Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park
Lot K85 Umfolozi Village, Mtubatuba 3935 South Africa
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About
#3 of 5 B&Bs in Mtubatuba
Location
Rooms
Value
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overlooking the Umfolozi flood plain and bordering on a private game reserve,Umfolozi River Lodge is the ideal getaway for bopth the businessman and family alike,location,approximately 30 minutes from St Lucia,the Richards Bay airport.Hluhluwe Game Reserve makes it the perfect base from which to explore all the Zululand has to offer.Umfolozi River Lodge is a birdwatcher's paradise with beautiful walking trails along the Msunduzi river passing through litchi,pecan and macadamia nut groves.Large aviaries of exotic birds and Koi fish ponds surround the lodge while the rabbits and other small farm animals are sure to delight both the young and old. Our overnight facilities consist of 5 camp sites,all equipped with water and electrical points and 4 by 4 excursions are on offer for the enthusiast.
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Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Pool
Free breakfast
Golf course
Hiking
Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)
Pets Allowed ( Dog / Pet Friendly )
Secured parking
Wifi
Outdoor pool
Bar / lounge
Coffee shop
Restaurant
Kids' meals
Snack bar
Special diet menus
Wine / champagne
Canoeing offsite
Darts
Waterslide
Conference facilities
Meeting rooms
BBQ facilities
Non-smoking hotel
Outdoor fireplace
Outdoor furniture
Picnic area
Laundry service
Ironing service
Room features
Desk
Housekeeping
Safe
Bottled water
Clothes rack
Coffee / tea maker
Refrigerator
Complimentary toiletries
Iron
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Family rooms
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Mid-range
Quaint
Languages Spoken
English, Afrikaans
Location
Lot K85 Umfolozi Village, Mtubatuba 3935 South Africa
Getting there
12 Restaurants
within 10 kilometers
3 Attractions
within 10 kilometers
Reviews
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Detailed Reviews
The room was not prepared in advance. Under the pillow, there were lizard droppings, a lot of them. The room was generally very dusty. This triggered a sinusitis I never knew I had.
This place has no electricity, so they use a generator. They switch on the generator in the morning and after for about 3 hours each time. When the generator is off, so is the water pump. So no toilet no taps work for atleast 18hr each day.
Breakfast was prepared with love though. The hostess is friendly. Unfortunately, that's not enough for me to ever ever return to this place.
This place has no electricity, so they use a generator. They switch on the generator in the morning and after for about 3 hours each time. When the generator is off, so is the water pump. So no toilet no taps work for atleast 18hr each day.
Breakfast was prepared with love though. The hostess is friendly. Unfortunately, that's not enough for me to ever ever return to this place.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: October 2021
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I thought that there would be lots of birds to see. Only a few in Cages which urgently Need some serious maintenance. Gardens well kept & tidy. Like most places in South Africa ... Money has not been invested in maintenance or new Investment.
Has some potential ... how Needs professional Management, leadership and vision
Has some potential ... how Needs professional Management, leadership and vision
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We took a drive out there from Richards Bay for a Valentines day breakfast. From the moment you stop in the parking area, you see a a place that is in need of some tender loving care.
We were seated in the Sportsman Bar area. This is a huge area and the tables and chairs have a nice rustic feel.
Two cleaners were working hectically, washing the floors...around us, over us and we ducking mop handles and lifting our feet....but the floors were spotlessly clean once they departed.
We ordered our food and after about 40 minutes our food arrived (we were the only customers). My wife had the omelette and had seem to enjoy it. A friend of ours orders a toasted sandwich with chips, and was just disappointed with the burnt chips. On recommendation of the waitress, I had a Chicken a la Chef...a chicken breast stuffed with cheese and bacon, crumbed and fried. This was so oily and I regretted ordering it. Also the mash potato was so lumpy...not nice at all.
After our meals we took a walk through the bird park. This must have been such a nice place to visit some time or other, but now its rather dilapidated. Maybe someday in the future we will take a drive out there again, but Richards Bay restaurants offer far better food.
