Marriott is undergoing quite the expansion when it comes to safari camps. In late April 2025, the company announced the details of its newest planned safari camp. There’s now an update, as the property is bookable, so we have a lot more details.
Continue reading: Mapito Safari Camp: Marriott’s New 15-Tent Serengeti Property
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Luxury Collection or Ritz Reserve would have seemed like good flags for some of these properties
I keep seeing you write this "given what most of us typically associate with JW Marriott (large conference hotels)" and I think you couldn't be more wrong about JW Marriott.
I'd say that the most well known JW Marriotts are probably their resorts.
Looks like the basic rooms available for points bookings do not include meals, game drives, etc. Price appears much higher for "all inclusive" bookings.
Nice! This is right up my alley.
Planning a trip to see the Great Migration (my ultimate lifelong dream trip) and looking between the Four Seasons Serengeti, the "&Beyond" properties, and now this.
If anyone's stayed in the first two and have any tips/advice/suggestions, I'm all ears BTW. 🙂
Serengeti has been subjected to over tourism. Parts feel more like a zoo. Than a national park in Africa. Sad story.
I don't understand their strategy. There are many countries and areas of the continent as well as other continents offering various safaris. They already have one property near there. They should branch out to other places. What will happen is that then the experience will be gone because it will become full of Marriotts and other brands.
Israel is opening a similar concept property too.
They're opening a dozen of Camp Refoogee.
Yeah, I don't understand why he keeps pushing this conference hotel message. The official JW Marriott description is "a haven designed to let guests focus on feeling whole – present in mind, nourished in body, and revitalized in spirit. " If anything, the conference hotels are the outliers, not the resorts.
My advice would be pick a smaller lodge. Four Seasons was nice but it's busy and seems like a corporate away week for a lot of the guests.
Imagine being trapped here with loud Americans who paid for the trip with the points the got for buying toilet paper at Costco.
Tip for everyone: do not go to anywhere Americans can redeem their points. Also, make a business ripping them off. They're beyond stupid.