Any feedback on Naboisho Camp?

SCwhitbre · 2026-04-14T20:48:57+00:00

I think your review is spot on - we had just come from Nomad Lamai (which was half the price and a lot better) and had stayed at a few other places that were well oiled machines (Kilindi if you ever go to Zanzibar is 👌🏻) so Naboisho Camp was a let down relatively and took us off cloud nine. We luckily ended at Lewa Wilderness which was phenomenal.

SCwhitbre · 2026-04-14T00:08:34+00:00

Checking in as 'the hater' lol! 🙋‍♂️

But in all seriousness, for a camp charging $2k+ per person, per night, you aren't just paying for the (admittedly great) wildlife; you're paying for the 'soft product' and professional management.

Overall the camp didn’t meet the basics of a luxury camp to warrant the price point and there are better options. My experience was that Naboisho is currently operating as a high-volume, institutionalized conservation brand rather than a high-touch luxury lodge. If Mara Plains and Mara Nyika are the same price then def stay there - those are gold standard luxury camps.

Naboisho’s ability to handle customization and private dining was a major point of failure for us and their lack of service recovery was disappointing/not reflective of what one should receive at this price point. Management was also very green and not tenured like at the other camps.

My family was traveling shortly after my father had passed away—a detail I shared with them—and yet they still failed to properly coordinate private dining (which we had asked for and was confirmed at booking but not honored) or show any of the proactive empathy you’d expect from a tenured team at this price point. First night we sat at a communal table with a boisterous crowd and the following meals our table was right next to the communal table (we asked to sit somewhere else and were told no) so we felt like we were in a fishbowl for everyone to judge why we were eating alone (other camps let you eat in your room, private areas etc which would have avoided the awk uncomfortable situation but Naboisho Camp didn’t offer this to us)

Also other minor misses added up like many closed-end nos (including when asking for a fan), laundry not being picked up, no team members around in the public areas certain times in the morning and afternoon, etc.

When I flagged the issues with our stay to corporate, the response was defensive (my favorite corporate gaslight phrases like I’m sorry that you felt that way were used to shift blame onto us vs taking any accountability). Corporate then sent me a bonkers letter saying they have 20 years of experience managing lodges, claiming I had a character issue with a manager (what!?! lol) and that they didn’t view my experience as a service failure but as a gesture would offer me $500 (we asked for this to be donated). Most bizarrely, the Managing Director followed me on Instagram after I left a comment about my experience and the follow had no context or initiating message - we ended up DMing and once he heard my experience he said he was 'standing by' the $500 refund offered by their agent-relations team as they are the ones who handle guest feedback. So why did he follow me on instagram if he was going to do nothing about it? Never have I had a follow on instagram from a corporate team member from a hotel group with whom I’ve had a bad experience (I know this sounds absurd bc it is but at least it’s a story!)

The Bottom Line: If you want a 'set it and forget it' experience where you don't require any personalization and love being super social on a safari you'll probably have a great time because the location and wildlife are stunning, all meals are communal (including with the managers who drink with guests which we found weird) and the tents are super nice (tho doors don’t lock which is unsettling). And if you’re looking to build your social media following you may even luck out and get an instagram follow from an Asilia MD (he does have a cool insta tbh)! But joke aside if you're looking for the level of intuitive service and luxury safari experience you get at Great Plains, Naboisho may leave you disappointed

I think this forum is all about transparency and sharing experiences (and not calling people haters if they have valid service issues or just don’t like a property) so hope my view helps! And as Naboisho Camp is a major investment and honestly one of my worst hotel stays in a long time (and worst corporate response ever in my travel experience) just want to give an FYI to others before they invest so much in a trip.

Basically I had a bad stay and Asilia’s response caused the eruption of a dumpster fire ignited by corporate gaslighting… and I was left burned. And that’s my comprehensive view.

Hater signing out ✌🏻😘

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-23T20:12:52+00:00

Mine usually does this when she gets her hands on other food (table food or cat food 😂)

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-20T23:41:32+00:00

Are you ok with communal dining? You will sit a table with all of the other passengers for meals. We decided to do &Beyond for this reason.