We were seated in the Sportsman Bar area. This is a huge area and the tables and chairs have a nice rustic feel.
Two cleaners were working hectically, washing the floors...around us, over us and we ducking mop handles and lifting our feet....but the floors were spotlessly clean once they departed.
We ordered our food and after about 40 minutes our food arrived (we were the only customers). My wife had the omelette and had seem to enjoy it. A friend of ours orders a toasted sandwich with chips, and was just disappointed with the burnt chips. On recommendation of the waitress, I had a Chicken a la Chef...a chicken breast stuffed with cheese and bacon, crumbed and fried. This was so oily and I regretted ordering it. Also the mash potato was so lumpy...not nice at all.
After our meals we took a walk through the bird park. This must have been such a nice place to visit some time or other, but now its rather dilapidated. Maybe someday in the future we will take a drive out there again, but Richards Bay restaurants offer far better food.
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Date of stay: February 2015Trip type: Travelled with family
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What a great value for money indeed! We were welcomed upon arrival, shown to our room and everything was just clean and perfect. Very peaceful. Breakfast was excellent! Amazing staff as well. Will definitely be back!
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Date of stay: January 2015Trip type: Travelled with family
Rooms
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My husband and I went on a Daddy Deal voucher and must say that we certainly got what we paid for & then some. The rooms are very basic but the beds are comfortable, we had a kettle and a fridge in our room, the shower was good and the industrial fan in our room, No 10, worked a treat. Our TV was apparently not working before we got there but was repaired and returned to us before 5pm on Friday. With a few small changes like a mat outside the shower, and a darker curtains on the East facing window, and it would have been hundreds. Maybe little gift packs of soap, shampoo, hand cream etc would be a nice touch although they did provide liquid soap in a container. The pool was clean and there is plenty to keep kids occupied with a great play ground (Trampoline, swings, wooden walkways and tree houses, slides, bunnies, goats and pigs) and there are lots of birds in the bird park, koi fish etc. The dining area is basic but pleasant and their bar prices very reasonable. I think that although Cindy does her best to cope with all her duties, she needs help if service is to be improved - and it does need to be. I had been warned about slow service so expected it. The food is at best average (I'd reduce the number of choices on the menu and make sure that what I served I did well) but there is only 1 cook so she's under pressure and this contributes to slow service. Breakfast was fine although they'd run out of bacon as some cyclists had popped in for breakfast earlier. No complaints about what we did get though. The kiddies menu is very reasonably priced. You are 40 minutes away from the Imfolozi Game Park and they provide packed breakfast if you require which is a nice touch. Etienne seems like a very nice man who just needs to see to the service issue, ensure that they do not over book etc and I'm sure that they'd not need to fill it on Daddy Deal specials. It is certainly not awful or dirty as made out in some reviews. I rather liked the rustic, country feel of the place and feel that this place has loads of potential.
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Date of stay: February 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Â There are 2, 4 and 6 sleepers but all adjoining so, depending on who else is staying, it runs the...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
What a disappointment! This establishment is not 3 stars in any way. We didn't even unpack our cars... The exterior has an air of extreme neglect.. To add to this it was just dirty... there was trash lying in various areas, even the plants were dusty. The rooms were extremely dated..which would have been bearable had the linen been clean and the pillows not stained. We lasted a whole 15 minutes before deciding to forego our pre-purchased vouchers and leave.
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Date of stay: December 2014Trip type: Travelled with family
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We liked the location, the lay-out of the resort, the restaurant and even the food. But the place can really do with an injection of capital to repair structures and properly maintain it. It must have been a nice place once upon a time before lack of proper maintenance and lack of sufficient staff left it run down. The birds are beautiful but their cages are dirty and a number of the cages are now empty. The children’s playground is in tatters, the pool looks like you will get an infection if you dip in it. The rooms are not properly cleaned. The mat on the floor so dirty we stayed clear from it, even after we shook off as much dirt from it as we could. Eventually I had to use one of their bath towels to wipe the gritty, grimy and floor. The owner seems to know what needs to be done but just does not seem to have the financial means to implement it. What a pity because the place has such potential as a truly relaxing and enjoyable place to stay in while exploring that part of the Kwazulu-Natal as well as a venue for functions. The state it is in at the moment, can’t recommend it to anyone.
