If you’re looking for one of the most unique places to stay with kids in the UK, how about going to sleep with tigers just metres away from your bedroom window?
We recently stayed in one of the Safari Lodges at West Midlands Safari Park and this is definitely not your average UK family staycation. You’re literally staying right next to the animals, with huge viewing windows where you can sit inside your lodge and watch them.
It’s definitely not the cheapest overnight stay, but this is one of those experiences where you’re paying for much more than somewhere to sleep. If you have a child who is obsessed with animals, this could be a seriously special experience.
What are the West Midlands Safari Park Safari Lodges?
The Safari Lodges are luxury accommodation located inside West Midlands Safari Park in Worcestershire.
And it’s not just tigers!
Depending on which lodge you choose, you can stay overlooking animals including lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, red pandas and more.
We stayed next to the tigers and honestly, there is something pretty surreal about sitting inside your accommodation and looking through the window to see a tiger wandering around outside!
Of course, it is really important to remember that these are animals and there is no guarantee they’re going to be sitting perfectly outside your window waiting for you.
West Midlands Safari Park explains that while you’re likely to see the animals from your lodge, they have the freedom to move around their habitat and use their indoor housing. Weather conditions, particularly very hot or bad weather, as well as husbandry and health checks, can also affect when the animals are visible.
For me, that’s exactly how it should be.
Staying in a Tiger Safari Lodge
The Tiger Safari Lodges overlook the Sumatran tiger habitat and there are single and double storey options, sleeping up to five people.
One of the BEST things about the lodges has to be the huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the habitat.
Imagine waking up, opening the curtains and potentially seeing a tiger outside!
The single storey Tiger Lodges also have a covered outdoor area with a huge glass viewing window looking directly into the tiger habitat.
It gives you so much more time to actually sit and watch the animals compared with a normal visit to the Safari Park. There’s no rushing to the next thing. You can literally sit inside your lodge with a drink and see what decides to wander past.
How much does it cost to stay at West Midlands Safari Park?
This is definitely one of those experiences where you need to save up!
Safari Lodge stays start FROM £449 per night based on two people staying, with prices depending on the lodge and time of year.
The Tiger Safari Lodges start FROM £809 per night based on two guests.
Additional guests are charged at:
• £195 per adult
• £135 per child aged 3 to 15
• £25 per child under 3
These prices are per night.
Prices can obviously change, so always check the latest price for your dates before booking.
What is included in a Safari Lodge stay?
Although it’s expensive, there is quite a lot included in the package, which is important to take into consideration when looking at the overall price.
The standard package includes an overnight stay in one of the Safari Lodges, two days of admission to West Midlands Safari Park, two days of access to rides in the Adventure Theme Park during the summer season, dinner and breakfast in your lodge and more.
Our Tiger Safari Lodge stay also included bedding, towels and robes, a TV, free WiFi, a microwave and hot drink making facilities.
Safari Lodge guests also currently receive 20% off items in the park’s gift shops and food outlets. You simply show your gold wristband at the till for the discount to be applied. Terms and conditions apply.
You get TWO days at West Midlands Safari Park
Something I really like about the Safari Lodge package is that you don’t just get your overnight stay.
You also get two days at West Midlands Safari Park included.
Our first day was actually pretty decent weather wise. We managed to visit some of the park and, of course, enjoyed the safari too while the weather was still quite nice.
It did start raining towards the end of the day, which was a little annoying because there was still more we would have liked to explore, but I wasn’t too worried because we knew we had the second day included.
In theory, the plan was perfect.
We could enjoy our lodge, stay overnight and then head back out the following morning, do the safari again if we wanted to and explore more of the park.
Unfortunately, British weather had other ideas!
It rained SO much the following day.
I know there are people who will say there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, but for me there absolutely is and it’s RAIN!
I just don’t enjoy spending an entire day walking around in pouring rain.
In the end, we decided there wasn’t much point staying and left after checking out of our Safari Lodge.
It was such a shame because I actually think having that second day included is one of the big advantages of staying here. If the weather had been better, we absolutely would have stayed, explored more of the park and potentially done the safari again.
Despite that, we still had a fantastic time and obviously the weather is one thing nobody can control.
Dinner at the Safari Lodge
Dinner and breakfast are included with the standard Safari Lodge package and you choose your meals before your stay.
We were sent our menu choices in advance and could choose our individual meals, which was really handy.
I went for leek and potato soup to start, Thai green chicken curry for my main and the grown up brownie for dessert.
Unfortunately, I really didn’t enjoy my Thai green chicken curry. I just wasn’t a fan of the flavour at all.
Luckily, I’d eaten beforehand, so I wasn’t particularly hungry by the evening anyway.
My daughter definitely had better luck!
