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Opinions NYUNGWE NZIZA ECO-LODGE Parc National De Nyungwe
Members' reviews on NYUNGWE NZIZA ECO-LODGE
4.1/5
22 reviews
Value for money
Location
Cleanliness
Setting / ambience
Service
NYUNGWE NZIZA ECO-LODGE
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The best at Parc National De Nyungwe and around
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overpriced and average quality. We were 6 people that ate there. 5 of us were disappointed. Price is probably not high if you fly from Europe on holiday, but we all live in Kigali, and for these prices you get top quality food in the capital, not average.
The salad that came with the burger was just three slices of tomato (for those that ordered a burger)
The veggie curry - the veggies sucked, they put way too many peas - the vegetables with at least 50% peas. Two of us ordered this and didn't like this dish.
Restaurant also has no competition as I didn't find any other place except nyungwe eco village (which is alright, but doesn't look as nice).
Other than that the place is beautiful and the bonfire is lovely.
Edit: response to restaurant message. 7.5 points out of 10 on booking suggest that 25% didn't like the restaurant.
We ordered with full knowledge of which facts? That food will be average? The menu didn't say that. For the menu, we were given a simple A4 sheet, but about an hour after ordering, we saw another menu that other people had - that menu was beautiful, had many pages and had a lot of detail. Why were we not given that menu?
Waitress said food will take 1.5 hours. It took 2.5 hours to arrive.
Kigali restaurant food is much more expensive? That's not true. Many beautiful and tasty restaurants there have lower prices. This restaurant badly needs competition.
Die Zimmer sind einfach gehalten, sind aber solide, allerdings ohne WLAN. Unten im Restaurant bzw. Rezeption hat man eine gute Internetverbindung.
Das Personal ist herzlich und das Essen wirklich klasse.
Bis zum Visitor Center sind es mit dem Auto etwa 45 Minuten.
Würden jederzeit wiederkommen!
Some complaints raised in recent reviews made we want to offer a counterpoint, namely on: a) value for money, b) long wait times for food and c) low quality construction.
I think to give Nziza a fair review, it's worth knowing these are complaints one hears everywhere one visits outside of Kigali (and even some places in Kigali). I personally have vacationed in Rubavu/Gisenyi, Karongi/Kibuye, Musanze, Twin Lakes, Lake Muhazi, and Akagera area multiple times and have heard & experienced similar challenges at various hotels at all of them.
Complaint a) Things do cost more in Rwanda than in the region. I don't know all the technical reasons why, but I believe a big factor is the logistics required for a small but extremely hilly/mountainous and landlocked country.
For the Nyungwe context, I've personally felt that compared to other places within Nyungwe with similar prices, I was happier with Nziza than the others (I've not been willing to pay the price of One and Only (!) so I can't speak to that experience...).
Complaint b) I've heard many theories about why food prep is often slow around the country. I believe a big factor is many places don't have consistent visitor traffic and can't keep all options ready and available in the fridge. People joke about it, but sometimes ordering a dish does mean that someone has to go to the market to get some ingredients.
The solution I highly recommend, no matter where you stay when visiting tourist sites outside Kigali, is to ask the place you're staying for their menu. If you use WhatsApp they can easily send you pictures of it. Then tell them the dishes you want and what time you want to eat. It's what all my local colleagues did when traveling for work and I learned from them. You'll probably have happier dining experiences that way.
At Nziza I ordered my meals ahead every time I stayed and guess what? Food was served piping hot, punctually at the time I requested. Portion sizes were also very generous.
Complaint c) I've found there are construction quality issues at most places (including residential homes) unless it's an international brand hotel or place that charges +400USD/night. I've adjusted my expectations when traveling as a result. I definitely think it's worth it to raise a complaint to management and see if they fix it, as that tells you a lot.
For Nziza specifically, if you find something unacceptable to you about your room and speak with Eric, I would give the benefit of the doubt that he would try to find a solution for you. One infrastructure thing I appreciated at Nziza is they always had good water pressure and HOT water in the bathrooms...which is not always a given at many places.
On the topic of the manager, I read some people had bad experiences with him. I'm sorry to hear that. My own personal experience was positive each time I stayed. Eric was helpful and polite to me and those I stayed with. I'm a woman and POC in case that matters.
Negatives: the ceiling was full of mold, the rooms were smelling of the same (I would not be surprised if the manager comments on my post saying "why didn't you complain about the mold when you stayed?") . Dinner was ok, nothing great. Over priced for what they offer. I paid the same money in Akagera and had a brilliant place to stay.
If you want to visit nyungwe national park, this is the last option you will have and unfortunately you are forced to stay here.
Nyungwe national park has camping site, pick that if there is a possibility else find something in Gisakura.
In Nyungwe Nziza Eco resort we paid a high price for a Chalet. Its design was very bad. It was impossible to sit on the toilet because the washing table made it impossible. Next to the switch for the lights there were open electric wires! Image you want to switch the lights on in the dark...
There was almost no one in the restaurant, but our simple meal took over one hour to prepare. Oh and wifi was extremely slow. I have travelled a lot in African countries and can accept all these things. But not when you pay 180 dollars. Oh and I never spend time on writing reviews, I only write this because with Western prices and money you might expect Western standards. So better chose a place further away from the border of Nyungwe park and from this far overprised place. We are cyclists and the location was for us very convenient.