Captain Camp Desert Camp

The Wadi rum desert is an incredibly beautiful place. Camp Land Mars is run by a young Salem and his brothers impeccably. The camp is beautifully designed both in the sleeping area of the tents and in the common area. You eat with them at a buffet. There are different curtain solutions, including splendid ballrooms. The camp is in an enviable place to see both the sunset and the sunrise and don't miss a 4-hour desert tour. A piece of advice, stay there for 2 nights, you will have time to fully enjoy a splendid place

We had an amazing time in wadi rum with a kind host, Awwad! We did a jeep safari tour and camel ride which was an incredible experience. We made new friends from all over the world! Dinner was delicious which was cooked in a traditional way! I loved it so much!!!

It’s not easy to write this review for some reasons: I stayed in Wadi Rum during the Covid pandemic and I was very lucky to be there on my own so I could enjoy enormously this wonderful desert, its silence, and beautiful landscape. However, the place is FULL of camps and each camp has SEVERAL tents. Specifically, Mars Wadi Rum Camp has around 20 tents, each with a capacity of 2 to 4 people… so when this place is full, there are about 50 to 80 people here. Therefore, if you’re looking for a deep immersion in a desert, you are bound to be disappointed. If you just want to hang out with other people in a rather astonishing location, this is for you. Also worth mentioning that ALL CAMPS work the same. From Mars Desert Camp I could see about 10 other camps. So when all of them are full, I don’t know what’s this place like, as probably you can hear not only the people/music/cars from your camp but also from ALL OTHER camps. The camp manager, Awwad, told me that there are about 100 camps in Wadi Rum… so it’s pretty unavoidable to be crammed among other people and other camps. But… I could see that other camps may be more isolated and further from other's potential noises… so there might be a possibility to be in a more chilled area if that is your will (I didn't hear anything because there was no one else there -- lucky me). So, even though I had this amazing opportunity of being on my own at Mars Desert Camp (and, practically on my own at the whole Wadi Rum Desert), why this bad review? The thing is that the whole Wadi Rum Village has grown an enormous business out of this Wadi Rum Desert (as it is common with amazing natural wonders), and there are a few things you should be aware of before coming to this place: 1. One piece of advice is to forget the Jeep Tour unless you have children below 12 or all you care about is coming out of Wadi Rum Desert with a bunch of selfies. Awwad, the manager, drove me to a couple of places and asked me things like “Now go on top of that hill and I’ll take a picture of you”, or… “Now walk that dune and I’ll be waiting here at my friend’s tent (where you can later buy some souvenirs after my friend invites you to tea”). All this time, you are basically paying for a tour which costs around 20-25$ an hour. Personally, I enjoyed much more walking the desert on my own, finding routes, and climbing dunes without the need of having someone to tell me to do so. 2. Of course, meals are part of the deal: dinner costs 10JD (which is obviously way more expensive than in any town or city in Jordan but… well, you’re in the desert, So I found that fair enough). The first night we had an average chicken stew with bread (big portion and good enough). The second night we had again an average chicken stew (this time with rice) — good enough again. But the last night only the stew sauce came (which I’m 95% sure was the leftover from the previous day) with a few potatoes, no vegetables, or no chicken presence. The explanation was that due to that day’s lockdown, Awwad sister (who was gently cooking for us) couldn’t buy anything in the supermarket. I found this a little bit unprofessional as she knew the lockdown was happening (it was not at all unexpected), she knew I was there, and she knew I had to eat… so she could have bought something the day before (and a change of the menu would have also been very much appreciated). The fact is that I was quite sick (literally) of the stew (as I can't eat tomatoes… which I mentioned the first day… and the stew had tomatoes every single day…) so that night I just ate white rice with some toppings that I put from my own food reserve. I was just astonished that the last day HE CHARGED ME 10JD for a dish of white rice… He apologized for that dinner about 10 times… nonetheless, he still charged me 10JD for it. He also charged me the 45JD for what I found a ridiculous jeep tour which lasted 45’ less than agreed, even though I politely mentioned how disappointed I was for that. Awwad repeated over and over during my stay that he wanted me (and, I guess, all his guests) to be “very happy” and to have “a wonderful stay” at his camp. Honestly, I think that these were just empty words. I found very little heart or commitment or true kindness and professionalism in the service he delivered. At the end of my stay, he reminded me “how important a good review was for him”, to which I answered that good reviews are not to be requested… they come or not, according to the guest’s experience. Foreseeing that my review would probably not be a 10/10 (my intention was to leave a "good enough" review... probably around 7/10) HE CANCELLED my stay on Booking right after I left, mentioning THAT I WAS NEVER THERE. This is a common trick that some hotel managers use in Jordan and other places to hinder the customer from leaving a bad review. This last deed definitely proved to me how fake and empty were this young man’s words were. For this reason, I left Wadi Rum rather sad and disappointed… even though I enjoyed greatly the desert and the silence and the whole nature immersion, which was amazing. Piece of advice: if you can, buy a tent, rent a 4WD, and find a spot far away from all camps and local exploitation and enjoy this natural wonder on your own.