She chose mac and cheese followed by a chocolate brownie and really enjoyed hers.
Obviously food is completely subjective, so just because I didn’t enjoy my curry doesn’t mean someone else wouldn’t love it. But I’d definitely have chosen something different if I was doing it again.
What is breakfast like?
Breakfast was much more my thing!
I had bacon and waffles, while my daughter chose waffles and fruit.
Breakfast was pretty decent and it’s delivered outside your lodge in reusable jars between 7:30am and 8am.
There is something pretty cool about sitting in your Safari Lodge eating waffles while potentially having animals wandering around outside.
Bring some snacks with you
One tip I would definitely give families is to bring some extra snacks and drinks.
There is a fridge inside the Safari Lodge, so you can bring some of your own food with you.
I think this is particularly worth doing if you have children who are fussy eaters or you simply like having something to snack on during the evening.
I was VERY glad I’d eaten beforehand when I discovered the curry wasn’t for me!
What can you do in the evening?
Once West Midlands Safari Park closes, you can settle down and enjoy your lodge.
There’s a widescreen TV in each lodge showing terrestrial channels, but realistically, I think most people are going to spend quite a bit of time looking out of the window!
Depending on which lodge you’re staying in, you may still see animals outside during the evening.
The animals have access to their indoor housing and can come and go as they wish. Whether they’re outside your lodge or inside their night quarters will depend on things including the weather and the particular species.
Some animals can actually be more active at night. West Midlands Safari Park gives its red pandas as an example.
The habitats aren’t artificially lit during the dark hours either because the animals need to experience a natural day and night cycle for their health and welfare.
So if you’re visiting at a time of year when it gets dark particularly early, that’s something worth keeping in mind.
Is parking free at the Safari Lodges?
Yes, Safari Lodge guests have designated free parking next to the Lodges Reception.
However, you generally cannot park directly outside your lodge unless you have specifically booked qualifying accessible accommodation.
Once you’ve parked, your vehicle remains in the car park by reception and a member of the team can transport your luggage for you.
Something else that’s definitely worth knowing before you arrive is that the walk from the car park to your lodge can be around 10 to 20 minutes depending on where you’re staying.
Are there accessible Safari Lodges?
There are accessible accommodation options available.
West Midlands Safari Park states that there are specially designed accessible Elephant, Lion and Hippo Safari Lodges, with additional design features for guests with accessibility requirements.
I would definitely check the exact lodge configuration and accessibility features directly when booking, particularly if you have specific requirements.
Are the Safari Lodges safe for children?
The Safari Lodges are designed with families in mind.
According to West Midlands Safari Park, the lodges and exhibits are designed and built to current UK building regulations and zoo licensing standards to help keep guests and animals safe while still providing that amazing close up experience.
Obviously, children still need to remain under parental supervision.
Are you guaranteed to see the animals from your lodge?
No, and I think this is something everyone needs to understand before spending this amount of money.
You are likely to see the animals, but sightings cannot be guaranteed.
The animals might decide to rest somewhere that isn’t easily visible from your lodge, particularly during very hot or bad weather. Husbandry requirements and health checks can also mean certain animals aren’t visible at particular times.
Ultimately, they’re animals. They aren’t going to appear at the window on demand.
That said, the possibility of sitting in your lodge and suddenly seeing one of them wander past is a HUGE part of the excitement.
Is a West Midlands Safari Park Safari Lodge worth the money?
There’s no getting around the fact that this is an expensive UK staycation.
With Tiger Safari Lodges starting FROM £809 per night for two people, this isn’t something everyone is going to be able to book on a random weekend away.
But I also don’t think that’s really what this experience is about.
You’re not paying £809 just for a hotel room.
You’re getting the Safari Lodge experience, the opportunity to stay incredibly close to the animals, dinner, breakfast and two days at West Midlands Safari Park included in the package.
I think this could make an AMAZING special birthday or Christmas present instead of buying loads of physical gifts.
If you have a child who absolutely adores animals, a budding future vet or someone who dreams about going on an African safari one day, this could be such a special experience.
Obviously, this is nothing like actually travelling to Africa and going on safari, but that also involves a very long plane journey and considerably more planning. For families looking for something much closer to home, staying beside incredible animals right here in the UK could be a really lovely alternative.
And despite the rain completely ruining our plans for day two and me definitely NOT being a fan of my dinner, we still had such a fantastic time.
Being able to go to sleep and wake up with tigers right outside is not something you get to experience every day!
West Midlands Safari Park Safari Lodges location
West Midlands Safari Park
Spring Grove
Bewdley
Worcestershire
DY12 1LF
Would you choose to sleep next to the tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos or red pandas?
I think the tigers would be VERY hard to beat!