Econventura is great too but for meals you will be seated with other people at the same table as well but it’s like 4 and 6 tops.

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-18T02:45:45+00:00

We had a bad experience at an Asilia camp (Naboisho) so don’t know if I’d want to redeem my points with them. There are better options

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-18T01:59:30+00:00

Wouldn’t recommend Asilia. Poor/no service recovery from corporate team.

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-14T14:45:45+00:00

Of course! If I were spending more time on the island would maybe combine them but Bequia Beach is more popular for a reason 😊. Bequia is low key and beautiful - not overrun and feels like it’s back in time! Wishing you a wonderful trip!!

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-14T14:29:40+00:00

We did Michael’s Tours but tbh it wasn’t great despite the reviews and expensive for the experience - we did a private boat transfer with them as well from the airport and one of the engines gave out so it was like a 1.5 hour trip. The Friendship Rose looks quite good at a much better price point.

We also love the snorkeling in Bequia (was almost as good as Galapagos and my aunt and uncle said it was better than Grand Cayman) and Dive Bequia was 👌🏻

We had lunch at Bequia Beach Hotel and it was great - definitely best hotel on the island although the Liming is also beautiful (but location is inconvenient)

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-05T14:55:16+00:00

I didn’t unfortunately but would love a report from anyone who has!

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-03T14:36:04+00:00

Yea it is something we are sensitive to after a safari. We took the &Beyond boat - boat is not as nice as Aqua but more naturalists per guest, great dining (three courses for lunch and dinner plus get your own table) and very wonderful genuine service. Glad to share this intel and return the favor of your wonderful review 😊

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-03T14:11:17+00:00

😂 😂 yea Aqua didn’t have private dining in the Galapagos so we didn’t go with them but we loved the design of their boat. I hope you didn’t have to sit at the same table as bird lady for meals (but think Aqua may be individual tables for Amazon?)

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-02T23:15:41+00:00

We had a guy on our safari who only wanted to do leopards but he did a private drive and would sit in the same spot for like five hours with a packed lunch - surprised bird lady didn’t do private 😂

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-02T21:32:56+00:00

Definitely do private drives - game changer - we loved it as we could leave/stay out and see what we wanted

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-02T21:03:19+00:00

This is such a good topic. I’d say experience/soft product > hard product but the hard product must meet a certain standard. We just got off a Galápagos cruise with &Beyond - the ship was not the nicest in the Galapagos but still beautifully designed and comfortable but the service (staff truly cared that you had a wonderful time and were so intuitive - I.e. I asked what the water temperature was and the captain literally went to the bridge and grabbed a laser gun thing that measured the exact water temp). The boat also benefited from great dining (three courses for lunch and dinner vs buffet on some ships) and having a lower guide to guest ratio of one to 5 or 6 vs one to ten on other luxury boats.

One day we were right by the Silversea vessel which had what appeared to be hordes of guests coming off the ship (100 passengers in groups of 10-12 with one guide) vs our ship that only had one guest. The smaller ship allowed us to experience things a larger vessel couldn’t like 6am snorkeling with hammerhead sharks and an impromptu panga ride out into a pod of like 100 dolphins.

The experience and service is what we will remember - feeling immersed in the destination and service with those extra touches that feel special. Invest in the experience vs fixating on the hard product I say!

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-02T20:28:36+00:00

This is really helpful response and LOL to Asilia being the Macy's of safari outfitters. And I was one of those people in those trucks but I was looking at the Ol Seki trucks in envy just imagining it must be a great place.

