Lushoto Executive Lodge

Price/quality certainly in order with fairly spacious and neat rooms with everything you need to stay here for a few nights when you want to stay in the forests around Lushoto. The offer of food and drinks is also sufficient but not very extensive. The service is generally very friendly and motivated.

I sated in this hotel for 3 nights . I find this place as a very pleasant, clean and well maintained. The staff is very friendly and would do anything they can to help and make your stay enjoyable. The hotel spreads on a very large property including a river and very nice natural gardens and a forest right withing the property aera. Rates are very reasonable makes the stay good value for money. If you are looking for rooms with privacy and quite, select the remotes rooms which are the Executive Tented rooms.

On my Tanzania tour in September 2024 I had planned a short detour to Lushoto, as I wanted to visit the Usambara Mountains. My experience: It's a small cozy town with nice and helpful people and hiking through the landscape is great. The hotel complex is beautiful with many amenities and nicely furnished rooms. I especially enjoyed sitting outside on the terrace in front of my room in the evening. The breakfast is very rich and delicious. About the journey I was extremely unsure about bus timetables and how to book tickets. You can hardly find any reliable information or even timetables online. On site, however, it is quite easy to book a bus ticket (in my case from Moshi, but also from Arusha) and there is also a very comfortable direct bus from Lushoto to Dar es Salaam. The bus rides are quite long (from Moshi to Lushoto about 5 h in a very full bus and then to Dar es Salaam about 7 h), but also entertaining and you are rewarded with a very nice landscape view on the way from Mombo to Lushoto. The bus company from Lushoto to Dar es Salaam is Kiluwa. It makes several stops in Dar es Salaam and ends at the (huge) Mbezi Magufuli Bus Terminal. To buy a ticket, you need a Tanzanian mobile number, so it's best to get a sim card beforehand. You can book a guide for the hikes, which is worthwhile because there are many interesting “secret paths” through the forest. I had a guide, called Costa, he has a nice tourist office in the center and a store with handmade souvenirs at very fair prices. I am glad to have made this detour and would love to come back for a whole week, unfortunately I had only planned 2 full days, which was far too short.

I traveled this October to Lushoto and arrived at this 3 star lodge. Pros; Friendly staff, spacious rooms/ not all, good atmosphere around the lodge, average food. Cons; Not wheelchair friendly, unclean bathrooms need to be maintained well, Breakfast could be improved, hotel amenities could be provided as stated. If you’re looking for a place far from the hustle bustle in town this is it. But don’t have high expectations.