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Date of stay: February 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Value
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Disappointed from the time we arrived. We booked in December for three rooms, when we arrived we were told that we could only have two rooms for us and two other couples, this after we were contacted in the morning and the booking confirmed for the fourth time. We requested that we get what we booked for, Cindy (supposed manger) did nothing to accommodate us and basically implied that we just take the two rooms, that's it! Our friends then took the second room, when unpacking, we found old uncooked meat and frozen veggies, rotting and frozen into the fridge freezer unit! We asked for this to be cleaned out, it wasn't for the entire weekend. I called the owner, who informed me that they HAD over booked due to people not showing up the previous weekend? He also said that he would compensate us for the inconvenience, did not happen. We all went to the restaurant on site for dinner, our order took over 2 hours to arrive and the food was cold, my eisbien was totally raw, which was taken back to the kitchen and came back 45 minutes later, butchered and hacked to death, then burnt! The owner commented that it would have taken too long to prepare another one, so they just re cooked the first. Would not even have given it to my dog. The room was comfortable but in need of maintenance, bath leaked, fridge leaked, soap holder in the shower was falling off, ladder to the bunk bed had no means of support, the brackets to hold it were broken, so it was just placed in the narrow space between the beds and the wall to prop it up, which my 5 year old daughter barely fitted into. We were not given any map of the site, as we have at other places, no price list for the offered activities, Very disappointing. Do not know how they have a three star rating?
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Date of stay: February 2015Trip type: Travelled with friends
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:Â "Do not expect much'
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have to say that this place is situated in lovely grounds and settings but....it is in dire need of an upgrade and some money spent on it. It is very tired and shabby. We gave it some thought as to whether we would spend the two nights and decided on giving it a chance!
Our first disappointment was the pool and pool area ~ the pool was green and remained that way for the time we were there. Not a pool lounger or umbrella to be seen except for a few coloured plastic chairs piled away on one side. We would have loved to spent some time at the pool as it was a hot weekend. The pool is also a bit away from the main building.
Our room although was clean the one bedside lamp did not work (not the bulb) and although we reported it the first night we were there, nothing was done about it. The bedroom/bathroom could do with a good uplift. Peeling paint on the window frame and tiles could do with a clean. Only one towel per person allocated ~ no hand towels.
The dining area is nicely located where one gets that indoor/outdoor feel but I am afraid the food is mediocre. Both my husband and I opted for a curry the first night ~ one beef. one lamb ~ both had tough meat. Also it did not come with any form of sambals except a bottle of tomato sauce and a bottle of tabasco ~ I had to ask for chutney!
Breakfast was basic choice of two cereals, yoghurts and then one could order a full English which consisted of two eggs, bacon, sausage and spicy beans, toast. First morning was great (can't really mess up a breakfast). Second morning, no fresh juice,
no spicy beans unless asked for and then we were given a small bowl to share as opposed to one each the first morning! Table along side us was complaining about the same thing! No meal arrived at our table piping hot ~ always cold.
On the plus side the staff were very friendly and tried to accommodate us as much as was in their power. There did not seem to be any overall supervision especially in the kitchen. Maybe a lack of training. We only ever saw a person at night who we assumed was the manager/owner and although he came to our table, he never actually introduced himself (name) or said who he was.
It seems that this place has been allowed to become run down. Some thought, time and money would certainly make this place somewhere where one would want to return to.
This 3 star rating needs to be reviewed.
Our first disappointment was the pool and pool area ~ the pool was green and remained that way for the time we were there. Not a pool lounger or umbrella to be seen except for a few coloured plastic chairs piled away on one side. We would have loved to spent some time at the pool as it was a hot weekend. The pool is also a bit away from the main building.
