The Lake Victoria Serena Resort Experience!

The Lake Victoria Serena Resort Experience!

Over the weekend, the Lake Victoria Serena Resort bagged the Best Presidential Suite award in Uganda! When I was asked if I wanted a taste of THE SERENA Experience, obviously I jumped at the opportunity to spend a phenomenal time at the picturesque resort nestled at the shores of Lake Victoria; fifteen kilometers from Kampala City, Uganda’s Capital and thirty kilometers from Entebbe Airport creating a world away from the city with its classically rustic Roman Villa style. This is the second time the resort is winning the same award and it’s not hard to see why. I will tell you…

The World Travel Awards – WTA serve to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of global travel and tourism industry. The WTA has global recognition as the ultimate hallmark of quality with winners setting the benchmark to which all others aspire. This was the 22nd World Travel Awards and they took place in the scenic Seychelles.

As an aspiring budget traveler, I’ve had a fair share of hostels and dorms – clean and basic accommodation. That’s me seeking out high style on an extremely tight budget. Obviously, I’ve always wondered what it’s like getting indulged by a 5 star hotel like one of the Serena Hotels.

The resort is designed to indulge you in the most extreme way. So you can imagine my excitement. The road to the resort is a little bumpy and you might feel a little lost because there aren’t sign posts to let you know if you’re on course or not but the good people in the community will give you directions if you start feeling unsure and insecure. My friend who offered to chauffeur me around wasn’t any help either. Soon, we relaxed as we noticed the Roman style roof peeking through.

Eventually, what seemed like an endless journey came to a stop. Welcomed by the friendly but attentive front desk personnel.

“Hi. My name is Olive…”

“Hello Olive, we’ve been expecting you! Please have a seat by the lounge as we get our Front Desk Manager to assist you.”

I almost skipped to the seats, grinning like an idiot. The Serena folks had been expecting me. Who would have thought that?

Gerald came through to greet me like I was an old friend. Asking if the journey was eventful and explained to me that the signposts were taken down during the road expansion process. Since it was lunch time, he asked if my friend and I would rather have lunch or check out THE room first. We chose to be shown around first. Food can always wait. Hahaha

I stared in awe at the Presidential Suite… Because I am pretty new to this travel thing, when making plans the bed is the last thing on my list of necessity. One time, my friend – Paul asked if we were going to have non-squeaky beds in our tents! For some reason, when I stared at this bed, that memory came back to me. We all laughed at him and jokingly told him that if he didn’t want non-squeaky beds, he should go to Serena. This morning after I showed him the photos from the weekend, “Maaaan, Serena is a class apart!” And indeed it is. There is nothing squeaky or budget about the Lake Victoria Serena Resort.

The resort has two presidential suites located on the penthouse level of the main cidatel and feature; a luxury ensuite bedroom with a king-sizes bed, an elegant reception room, dining room with a private kitchen, furnished terrace and staff accommodation.

The presidential suite also has its own private event or conference room. The view from the presidential suite is definitely an experience on its own! My only worry is, I wouldn’t leave my room or if I did, I wouldn’t go past the balcony so I could stare out for the rest of my life!

Gerald showed as around with a great sense of pride and why not? I couldn’t get enough of this. So I grudgingly left the penthouse floor for closer shot…

We finally went to the pool…

My personal favorite; the Lake View Terrace Pool Bar and Cafe – which makes you realize that sometimes true pleasure is mutually exclusive. Having you contemplating on whether to get into the pool to enjoy the water or just lounge by the pool and enjoy the view. All equally satisfying.

I did both. Admired the view while I got a taste of a 5 star cuisine and for the first time, I got to describe food as gorgeous!

Finally, what’s a 5 Star indulgence without photographic evidence of yours truly by the pool?