JW Marriott Masai Mara: A Simply Spectacular Safari Experience

Before visiting the JW Marriott Masai Mara, I was lucky enough to have had two previous safari experiences. The first was self-driving in Kruger National Park in South Africa during my honeymoon, and the second was being guided in Land Cruisers over several days in a private conservancy, again in South Africa.

The private conservancy had very relaxed night and off-roading rules because of the lack of visitor pressure. The difference was pronounced. Our time in Kruger was great, but the private conservancy was a whole different level in terms of what we saw and how close to the animals we could get. The only problem was that my wife wasn’t able to be with me for that one, which has been a regret of both of ours ever since.

When the JW Marriott Masai Mara opened to the public, my heart leapt. Could it actually be possible to use hotel points to take my wife on a similar trip to the one that she’d missed years ago? One of my reservations about the JW was a fear that it would be closer to our experience in Kruger than the private conservancy. After all, it’s a big-name hotel chain offering a safari experience in a big-name, busy park. Luckily, my fears were unfounded. It was spectacular.

JW Marriott Masai Mara Bottom Line Review

The JW Masai Mara is one of the most enjoyable points redemptions I’ve ever made. It’s my wife’s unqualified favorite. What’s on offer here is simply superb. The tents are luxurious, private, spacious, and have great views. The service is excellent, both in execution and in generosity. The food was surprisingly delicious; the juices, coffee drinks, and cocktails were some of the best I’ve had in a while…inside or outside a hotel. And the game drives were simply out-of-this-world; the quality and proximity of the wildlife viewing were on par with my private conservancy experience from years earlier. It’s hard to come up with cons here; there are so many delightful surprises and unexpected details. We had a marvelous time.  Four thumbs up (one isn’t enough, and my wife wanted to add hers)

• Price: We paid 656,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a five-night stay…and yes, that includes getting the 5th night free. Since we booked, the award price has gone up again, and is now over 200K points per night, so a five-night stay usually costs ~850,000 points. No matter how you slice it, that’s a lot of chedda.
• Value: Could 131,000 points per night be a good value? In this case, absolutely, and I’d spend it again in a heartbeat. The nightly cash cost of our stay would have been somewhere north of $5,000 per night, so even at 131K points, we found excellent value – almost 4 cents per point. (We peg the average redemption of Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.76 cents each).
• Location: The property is located on the bank of the Talek River in the Masai Mara National Reserve, with the lodging on one side, the safari vehicles on the other, and a suspension bridge across the river connecting the two. The closest park entrance is the Talek gate, while the most commonly used airstrip is Keekorock. It’s a ~30-minute drive from Keekorock to the camp (pick-up and drop-off are included).

• Room: We booked a “Deluxe Sunset Tent.” There are also “Sunrise” tents, and I think which one it is depends on which side of the main lodge you’re on. The “tent” was beautiful and spacious, at almost 1100 sq ft. There was a bridge that connected it to the main walkway through the property, which led to a massive riverfront deck with outdoor furniture and a private jacuzzi. There are “his and hers” armoires, so plenty of storage, a full living room set-up, and an enormous bathroom with doors that lead out to the jacuzzi. The toilet and walk-in shower are separate, and there’s a second, outdoor shower just off of the one that’s indoors. The bed and furniture are all extremely comfortable. There is an in-room minibar that is included, and you’ll receive a pre-arrival form where you can request what you want it to be stocked with. There are also jars of treats that rotated somewhat throughout the stay. Both the minibar and the treats are replenished daily. The one downside is that there’s no temperature control outside of ceiling and floor fans, although the room attendants will open and close the window flaps of the tent in the morning and evening. When we were there, the highs were in the mid-80s, and it got pretty warm in the tent by mid-afternoon. The fans helped, and it wasn’t hot enough that we couldn’t nap, but if it had been hotter outside, it might have been. Mornings were chilly (which I enjoy), and we would immediately put on a fleece or jacket when we got out of bed.
• Laundry: A great perk of the housekeeping service is that you get five pieces of laundry included per person, per day (a pair of socks counts as one). That means that you can wash a full set of clothes daily, so there’s no need to bring a new set of clothes for every day of your stay.
• Parking: Although very few people drive themselves, on-site parking is free if you do.
• Resort/Destination Fee: None.
• Internet: Surprisingly good throughout the property. Each room has its own router, and there are multiple routers in all of the public spaces at the center of the property. Internet was faster here than in our city hotels in Nairobi and Zanzibar.

