Avis The Vijiji Center Lodge and Safari

Dear Muriel, thanks for sharing your experiences at our lodge. Your comments don't correspond with what happened during your stay, however. We do not have any record of you changing rooms. You arrived late in the evening and went to the room you were assigned. You did not complain to us about a lack of water or the room being dirty. In fact, you stayed in that room for two nights. Further, you were not given a "fake dollar" when you payed for your accommodations and airport transfer upon checking out. The owner himself gave you the change and we can assure you that it was an authentic twenty dollar bill. We hope the rest of your time in Tanzania goes well.

Dear Guest, thank you for sharing your thoughts about your stay with us. At Vijiji Center Lodge and Safari, we always strive to give our guests the best possible experience, and we’re sorry your stay wasn’t a positive one. We sincerely apologize for the mix-up with the airport transfer and the inconvenience this caused and are glad you were able to arrange a taxi to the hotel instead. We appreciate your comments on the rooms and will have housekeeping give them an extra polish! As for the WiFi, we pay more than one hundred US dollars each month to provide free site-wide WiFi for our guests. As you can imagine, after more than a year of Covid and very few travelers (and no government subsidies!), we simply could not afford this expense at the moment. Our solution is to provide guests with small, portable modems – free of charge. We’re sorry if you this solution found this inconvenient. We do hope you enjoyed the rest of your safari in Tanzania.

Dear Manish, thank you for sharing your thoughts about your stay with us. At Vijiji Center Lodge and Safari, we pride ourselves in giving our guests the best possible experience, and we’re sorry we fell short in your estimation. We would like to take a few moments to set the record straight on a few issues, however. First, you visited Tanzania during a time of nation-wide power outages as the country upgrades to a new hydroelectric project. We do in fact have a back-generator, and it was turned on in the evenings, as is our practice. Secondly, we have always used wood-fired boilers to heat water for our guests. This was explained to you during your briefing upon arrival, and is also explained in the information sheets provided in each of our guest rooms. This is the most reliable way to ensure our guests have hot water, since, as you note, the electricity in Tanzania is not reliable. The boilers are on in the mornings and in the evenings, and if guests require a hot shower at some other point during the day, they can request this at the front office and we are happy to oblige. Third, the issue of WiFi. We pay several hundred US dollars each month for site-wide free WiFi for our guests. As you can imagine, after a year of Covid and very few travellers (and no government subsidies), we simply could not afford this expense. Our solution was to provide guests with small, portable modems – again, at no charge. We’re sorry if you this solution found this inconvenient. Fourth, as part of our Covid protocols, we are trying to reduce the number of times cleaning staff enter guest rooms, and so we are not doing daily cleaning. Again, sorry if this was an inconvenience. Finally, we’re glad you found our staff helpful, the grounds lovely and the food tasty. Stay safe and well.