Marriott will be foraying into the luxury safari segment with its latest agreement with Baraka Lodges.
Opening in 2023, JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge will be located within Kenya's Mara National Reserve, overlooking the River Talek.
The new-build lodge will feature 20 private tents, including one presidential canvas-topped pavilion and two interconnecting canopied suites, each with a private terrace overlooking the river.
Making up the shared spaces are a restaurant, lounge bar, spa, and a large outdoor terrace with fire pits that will play host to traditional Masai dance performances in the evening.
The lodge's location will offer guests the opportunity to observe the “Big Five” — lions, leopards, buffalos, rhinoceros and elephants — that Masai Mara is home to, as well as the annual great wildebeest migration between June and September.
Conservation of the land and its inhabitants will be at the heart of JW Marriott Masai Mara. The safari lodge aims to employ up to 50 locals from the Masai community.