Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
Stone-and-thatch lodge · Kyabatero Hills, north-west of Seronera · Serena Hotels
Mid-range
Inside the park
Safari company
Serengeti Serena is a 66-room stone-and-thatch lodge run by Serena Hotels on a ridge of the Kyabatero Hills, north-west of the Seronera area; TANAPA's register confirms it is inside the park. Rooms sit in two-storey rondavels, and there is a pool and the Maisha Spa. Serena lists game drives, balloon safaris, bush meals, sundowners in the Mbingwe Valley and guided nature walks and bird watching. The room rate of $728 for two works out at about $364 a head, but Serena does not say what it covers, so ask before you compare it with full-board camps. Choose it if you want a large, full-service lodge near Seronera; skip it if you want a small camp.
Pros and cons
Pros
- About $364 a head on the room rate, low for a full-service lodge
- Pool and Maisha Spa
- Guided nature walks and bird watching listed
- Day trips to Ngorongoro and Olduvai arranged
Cons
- Serena does not say what the room rate includes
- A 66-room lodge: busy compared with small camps
- We found no published child policy
- TANAPA fees on top, probably $141.60 to $153.40 per adult a night
What's here
- Swimming pool
- Restaurant
- En-suite bathrooms
- Spa or massage
Arranged from the lodge:
- Game drives
- Guided walks
- Birding
Read from Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge's own website in July 2026. Anything not listed we could not confirm, which is not the same as it being absent.
What the park charges on top
The rate above buys you a bed. Serengeti National Park charges its own entry fee for every day you are inside. Here is what that adds up to.
- Park entry$70 plus 18% VAT, so $82.60, per 24 hours from 16 May to 14 March; $70.80 from 15 March to 15 May.
- $83per person, per day
- Vehicle$40 plus VAT, so $47.20, for a foreign-registered vehicle up to 2,000 kg; a Tanzanian-registered safari vehicle pays TSh 20,000, about $8 at TANAPA's TSh 2,555 to the dollar.
- $47per vehicle, per day
Three nights means three days inside, so two adults sharing one vehicle pay $639 in park fees before anyone pays for a bed.
A lodge or camp inside the park adds TANAPA's concession fee on top: $70.80 per adult per night from July to September and $59 from October to June, VAT included. Arriving by road from Arusha adds the Ngorongoro permit of $70.80 per adult each way.
The full fee schedule for Serengeti National ParkRates at Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
From $728 per room. From $728 per Standard King, Twin or Triple room for two people and $928 for the Serengeti Suite, as shown on serenahotels.com on 6 October 2026. The page does not state the season, the meal basis, or whether TANAPA fees or VAT are included; assume the conservation fee ($82.60 per adult per 24 hours) and concession fee ($59.00 or $70.80 per adult per night) are extra until Serena confirms.
What the rate covers is not confirmed. We do not know yet whether meals, drinks and activities are included, so read this as the bed only.
Every figure on this page is in US dollars.
Rates checked on 6 October 2026 against each operator's own website or rate sheet, in US dollars per person per night sharing unless the entry says otherwise. Two figures are per room, not per person: Serengeti Serena's $728 and Serengeti Explorer's $750 (a January 2025 opening offer). One figure is a reseller's, not the owner's: Africa Safari Serengeti Ikoma's $154 a night on Priceline (6 Oct 2026, basis not stated). Ndutu Safari Lodge's figures come from a rate sheet that ran to 15 December 2025, the newest on its site. Unless the entry says otherwise, TANAPA fees come on top of every rate inside the park: the conservation fee of $70 plus 18% VAT ($82.60) per adult per 24 hours from 16 May to 14 March, $70.80 from 15 March to 15 May, and the hotel concession fee of $70.80 per adult per night from July to September or $59.00 from October to June, VAT included. Camps at Ndutu and Lake Masek pay the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority instead: $70.80 entry per 24 hours and $59.00 concession per adult per night. Wilderness Usawa is the one rate we found that includes park fees.
Questions about Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
How much is Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge?
Serena's site showed rooms from $728 for two people and $928 for the suite on 6 October 2026. It does not say whether meals, season or park fees are included, so confirm before you book.
Is Serengeti Serena inside the park?
Yes. TANAPA's own register places it in the central Serengeti on the Kyabatero Hills, north-west of the Seronera area.
Is Serengeti Serena good for children?
We found no published child policy on Serena's page. Triple rooms exist; ask Serena about ages and rates for children.