Fanaka Lodge deserves 4-5* for a 1 night stay. Overall good service in a convenient location. (The stay was included in our 4 day mid-range Safari tour in June 2019). Staff were friendly and helpful.

Room: Our room with two beds was basic but very clean and comfortable. Mosquito nets and portable fan provided. The en suite bathroom had a strong hot shower. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to use the swimming pool but it looked clean.

Food: 3 course dinner options were selected from a varied menu and included: soup of the day, fish or meat served with fries/rice/salad, and fruit for dessert. Nice tasty food - but not amazing. (During high season, I think they serve a buffet dinner and have live music). Breakfast was British style with bacon, eggs, toast, pancake and fruit + tea/coffee/juice. A good tasty start for safari and a decent packed lunch box.

Location: We stayed here on the 1st night of safari, straight after visiting Manyara National Park (<10mins). Also convenient for visiting Ngorongoro (~1hr) or Serengeti.

Wifi: Main downside was that I couldn't connect to the Wifi from my room. However, I did have cell service on AirTel so it wasn't a big issue.

Overall, Fanaka Lodge represents a clean and comfortable stay for 1 night at a convenient location for budget or lower mid-range travelers. But the Fanaka experience is definitely less memorable when compared to subsequent nights of our safari where we stayed in a tented camp inside the Serengeti or on the edge of the Ngorongoro crater. So shop around to see if this is really the best option for your safari!

Fanaka lodge is located near the Manyara national park and is therefore quite full of people going to Manyara or en route to Serengeti/Ngorongoro.
My husband and I stayed in the mid-range hotel room; there are also budget rooms available and you can even set up a tent. The room we had, had everything we needed: a bed, towels, a shower, a washroom. It was quite warm and due to electricity cuts, we couldn't use the fan the first night. The second night we had electricity and it was much cooler.
The most important thing to bear in mind is that you will need to cook food for yourself. Our safari company provided a chef during the whole safari and he was able to cook us a delicious meal.