• Service: When the property first opened, there were some reviews that indicated that service was experiencing initial hiccups. That’s a thing of the past. This property is a well-oiled machine, and the service is an absolute joy to experience. ~80% of the hotel’s staff is Masai, and it’s been a long time (if ever) that I’ve experienced such an authentic blend of warmth and execution. Everyone is in on it: from the room attendant, to your server, to the guys in the camera studio, to your guide…even the bartenders. You’ll most likely have the same staff for the majority of your stay. They’ll quickly be on a first-name basis with you, learn your likes and dislikes, share interesting bits of local culture, and go above and beyond to make your experience memorable. A few small examples:
  • On our third evening, I somehow lost the broken pair of sunglasses that I had been using while on our game drive. It wasn’t a big deal, but I was hoping to try to get a new pair somewhere. Our guide offered me his first, which I politely declined (he had to drive after all). I asked one of the hospitality managers about it while we were having cocktails. She left, conferred with some folks, and came back ~45 minutes later with pictures of several pairs of sunglasses. They didn’t want me to have to pay the price of buying an overpriced pair at one of the other lodges, so she texted a person she knew in the closest town (about an hour away), who then took pictures of what she had in stock. I chose one, she gave it to someone who was driving between the town and the local Masai Village, and I had a new pair of sunglasses the next morning before my drive. The whole thing cost me $5.
  • The evening of our sundowner (see below), I went to get a cocktail from the bartender who had come up from the camp to make drinks. I had been sampling through the winelist during dinners, and had tried a South African Pinotage the night before. When I approached the makeshift bar, the bartender (whom I hadn’t directly spoken with) asked, “Good evening, sir! Would you like a glass of the Pinotage that you were drinking last night?”
  • On the way to the airstrip to depart, my wife left her cell phone in the Land Cruiser. We didn’t realize it until we were about ready to take off, so we messaged the guide who had given us a ride. He immediately found it, called the front desk of the lodge, and, between the two of them, they arranged to have it put on another flight out of the park that was operated by another carrier. When we arrived in Nairobi, we were met by a JW driver who explained what was happening, gave us the flight number that my wife’s phone was on, the name of the flight attendant who had it, and then took us to the office where it would arrive. About an hour after we arrived in Nairobi, my wife had her phone back.

• Game Drives: Absolutely incredible. As I mentioned above, I was a little wary of the quality of the game drives here, and I shouldn’t have been. The drives were spectacular, and our guide was magnificent. He was warm, curious, knowledgeable, funny, and generous. Perhaps most importantly, he had great intuition for how to follow and find various animals. It was uncanny how often we’d be watching something, and he would know exactly where to move the truck in order for us to be in close proximity to where the animals we were watching were going. We took nine different drives during our visit, spending over forty hours with our guide and our vehicle buddies…and it was a blast. You can take drinks (hard or soft) with you in the vehicle, and there will be a cooler stocked with drinks as well (if you want something additional to water, beer, and soda, ask your driver to stock it or grab it from the bar). There are blankets and binoculars in the vehicle, and it’s best to bring layers. In the mornings, it will start out pretty chilly and then warm up; in the evening, the reverse will happen.
  • There are three basic types of drives, which your guide will talk through and plan with you based on what you want to do:
    • Normal morning and evening: Start in the morning from 6:00-6:30 am and go until 9:30 -10:00 am, then back out in the evening from ~3:30-4:00-7:00 pm.
    • Half-day: Start out around the same time in the morning, have breakfast in the bush, then stay out until lunch time. You can do this with a normal evening drive. This allows you to get a little further afield and see places that are further away than what you can reach on a normal morning drive.
    • Full-day: Have an early breakfast at the lodge, leave ~7:00 am, have lunch in the bush, and return for dinner. No evening drive. When we were there, the migrating wildebeests and zebras were about three hours away in the Mara Triangle, so we had to take a full day drive to see them. We were really glad we did it, but it was a long day of ~11 hours. I’d only do one of these in a trip.

• Turndown service: Nightly. As part of the turndown service, the room attendants leave a fuzzy hot water bottle on each side of the bed, so when you turn in, both sides are warm. You can then put the hot water bottle by your feet to keep them warm throughout the night. It was one of my wife’s favorite parts of the room. 🙂

• Dining:

  • Fig Tree Bar and Sarabi Restaurant: I’ve heard mixed reviews about the food here, and I’m not sure if there’s a change in the chef or if we just got lucky, but we found it to be superb. The bar, coffee counter, and restaurant are essentially two sides of the same space, and it’s possible to eat in either one. You’ll most likely have the same server for each meal during your stay, which can be very helpful as you’ll get to know each other and they’ll be able to pick up on what you like and don’t like. If you’d prefer to eat something specific that’s not on the menu, they will almost certainly make it for you; however, the more notice you give, the better. Cocktails from the bar are excellent. I’d highly recommend sampling both classic and signature cocktails; much of the herbs and fruit are grown on the property. Official hours are: breakfast from 6:30 am to 10:00 am; lunch from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm; dinner from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm. However, those hours are not strict; the restaurant is excellent about providing early or late meals depending on your schedule. The bar stays open until the last guest leaves (which is probably isn’t terribly late most nights due to the early mornings). Meals break down as shown below and there are sample menus in the image archive at the end of this post.

