Review of Tifakara Boutique Hotel & Birding Oasis 4*

STAY AT YOUR OWN RISK! My husband and I stayed at the Tifakara on our honeymoon in January. When booking the place, it had everything we were looking for. In the Jungle, Restaurant and Bar, a little ways away from town but still close, and most of all I fell in in love with the photos of the open rainforest showers. Upon our arrival we were happy to see how quant and beautiful the property was. We did notice the dogs that bark next door and also construction on property with noise and mud but that didn’t bother us. Our rooms were nice, and the staff seemed very friendly. Later on in the evening, after returning from town we wanted to settle in by the pool and enjoy a drink from their bar. We were then informed that they don’t have a bar or restaurant anymore (just breakfast). This totally caught us off guard, because that was one of the main reasons we booked this place, but we got over it. Our second day there, we returned from a day of adventures and were getting ready to go enjoy the hotsprings. After collecting our stuff, we asked the guy at the front desk the best place to go. We then left. Upon returning, our whole honeymoon got shattered. We walked into our room to find muddy foot prints in our room that led right up to where the safe was. The safe with all of our cash and personal belongings was stolen (well over $3500 in cash and valuables). That was when everything came crashing down. Someone had come through our open shower, went straight to the safe and ripped the improperly secured safe right out of the cabinet. We had taken every precaution while there to make sure valuables were not left out or on us, that we placed them in what was supposed to be the safest and most secure place to find out that it wasn’t safe AT ALL. That is when I remembered as we left, and while we told the guy at the counter we were leaving, there was a construction worker in the parking lot watching us. When police arrived to look at the scene, they informed us that whoever accessed our room not only had to have a ladder, but seemed know exactly where the safe was and that it was so easy to take out. I informed the guy at the front desk about the construction worker watching us leave. He contacted the owners, and we were told that they would come the next morning to meet with us and to review the only camera they have on property, which was at the entrance/exit. The next morning when we returned to talk with the owner, we were informed by the front desk guy (a different one than the night before), that they would not be coming to meet us. And that apparently, those cameras had been down for a few days, so they have no way of reviewing any footage. Nothing, there was NOTHING they were trying to do to help us retrieve our stolen items and cash. Upon returning home from our honeymoon, I contacted the owner (Abie Grynspan) directly, since he had not even tried to reach out to us. I asked him how he was planning on trying to even make this better. The amount of cash, valuables as well as time lost on our honeymoon as well as very shaken emotions. He told me he would have to contact insurance to see what they were going to cover. After not hearing back from him for a long time, I reached out to him again. He eventually informed me that insurance would not cover what was in the safe, since there was no record of the items being placed in the safe. I informed him that we were never given a form to fill out what we were placing in the safe, had we been offered that we would have. He did end up offering a small amount (Less than 15% of what we lost, I’d assume to just get us to go away) So please, take it from someone who also was also captivated by their open rainforest showers, THIS IS HOW YOU GET ROBBED. This hotel and their owner (s) are frauds on so many levels. They STILL lie on their website to people about their “amazing restaurant and bar” FOR THERE TO BE NONE!