Planet Lodge
It doesn't win on hardware. What it does, at the economy price point, is put the pool, the garden, the space and the setting all in one place — and on your first night off a long flight, a quiet place to reset matters more than a new one.
Why we chose it
What it gets right is completeness at its price: a pool, a large courtyard, real greenery, and rooms scattered through the garden rather than stacked in a block. It feels more like a retreat than a city hotel, and on a clear day you can see Mount Meru from the lawn. The rooms are genuinely roomy, too — being the economy tier here doesn't mean being cramped.
It sits in Moshono, a quiet pocket on the edge of Arusha — close enough to town, but away from the traffic downtown. For guests who have just come off a long-haul flight and leave on safari the next morning, we actually prefer this: land, settle, rest, no further hassle. Its money has gone into space and setting rather than finishes and design — a trade-off we think is worth making.
What to know
The hardware really is ordinary and shows its age; the furniture, bathrooms and finishes are not on the level of the pricier lodges. If polished design or a recent refurbishment matters a lot to you, this is not that kind of place.
It is also not downtown. The drive into town is short, but if you want to wander out in the evening for shops, restaurants or a coffee, a city-centre hotel is more convenient.
If it is full
Ilboru Safari Lodge — also an economy-tier Arusha property in a similar style, our usual stand-in when Planet Lodge is full.
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