Marriott, Ritz-Carlton Launching Luxurious Safari Amid Booming Demand

• Lodge corporations like Marriott wish to capitalize on the booming reputation of luxurious safaris.
• Marriott plans to launch two Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott-branded safari lodges over the subsequent yr.
• The primary Ritz-Carlton property is predicted to have 20 suites beginning at $2,646 per night time.

Rich vacationers are more and more checking off the African “Huge 5” from their must-see journey bucket lists. Marriott Worldwide desires to assist — by launching two luxurious safari camps in Kenya, together with a primary for Ritz-Carlton.

Within the luxe journey world, safaris aren’t nearly seeing zebras and elephants. At Marriott’s coming Ritz-Carlton Masai Mara and JW Marriott Mount Kenya Rhino Reserve properties, company can anticipate suites with personal swimming pools, eating places on stargazing decks, and spa remedies — along with sport drives, after all.

The resort large’s safari conquest started with the 2023 launch of its first $1,554-per-night JW Marriott lodge on the identical nationwide reserve it is now eyeing for Ritz-Carlton. Nevertheless, it is not the one hospitality large trying to capitalize on the inflow of wildlife-seeking vacationers.

A crop of recent camps and lodges have been opening throughout African sizzling spots. This consists of the January launch of competitor Hyatt’s Hyatt Regency Nairobi Westlands, its first Kenyan resort a couple of hours’ drive from surrounding reserves and parks.

Just a few months prior, celebrity-favorite luxurious lodge chain Singita additionally welcomed two new properties, all whereas experiencing 80% to 90% occupancy charges all through 2024, a spokesperson informed Enterprise Insider in an e mail on the time.

Now, Ritz-Carlton desires to place itself as one other luxurious participant — by wooing deep-pocketed vacationers with 20 suites and comforts like butler providers, balconies with infinity swimming pools, and Diptyque Paris toiletries.

The approaching property is scheduled to open in August, about 1½ hours from JW Marriott, nearer to the border of Tanzania’s Serengeti Nationwide Park. Lodging begin at $2,646 per night time for a 1,755-square-foot suite, whereas the biggest four-bedroom Presidential Suite is greater than 6½ occasions the value.

In between sport drives, company can leisurely discover the camp’s photograph studio, map room, wellness middle, outside fitness center, and pool. For meals, the first restaurant plans to have a wine cellar, stargazing and eating decks, and a boma, or a conventional outside corral.

As for the second JW Marriott lodge, scheduled to open in early 2026 within the Solio Recreation Reserve, company can anticipate to see wildlife by way of guided excursions (together with by horseback), a camouflage viewing construction, quad bikes, and stops at a rhino orphanage.

Like its Ritz-Carlton counterpart, the property is ready to have high-end touches like wellness amenities, 4 eating places, and 20 visitor tents, every with a personal pool.

The developments come after Marriott’s luxurious arm mentioned it deliberate to introduce a number of manufacturers to the African safari lodge enterprise in 2025.

Over the previous couple of years, the resort large has grown its luxurious portfolio to fulfill rising demand for high-end holidays. As of December 2024, Marriott oversees about 530 luxurious properties, with one other 260 presently in growth.

Greater than 30 are scheduled to open in 2025 — together with the approaching Ritz-Carlton lodge.