    • “Pre-breakfast” – Since most guests are leaving quite early on game drives, there is someone at the coffee bar starting at ~5 am, and they put out pastries around the same time.
    • Breakfast – There’s a significant breakfast menu with international, European, Kenyan, Indian, and Asian options. The juices are all fresh-squeezed and are delightful; the coffee is sensational. Every item that we had was delicious; particular highlights included the dosas, omelette, and bagels with lox.
    • Lunch – A three-course menu that changes daily, but always offers a starter, main, and dessert. The starters were usually a small soup (often chilled) or salad. There were several different options for mains (that changed every day), and included composed plates, sandwiches, and wraps. There were always vegetarian options.
    • Dinner – Either served multi-course or family-style. They sprinkle in some “themed” nights, Kenyan and Chinese were served family-style; Indian was a la carte. We slightly preferred the family-style option, as we were often pretty tired by the time dinner rolled around, so it was a quicker way to try a bunch of different things. Dinners were excellent across the board; we particularly enjoyed the Kenyan and Indian nights (the executive chef is Indian, and it showed that night).
  • Lunch in the JW Garden: The JW grows ~80% of the vegetables and herbs that are used in the restaurant. In order to support this, there are five different gardens and greenhouses on the property. It’s possible to arrange lunch at one of them, beneath a lush, green arbor (there’s no additional charge for this). It’s a pretty sweet affair; they haul out a table with white tablecloths, special napkins, and plateware, and bring all of your drinks and food from the main kitchen. There is a maximum of three tables per day, and it’s usually a surprise from your server (who will be aware of your daily schedule). However, you can also request it whenever you want.
  • Bush Breakfast/Lunch: On days when you are on either a half- or full-day game drive, you will have breakfast or lunch in the “bush.” Your driver will get your order the night before and arrange to have all of the food, drinks, and cutlery brought on board the Land Cruiser before you leave in the morning. You’ll then stop at the appropriate time, and set up a buffet and chairs underneath a “picnic tree” for some shade. The camp also does a full “Bush Breakfast” every few days, where they set up big tables with tablecloths somewhere that’s ~15-20 minutes from the camp and do a full breakfast service for all the guests who want to join. None of our car group went, as it cuts short the morning drive, and we wanted to do a full drive.
  • Sundowner: A common feature of many game drives is the “sundowner.” This is effectively just a happy hour in the bush with drinks and snacks while watching the sunset. Although you can always request one (and bring whatever drinks you want on the drive), it’s not an automatic feature of the JW drives. Instead, they do one big sundowner, where all of the guests arrive at a good vantage point for the sunset at the end of their evening drives. Staff are already there, and have set up chairs with blankets around a big bonfire (there’s even a pop-up toilet). They bring up a makeshift bar and some appetizers, and after everyone eats and has their first drink, they gather around the bonfire, and one of the Masai hospitality folks takes questions about Masai customs and lifestyle and tells stories. It sounded stilted when I first heard about it, but it ended up being a lovely, fascinating time.

• Spa: There is a full spa on-property with the usual assortment of treatments. It also has a dry sauna, steam room, and cold plunge that are separated from the treatment rooms. Guests are able to reserve them for private use, at no extra cost, in 90-minute increments. We used it during one of our afternoon breaks, and it was a delightfully refreshing respite.
• Fitness Room: There is a small fitness area across from the spa that has a few cardio machines, a smattering of free weights, and a yoga space.
• Marriott Titanium Benefits: 
  • Room Upgrade: None, outside of perhaps a better location or view.
  • Free Breakfast: Since the property is all-inclusive, everyone has free breakfast.
  • Club Lounge: None, but drinks and food are included, and you can have them whenever you want.
  • Late Checkout: We didn’t ask for a late check-out, as we had an 11 AM plane to catch, but you are allowed to stay at the property later in the day if you have an afternoon departure. I believe that there is a charge if you have lunch on-property on your checkout day (lunch on your check-in day is included).
  • Welcome Amenity: All guests get a refillable water bottle, scarves, and a branded cloth bag.
• Would I stay again?  Absolutely. I honestly can’t overstate what a stunning experience this was, from beginning to end. I can’t think of another Marriott redemption that I’ve enjoyed more.

Pros

• Beautiful riverside location
• Rooms are spacious, private, comfortable, and come with their own jacuzzis
• The food and beverages are high quality
• They loan out ~$3,000 Canon camera/lens combos for $25 per room, per stay (and provide wonderful instruction on how to use them)
• The staff is exceptional from top to bottom
• Game drives and quality (and proximity) of wildlife viewing are superb.

