THE SECRET GARDEN HOTEL

Wij zijn 3 nachten verbleven in the secret garden hotel. De kamers zijn heel basic maar veel luxe mag je ook niet verwachten als je naar de prijs voor 1 nacht kijkt. De manager is hartstikke aardig en helpt je met het organiseren van verschillende tours. En dan het personeel van het hotel, wat een super lieve en zorgzame vrouwen. Ze maken heerlijke ontbijtjes en als je s’avonds bij het hotel wilt eten maken ze fantastische gerechten met een glimlach. Voor iedereen die niet persee een luxe verblijf wil maar wel een super lief en gastvrij personeel kan ik dit hotel echt aanraden.

We stayed at The Secret Garden for a total of 7 nights. The staff, Tumaini, Anithe and Regina were wonderful. The breakfast (eggs, toast, pancake, fruits, juice, tea and coffee) was good and more than enough for us. If I was rating on just my experience with these ladies, it would be a 5/5.
Daude, the owner, works hard to build his business with plans to add more rooms and bar, along with a tour company.

The biggest problem I had was when we checked out. I messaged Daude while on the trek to ask what our total bill was for our stay and food so I can pay when we return for our last night stay after the trek. He gave me an amount and said he would double check. When it came time to check out, our dinner for the night was added to the amount he previously stated. When I asked for a receipt of everything, Daude said he would send it to me through WhatsApp and I said I will pay once I have the total. He quickly tallied it up and it turns out he was charging us about 115,000 TZS/$45 USD more than the tallied amount. Of course this could have been an honest mistake. It’s just unfortunate that we would have been overcharged if I didn’t insist on a receipt first. Finally, Daude told me the cost of a taxi to take us to our next place with a stop at the bank so I can take cash out to pay him since that’s what we decided on at the end. When we were dropped off, the taxi driver charged us twice what Daude said it would cost. Again, the lack of transparency was the problem.

Most people seem to only stay a night or two so this might not be a problem. The negatives left a bad taste hence the three star rating.

Pros:
-Staff are friendly, hardworking and kind
-Quiet place to stay
-Affordable

Cons
-Located over 7km from city centre
-Would have been overcharged almost $50USD
-Frequent power outage (although this is normal in Moshi, but something to be aware of)
-A lot of barriers to pay credit card (credit card machine was down for two week during our stay). They say they take credit card but they do prefer cash. Should just be upfront about that.

Great view of Kilimanjaro mountain , friendly staff

Lucy and I stayed here in 2022 and honestly I must say, this place MADE our whole experience in Tanzania an unforgettable one.

Zack, Ruth and Nick looked after us so well! We felt like we were staying with family. We even changed an arranged booking that had us staying somewhere else a week later, just so that we could come back.

Thank you for such a wonderful experience. We’ll never forget chilling on the balcony, it was heaven.

Lots of love Al & Lucy

I love this place everything is great here! ????????