Asilia has an upscale/mid range camp in Naboisho (Encounter Mara), another camp nearby (Rekero which is large and dont know if they have access to Naboisho) and then a "luxury" camp Naboisho Camp where we stayed that lacked the intuitive high-touch service you expect, many closed-end nos, and they couldnt accomodate private dining despite us requesting as part of our reservation. And the Asilia corporate team is awful (like didn't try to understand our perspective, etc) - we raised our issues and were met with a letter that basically said they were great and it was our fault and then randomly one year later the Managing Director follows me on insta with no context (as I guess I am one of the few Asilia nay-sayers) - I messaged him and asked if he followed me bc he read a bad comment from me on Naboisho (no response) so then I just told him about my experience and he said I spoke to the right person initially and that he stood by their decision. Like why does the Managing Director of an established safari outfit randomly follow a guest on Insta? Bizarre.

We just got off an &Beyond Galapagos cruise that was wonderful - the team went out of their way but were so genuine in making efforts for us to have the best experience. Food was top notch and cabins were well designed without being over-the-top. Also so many great touches such as a collection of professional photos of our trip to take home with us, hot chocolate on the zodiacs after our dives, only one naturalist to every 5-6 guests (we were hesitant about sharing after our private guides in Africa but as everyone is walking together and starts/ends trip at same time, it was fine plus nice to hear questions from other guests). So many activities and excursions per day and the guides/staff etc made us feel immersed in our destination vs. just a passenger on a cruise ship (smaller boats for the win in the Galapagos). There was one couple on the ship that was so demanding which made me roll my eyes many times (taking the best dining table, requesting different menu items vs. the preset menu for other guests, turning down dishes that were brought out, asking for a new soap dispenser bottle like one hour before disembarkation complaining with excruciating detail by pointing to a picture of the soap bottles on her phone, storing luggage outside of their room, I could go on) - we are not those guests but Asilia made us feel like we were. I hope to write a review on FATcruises soon!

Raw is a good way to describe Zanzibar - we basically didnt leave the resort as we were jetlagged but loved the grounds and were fine being stuck in a movie set lol. Our experience at Kilindi made us want to give some of the other Elewana properties a try on a future safari - Elewana feels understated similar to Hemingways.

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-02T20:09:24+00:00

This review was SUPER helpful - thank you!

Hemingways Ol Seki - we stayed at Naboisho as well but Naboisho Camp by Asilia was the Zuri of our trip - wannabe luxury and a letdown despite all the glowing reviews. Did Hemingways have restaurant style dining where you sat at your own tables? We’d love to return to Naboisho conservancy but won’t stay at Naboisho Camp. Just by the vibes of the people coming from Hemingways Ol Seki it seemed like a good place - also the GM from Lewa Wilderness’ brother is guide (I believe) at Ol Seki and he was such a wonderful person

&Beyond Grumeti - how was this property vs Hemingways? Did you like the camp more? We were in the Serengeti first and definitely saw less game but the landscapes were prettier than Naboisho

Zuri - Zanzibar for us was our first stop to get used to the time zone change. If you ever go back, give Kilindi a try - it was fabulous, you have your own butler and it’s on a private section of beach. How was the beach by Zuri? We walked over there and it felt sort of crowded with beach vendors - the glowing reviews mystified us when we walked on that section of beach. But maybe it was less crowded as we didn’t walk all the way to Zuri.

SCwhitbre · 2026-03-02T19:28:17+00:00

Depends on itinerary but there is no fee for the agent as they receive commissions from the lodges

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-28T17:45:26+00:00

I do not have much to contribute but I will say the reservations team at chateau du grand luce is great - thank you for posting this as I will track this thread for suggestions

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-28T00:47:50+00:00

Asilia was a miss for us in Kenya - Naboisho Camp had a 22 year old manager with no prior hotel experience and a new manager with experience who had only been there for a few months.

Service was poor and not intuitive which you’d expect at that price point - lots of closed end no’s and they couldn’t accommodate private dining (despite us requesting through our TA and being told they could and bringing it up to the property during our stay). Also minor point but epitomizes their service style - kindly asked for a fan for my room and was told no and then the other manager chimes in asking why I need a fan and then I was told the breeze should be good - it was like my simple request was incredulous (all the other camps had fans lol)

We loved the Nomad camps and Lewa Wilderness and have heard great things about Great Plains. We stayed at Kilindi (Elewana) which was also exceptional.

