Santaviva Hotel

A great place to book gorilla trekking at a somewhat “backpacker” price. (for gorillas anyways…) Owner goes out of his way to make sure you have a good stay and have everything you need for your trek, as well as help you arrange anything else you need during your stay. WiFi works well, breakfast is tasty. Rooms are simple, clean, a good match for price. Location is a short walk from bus station.

The rooms are nice and clean and have the bahtroom included. You have the possibility to sit together in the inner courtyard or in the front of the motel. Breakfast and dinner were delicious for a very fair price. The owner of the place is an exceptionally nice guy who took us for a walk to the caldera (with wonderful view over the city), took us to the local market and accompanied us on a boat trip on Lake Mutanda. He provided us with lots of information about the area and its people. We can highly recommend to stay at his place.

Ivan was an incredible host. Not only did he sort out my gorilla tracking excursion at a very reasonable price, but he also came to Rwanda to meet me and collect the money since the permit has to be paid for in cash. I was a little apprehensive about handing over that amount of money but he went out of his way to allay my concerns and I found him extremely trustworthy. He also helped me with my onward travel plans. I can't recommend him enough.

Ivan and everyone at motel Santaviva made sure our stay was perfect. We enjoyed the great local dishes at the hotel restaurant..Ivan showed us around on a cycling tour, and he even helped us in getting a sim card. Ivan also helped us plan out the rest of our trip in Uganda. Everything was perfect, and he made sure we got on the right bus and remained in contact during our trip in Uganda. Room was big and comfy as well. If you want to experience Uganda, this is the place to stay.

We were blessed to begin our time in Uganda at Motel Santaviva. This is absolutely the perfect place to begin your time in Uganda if arriving from Rwanda, or the ideal place to finish if you are travelling in the opposite direction. The property is run by Ivan, a brilliant individual who made our stay way beyond expectations. - As backpackers we cannot afford many of the expensive trecks in Rwanda and Uganda, such as the gorilla tracking. But the very good news if you stay here is that Ivan organises lots of amazing tours which are just a few dollars or even free of charge. These include visiting beautiful nearby Lake Matanda and the amazing volcano caldera (with unbelievable views), bird watching, local community projects etc etc. We booked to stay one night but ended up staying 3 as we were finally able to do a lot of things that didn't hurt our pocket. The property itself is right in the middle of town, the breakfast is brilliant (ask about the Rolex breakfast), there's a comfy private area outside to have a beer. Inside there is a restaurant with a great affordable menu, and then there is a lovely inner courtyard and a lounge behind that for relaxing and reading. The room was good with hot water and brand new mosquito nets although we didn't encounter any mosquitos here at all. Ivan also put us in touch with excellent properties in the region where we could stay. Ivan also took us on a free evening walking tour to the local caldera which was wonderful as we interacted with so many local people and saw the most incredible scenery and bird life including thousands of fruit bats in the trees. This is a backpacking property at its best: run for backpackers while not compromising and losing its African spirit. You'll definitely want to stay here a couple of nights. And you'll be sad when it's time to leave.