Zaina Lodge

It was an amazing trip. The area and the wildlife are unbelievable, especially the elephants. We enjoyed every minute of our 5 day stay. It was quite hot but the pool and the air conditioning in the chalet/tents help a lot. We did a safari every day, a visit to the local eco village where Madame bought some natural Shea butter, and a canoe trip down the river to see the bird (unmissable) The rangers are very knowledgeable about the elephants and other animals. At night the clear skies makes it a unique experience as there is no light pollution. The food is very good and the staff very helpful. We will go back next year probably.

Contemporary, authentic African motif. The individual lodges overlook the beautiful, green Savannah and watering hole. The large rooms were very clean and comfortable. The food was outstanding and the staff were friendly and helpful. Due to car problems, the staff called and took our dinner order. They had it ready for us when we arrived late. Also we went on 3 safaris. We saw elephants in a large, comfortable Land Rover & walked closer to observe them. We saw several varieties of monkeys and the many species of colorful birds. A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE.

Wonderful accommodations and service. A representative from the lodge was waiting at the airport to pick us up. When we arrived we were greeted with a cold towel and cold drink. The expansive views of the savannah from the pool were breathtaking. Design of the facility was beautiful. Food was wonderful. Cabins were comfortable and well-appointed. Staff was knowledgeable and friendly. Only two areas that we think could be improved: 1) as nice as the cabins were, not having doors on the bathrooms led to an uncomfortable lack of privacy for our family of four; and 2) the solar-heated showers weren't hot at all. To the staff's credit though, when we brought this to their attention, they provided ample buckets of hot water for us to bathe with and were very accommodating with all our requests. Overall, highly recommended.

I was really looking forward to my trip to Zaina after reading all the rave reviews. Our experience didn't quite match the "unparalleled luxury" described on the website and my overall impression is that this lodge is struggling and that service quality has declined while prices have increased a lot. The lodge itself is beautiful, the infinity pool is lovely, and the tent chalets were comfortable and let you fall asleep listening to the sounds of the jungle. We enjoyed all of those features a lot. But we found the food to be pretty mediocre and bland, and everything from the drinks to the safaris were very expensive. (We arranged our own airport transfer and safari with an outside driver and guide from the park, which was just fine & much cheaper than Zaina's rates.) The views of the watering hole were OK but we found that most wildlife preferred the watering hole near Mole Motel, which had a lot more elephants and other animals than we saw at Zaina. Probably the biggest disappointment though was that despite the website claims to "preservation and promotion of nature" we couldn't see that Zaina has much of a conservation or community engagement mission. There weren't even any efforts to educate guests about the wildlife you might encounter in the park. Usually lodges like Zaina that so clearly benefit from their location within the park also engage in education, conservation, or efforts to "give back" to the community. If Zaina does this, it doesn't seem to be a priority to communicate it to their guests.

I decided to book my Mole National Park two night stay at Zaina Lodge after reading a majority of good reviews and thought a 5-star experience would be worth the investment. I am disappointed to write that my experience reflects the negative reviews that already exist about the Lodge and agree this place is more of a 3-star experience at 5-star prices (although I have even had more hospitable 3-star and hostel service). The room was spacious and had an amazing view and probably matched the cost on that front. The food was tasty but nothing too special and I would not rate it as 5-star. The starter for both dinners I had over my two night stay was the same bland soup. The saddest part of my stay was how palpable it was that guests receive differing levels of service. I noticed (in fact it was very obvious) some guests were receiving personalised attention while others were being ignored and recieved dismissive and arrogant responses from staff. For example, one member of the afternoon shift staff wanted to rush me away from the dining area after dinner (it was only 8:30pm) presumably so he could go home. After getting ready to leave I remained at the table to thank the staff for the meal before I left, but when he approached me he said “I thought you were going to your room” and waited at the table until I got up and left so he could clean up. It was very strange and uncomfortable. He also not-so-subtly implied to the guests sitting right next to me (the only other guests) that how long he had to work into the evening depended on how long I stayed at dinner, which was extremely unprofessional. It is abundantly clear the service staff are making wrongful and prejudicial assumptions about guests and the amount of gratuities they look like they can offer and are tailoring their service accordingly.  Management should be encouraging (ensuring) staff treat every guest equally (particularly as it is not busy - there was only one other group of guests there during my stay so it was very obvious what was going on) as all guests have paid greatly to stay at Zaina Lodge and rightfully expect the appropriate standard of service before tips. The gratuities are a bonus for excellent service and assumptions should not be made as to how much individual guests can afford to pay (as a side note, sometimes the humblest guests are the most generous). They are doing themselves a disservice against their own gratuities potential by naively predicting how guests will or won’t tip. I ended up giving the tip I had budgeted for them to my tour guide instead. In stark contrast, the safari guide and driver were fantastic - humble, fair, knowledgeable and went the extra mile for guests. Gratuities for wildlife guides and service staff are kept separately. If you are fortunate and a stay at Zaina Lodge is not a significant financial stretch for you then it is probably worth it and you may well get the service they believe will reflect in your tip/think you can affor