Cons

• There isn’t any temperature control in the rooms, outside of fans. During the middle of the afternoon, it can get pretty toasty. Mornings can be a bit chilly as well.
• There’s no way around it; it’s expensive

JW Marriott Masai Mara Frequently Asked Questions

How much are daily park fees (and can I pay them with a credit card)?

Daily park fees are a doozy: $200 per person from July 1 – December 31st and $100 per person from January 1 – June 30th. These are payable on arrival at the airstrip or park gate, or they can be paid directly to the hotel. In either case, credit cards are accepted.

It’s worth noting that you only get charged on days that you take a game drive, NOT for days that you are just on-property. On our last day, we had an 11:00 flight out, so we wanted to have a (relatively) leisurely morning with no drive. We did not have to pay park fees for that day. We did have to pay for the day we arrived, because we took a game drive in the evening.

Is there any difference between the three air companies that serve the area?

If you buy tickets through the property, you will most likely be with Safarilink. However, there are actually three companies that serve the Mara from Nairobi: Safarilink, AirKenya, and ALS. Self-booking is easy, and there’s little difference between them, outside of pricing on a given day and schedule. We were able to save almost $100 per person by booking ALS instead of the other two on our dates. Expect to pay between $350-$450 per person if flying.

Each airline has a per-person luggage weight limit of ~33 lbs. You can pay for additional weight if you need, and/or leave a bag at the offices in Nairobi to pick up later. They will say that no hard-sided bags are allowed, but our normal, soft-sided roller carry-ons were fine.

Can I drive to the JW Marriott Masai Mara?

Yes, you can. The road to the park from Nairobi is covered almost the entire way, and won’t get bumpy until the last bit to the park; it sounds like a car with normal clearance is fine. That said, you have to pay for car hire for your entire stay, and the car will just be sitting there idle, and it will be 10-12 hours round-trip.

You can also pay for a driver to drop you off and pick you up. From what I gathered from people who did that, the cost of hiring a driver was about the same as flying.

Should I pay extra for a private game drive?

Game drives are in open-sided Land Cruisers that have space for a driver and either 4 or 6 passengers (we were in both and I preferred the larger vehicles). You will most likely be paired with other people unless you pay $400 extra per day for a private drive. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth it. We had a great time with the two couples that we shared our vehicle with, and there’s enough going on that there’s no pressure to constantly be chatting. It’s also helpful to have more eyes looking for animals and to be able to swap pictures.

How much should I tip the staff?

Here are the general guidelines that I was able to find regarding tipping for safari lodges:

• Guide – $15-25 per person per day
• Server – $10-$15 per person per day
• Room attendant – $10-$15 per room per day
• General staff – $10-15 per room per day

In addition, there’s also:

• Bartenders/Baristas –  we did $10 per day
• Camera studio photographers – we did $40 for the whole stay
• Masai guards – we did $50 for the whole stay

We loved our guide, server, and room attendant, so we tipped the upper range that was listed above. All told, we spent ~$700 over our stay for tips. You can tip on credit cards at the end, or in cash directly to your server, guide, etc. We opted for cash when we wanted to tip a specific person in order to guarantee that’s where the money goes. Cash tips also aren’t subject to payroll taxes, which are around 20-30% for most of the staff.

Are there mosquitoes?

We were there during the dry season and never saw a mosquito. This trip was sandwiched in between visits to two other areas where malaria was endemic, so we were on malaria pills the whole time. However, if it had just been the lodge, I would have been comfortable not taking them.

During the rainy season, it might be worse.

Do I need to bring a camera?

Depends on how much of a photographer you are. For $25 per room, per stay, you can borrow a Canon EOS R6 Mark II with a 100-500 mm lens, which will be sufficient for most amateurs. In addition, the professional photographers who staff the studio will help with how to use the camera, provide lessons to improve photo quality throughout your stay, help with transferring images, and provide some free editing. Like the rest of the staff, they’re terrific.

My wife used the camera and had a lot of fun learning about it and taking photos. I primarily used my iPhone. The phone was better for video and close-in interactions, and the camera was better in the distance.

Image Gallery

JW Marriott Masai Mara Deluxe King Sunset Tent

JW Marriott Masai Mara Restaurant and Bar

Sample Menus

Garden Lunch

JW Marriott Masai Mara Pool and Gym

Spa

JW Marriott Masai Mara Game Drives

Note – my wife and I have a massive amount of pictures and videos of our drives. I tried to pick a few that I took with my iPhone that give a sense of what the game drive experience is like, as opposed to dozens of animal pictures. 🙂

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