room was about 500 meters away and we were made to walk in torrential rain, we were soaked to our bones by the time we arrived at the room. They have a van drop service which wasn't told to us leave alone offered. On arrival at our room we found that the bathroom was leaking from 2 points and the washbasin contained hairs from someone who has stayed before having shaved there. When informed the front desk took over 2 hours to resolve the issues and change our old room to a new one which had no hot water supply, we waited for that to be fixed which happened closer to midnight.
Next day when we enquired with the reception we were told that umbrellas were kept in the room and we should have used them. She didn't have the common sense to understand that we had walked in the rain to the room and that the umbrellas are required en route to the room not inside it. She found that funny and said that next time they would look into it.
On our way out we met the manager who said that he had heard about the problems and wanted to know in detail. On having explained he just apologised and said that they would look into it next time. I'm sure both he and I were dreaming when he said next time because I ain't going there again and they are not going to change seeing their attitude during my visit.
My advise would be to avoid this place like your health depends on it. Although the rooms are well made, landscaping of good and the view of animals running around in your backyard is breathtaking for the first timer, plus if you are interested, a casual walk in the campus could yield some great bird sightings. For the more adventurous there is also the real and genuine danger of being attacked by a Hippo, which can be seen running around in the campus at night. But that's all natural not thing to do with the staff.
However the service standards are several levels below pathetic and then some. The place had the feel of a place where someone had an idea to setup a good resort and then left to to be managed by a bunch of incompetent and totally uninterested people who think they are doing favours to guests by giving service. They couldnt care less if threatened with a gun to give a mediocre level of service even if they tried. Ive had better service at Govt offices.
I'd rather sit on a busy railway track than go there again.
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Date of stay: October 2019Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from SLGom, Director of Operations at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort
Responded Jan 10, 2020
Dear Sir, Thank you for choosing to stay with us at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort and taking the time to provide us with your detailed feedback. We always endeavour to ensure that our products and services meet our guest's expectations but unfortunately in this instance, we were unable to meet your expectations. I can assure you that your valued feedback will greatly assist us in improving the areas that did not meet your expectations. We thank you once again for staying with us and we look forward to welcoming you again at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort. Kind regards,
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I went with my 7 month old son and husband and we enjoyed watching the animals and the birds. This is a beautiful place for site seeing! It’s just spectacular.
What they could improve on is bringing in heaters or air conditioning in the rooms. My son had a really long night as it was very cold and the only item availed to keep people warm is a hot water bottle that we used in his cot. It would have been nice had they placed it in his cot before we settled in for the night.
They gave me the option of having baby meals on the day we were checking out! Like, while we were having our lunch after we’d checked out! This would have been helpful information had we known about this from the get go as we’d called the hotel in advance to inform them that we were coming with our 7 month old child!
Finally, check out wasn’t the best. We made a late check in and we had expected a late check out but to my shock someone rudely knocked my door, demanding that I open the door while half naked as I’d been in the shower and I had a hard time explaining to them that they should wait I dress up so that I could open the door to clear things out! Though this was finally cleared out and we were allowed a late check-out, it was really embarrassing. My husband and son were not in the room and I was all alone, from the shower, being forced to leave my room immediately!
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Date of stay: November 2019
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from SopaLodgesKETZ, General Manager at Lake Naivasha Sopa Resort
Responded Jan 21, 2020
Dear valued guest, Thank you so much for your recent stay wits us and your online review, we are more than shocked about this and are presently investigating internally all comments raised through your online review. We take every review very seriously and we want to thank you for bringing these concerns to our attention as it will help us to improve where required, kindly rest assured that we are, and have already, put measures into place which will prevent any repetition of such unfortunate incidences and we hope that you can accept our most sincere apologies for the events and we are certain that this could have been avoided if the correct steps would have been taken. Again, thank you for your review and very valuable comments and we hope to be able to welcome you and your family back at Sopa Lodges to show that we can and will live up to our service promises to all our valuable guests. Sincerely yours, THE MANAGEMENT
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This is the best lodge type camp we stayed in on our safari .The rooms are spacious, and as nice as most of the 4 star hotels we stayed in. The lodge area is huge and has very comfortable seating areas throughout. Food is served buffet style. There were lots of choices. Unfortunately, my wife and I were both ill, and so were basically eating tea and toast so I cannot comment on taste.
The amazing part of this place is that there area animals everywhere. The property has a herd of giraffes, waterbuck and zebras. Vervit monkeys show up in the evening and colobus show up in the morning. You have to be escorted after dark becase the hippos come on the property. How cool is that?!!!! The rooms have balconies facing a grassed savanah where the animals congregate.
Drinks are more expensive than elsewhere, and the gift shop is overpriced. Oh well, everything cannot be perfect.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Â We like the second floor for a better view of the animals.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello. The giraffes usually are up front as wel as the monkeys. If you ask one of the guards I'm sure they will help you find one. We saw a whole family of giraffes when we were there :-). One of them even passed at our terrace but I guess we were lucky.
Northampton, United Kingdom157 contributions99 helpful votes
Don’t know about others .... look on the hotel ratings on this site ! All I know was we loved it ! Food was wonderful and security on beach meant we had hassle free days from the sellers ! 10/10
There are more places to choose from in the Naivasha area.
PRICE RANGE
$340 - $418 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
lake naivasha sopa hotel naivasha
LOCATION
KenyaRift Valley ProvinceNaivasha
NUMBER OF ROOMS
19
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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