What an incredible experience! The views were wonderful, and the elephants are so beautiful! Couldn’t believe my eyes when they came up the mountain and started walking through the lodge and drinking from the fountain. We will never forget our time there. Thank you for the incredible service and experience.

Eco lodging in the north of Ghana at Mole National Park. All inclusive experience with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rustic elegance in the middle of a park with elephants coming to the front of the resort to use the fountain and gazing at many species of animals coming to the water holes in view from the resort. Food is excellent with local dishes and continental choices. The guided tours can be a hit or miss and depends on many factors. The fun is all about nature which is fine by me, no much else to do, especially in the evening. Did I mention the infinity pool that looks into the water hole?

Absolutely fantastic - where comfort meets nature! We drove up from Accra to stay at Zaina for three days and the time taken to do this was well spent. I'll start with the nature side of things because this was the point of coming - we took three drives around the park and saw pretty much everything there was to see in the wet season - elephants, three species of monkey and three of antelope, warthog, bufalo, and the snout of a croc. The really nice thing about the drives was that it fealt we had the park to ourselves. Many thanks to Alexis and Paul for driving us around While the drives were great, it was quite amusing that a good proportion of these animals were found around the lodge - on two occassions elephants took a wander around; monkeys, kobs and warthogs were frequent visitors; and a Jennet made an appearance once for dinner. The location of the lodge is fantastic - overlooking a large pool where elephants came to bathe each day In terms of the lodge itself - the rooms were great - top levels of comfort, each with decks to sit out on and take in the sights, sounds and smells of the forest. The restaurant/kitchen was great - towards the end of our stay we were the only ones at the lodge and the menu was personalized - I love eating local food when travelling and had my choice of it thanks to the kitchen. Last but not least - the staff were exellent - super friendly, so thanks to all of you for helping make the stay one to remember

My wife and I very much looked forward to our 2 night stay at Zaina Lodge. We were not disappointed by the accommodation and setting. They are 5 star. Some of the food was the best I tasted in Ghana, but especially the buffets were average. The service overall was good, not excellent. We did not come to Zaina to listen to very loud gangsta rap from the bar during dinner and would have preferred to listen to the sounds of the wild. There were other small irritations, which tainted our experience, like no internet in our cabin. And thete did not apprar any manager or supervisor available to dwal with these, even proactively. But finally, one of the main reasons for us to come to Zaina or Mole was the Safaris. From my preparation I knew not to expect a Massai Mara or Etosha. But the 3 Safaris we received from a seasoned guide and an inexperienced, young driver who loved spinning tires went from acceptable to poor and finally horrible in the evening. For over an hour the guide did not say a single word to us, when I finally asked to end the 'tour'. He was mad while the driver thought it was funny. Will I come back to Zaina ? Never! Is it a destination for others to enjoy ? Perhaps, if a 5 star price for spotty, but generally 3 to 4 star service and other pitfalls doesn't bother you.