Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

This was our first trip to Rwanda and being from Uganda, we had not heard of anyone having previously visited Mountain Gorilla View Lodge in Ruhengeri. The only image our friends and family had in mind were sadly of the genocide and questioned our trip, but what a contrast our trip turned out to be. A gem in the heart of Africa, a beautiful country and warm friendly people.

The rooms comprise good sized bungalows nicely spread out in the gardens behind the main building, with large picture windows overlooking the volcanoes.

The bedrooms are big, providing ample room for a large double bed (or two doubles for twin rooms), wardrobe space, and enough room left over for a seating area with 3 armchairs and a coffee table, plus a small desk and chair.

The decor is basic but charming, reflecting the spirit of Africa.

The Bathroom is huge but basic.

There's a nice sized veranda so you could sit outside and enjoy the views even on rainy days.

There's a fireplace in the bedroom which comes in handy as it's pretty chilly at night (at least is was in May/June, although this was never a problem as the beds had plenty of blankets).

There seems to be occasional complaints from posters on how cold it is at night, but the weather is hardly the hotel's responsibility.

A little research into typical temperatures helps you plan for appropriate nightwear... (and as someone who gets cold easily, I never found it a problem).

The staff were wonderful, friendly and helpful, always keen to ensure we had everything we needed, and nothing seemed too much trouble.

Little touches like getting back to your room after dinner to find the fire lit and hot water bottles in your bed were greatly appreciated.

Also, after our muddy gorilla treks, we could leave our boots at the hotel entrance and borrow flip flops, and our clean boots would be delivered back to our rooms later in the day.