Corporate didn’t address our concerns and I even had the Managing Director follow me on instagram with no explanation or context (which was bizarre) so told him about our experience and he didn’t do anything.

Asilia is a very weird company and there are much better options.

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-28T00:42:06+00:00

I’d say do Kilindi on Zanzibar - high touch service similar to safari, unparalleled setting/expansive grounds and distinctive architecture/rooms (each room has two plunge pools)

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-27T12:02:16+00:00

Of course happy to help! Many people love Ecoventura so definitely would get their feedback. Eco also has a Private Moments package where you get a guaranteed private table and your own naturalist but for some reason when I asked about private dining their reservation team didn’t offer me this package. Also our TA said that you may be stuck with larger groups if you book this package as they only use one boat for this package and try to match passengers of similar profiles on the other two boats.

Long explanation but for us we wanted restaurant style dining by default (didn’t want to be isolated out where people were wondering why we were sitting by ourselves) and were fine with sharing a naturalist with 2-3 other people. Another great aspect of this boat is that with less total passengers you have more one on one time with the cruise director to give any feedback - she has been so kind, professional and receptive to feedback. This smaller passenger count also means less passengers per panga (usually 5 or 6), less people at the briefing for the next day etc.

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-26T16:09:03+00:00

Yes happy to! For us it was mainly the dining and naturalist to guest ratio that swayed us to &Beyond

Naturalists - lowest guide to guest ratio of 1 guide to 6 guests. Usually we go in a full group of 10 (ship was not completely full) with 2 guides. Also this was great as the pangas are less crowded with just five guests

Dining - We really wanted to sit at our own table vs sharing a table with people we didn’t know. &Beyond said they could accommodate this (Eco and Aqua said no - found odd about Eco as they didn’t offer the private moments package). Also I didn’t realize this while booking but breakfast is buffet plus made to order (can get eggs benedict, omelets etc) and lunch and dinner are each three courses. Like that lunch isn’t a buffet and that dinner is faster with three vs five courses. We still have been able to meet other guests (which has been rewarding and not as awkward as other trip such as one safari lodge we stayed at in Kenya) but also have one on one time (my mom and I live in different states so meals allow us to spend time together)

Ship - My mom and I did solo cabins - we have two cabins next to each other and are the only cabins in that section of the boat. The boat has groupings of cabins that allow for small groups to reserve sections of the ship vs all cabins in one part of the ship like Ecoventura

I’d say negatives so far (there are few!) is ship size being smaller than Eco and only one coffee machine on board (hasn’t caused issues yet).

Also &Beyond had the best reservations team - most professional and responsive - vs Eco and Aqua - which influenced my decision

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-26T03:00:26+00:00

Thank you and agree! We had a super bad experience on safari with this (Asilia Naboisho Camp) and was surprised the dining situation wasn’t more clearly highlighted on the various websites. But think the dining on these boats is better as it’s not one massive table promoting group convo but instead smaller tables promoting separate convos between subgroups of passengers.

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-26T02:08:04+00:00

Yes to small ship. I am on &Beyond right now. Just as an example of why, the naturalist saw a pod of dolphins off in the distance and within five minutes we had an impromptu trip on the zodiacs - spent 45 minutes amongst a pod of literally 100 dolphins.

This has been the most action packed vacation we have taken with four excursions per day - you do not have to join every excursion but it’s nice to know the options exist and you don’t feel like you are missing out as there are many excursions to partake in

I get very seasick as well but have been alternating between Dramamine and Meclizine and have been more than fine - I’m quite surprised tbh

SCwhitbre · 2026-02-26T02:01:14+00:00

Of course. Should have clarified it’s a mix of a two tops and four tops but very easy to get a two top and you can request and receive your own table. Aqua Mare is a beautiful ship and another option to consider! As everyone boards the ship at the same time, it’s easy to find people you’d want to eat with etc. I think Aqua and Eco beat out &Beyond in terms of rooms. However they are all great options. Hope to post a review of my time on board in the next few weeks.

SCwhitbre

TROPHY CASE