Our room although was clean the one bedside lamp did not work (not the bulb) and although we reported it the first night we were there, nothing was done about it. The bedroom/bathroom could do with a good uplift. Peeling paint on the window frame and tiles could do with a clean. Only one towel per person allocated ~ no hand towels.
The dining area is nicely located where one gets that indoor/outdoor feel but I am afraid the food is mediocre. Both my husband and I opted for a curry the first night ~ one beef. one lamb ~ both had tough meat. Also it did not come with any form of sambals except a bottle of tomato sauce and a bottle of tabasco ~ I had to ask for chutney!
Breakfast was basic choice of two cereals, yoghurts and then one could order a full English which consisted of two eggs, bacon, sausage and spicy beans, toast. First morning was great (can't really mess up a breakfast). Second morning, no fresh juice,
no spicy beans unless asked for and then we were given a small bowl to share as opposed to one each the first morning! Table along side us was complaining about the same thing! No meal arrived at our table piping hot ~ always cold.
On the plus side the staff were very friendly and tried to accommodate us as much as was in their power. There did not seem to be any overall supervision especially in the kitchen. Maybe a lack of training. We only ever saw a person at night who we assumed was the manager/owner and although he came to our table, he never actually introduced himself (name) or said who he was.
It seems that this place has been allowed to become run down. Some thought, time and money would certainly make this place somewhere where one would want to return to.
This 3 star rating needs to be reviewed.
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Date of stay: January 2015Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The stay was great as I had daddys deals vouchers. The staff was very friendly and service was good. It is a wonderful place for little ones as they can play in jungle gym, watch bunnies and talking parrots. The pool was treated, it was definitely not what was suggested by one of the reviewers.
The best part of our stay was the picking of organic mangoes that were delicious and juicy. The lodge is built to make the full use of natural resources. It is surrounded by fruit bearing trees and I would recommend people to visit it, especially families with young children.
The best part of our stay was the picking of organic mangoes that were delicious and juicy. The lodge is built to make the full use of natural resources. It is surrounded by fruit bearing trees and I would recommend people to visit it, especially families with young children.
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Date of stay: January 2015Trip type: Travelled with family
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Â Choose a room with two levels during summer. It is safer to park the car by the room.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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"Carry bug spray. No lotion or soap. Hand wash available. Order your food at least half an hour in advance because it takes long to prepare."Read full review
"There are 2, 4 and 6 sleepers but all adjoining so, depending on who else is staying, it runs the risk of being quite noisy. I liked being in one of the back facing units for this reason"Read full review
LOCATION
South AfricaKwaZulu-NatalMtubatuba
NUMBER OF ROOMS
12
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect average nightly room rates, including taxes and fees that are fixed, known to our partners, and due at time of booking. Please see our partners for more details.
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Claim Your ListingUMFOLOZI RIVER LODGE & BIRD PARK - B&B Reviews (Mtubatuba, South Africa)
Frequently Asked Questions about Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park
Which popular attractions are close to Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Nearby attractions include iMfolozi Game Reserve (6.9 km), Cheese Farm & Lodge (6.9 km), and Mtuba Mall (7.0 km).
What are some of the property amenities at Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, free breakfast, and a pool.
What food & drink options are available at Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Guests can enjoy free breakfast, an on-site restaurant, and a lounge during their stay.
Is parking available at Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Yes, free parking and secured parking are available to guests.
What are some restaurants close to Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Conveniently located restaurants include Feast Bistro, Wimpy, and Chané Cheese Farm & Lodge.
Are there opportunities to exercise at Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Yes, guests have access to a pool during their stay.
Are pets allowed at Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
Yes, pets are typically allowed, but it's always best to call ahead to confirm.
Does Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park offer any business services?
Yes, guests have access to meeting rooms and conference facilities during their stay.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English and Afrikaans.
Is Umfolozi River Lodge & Bird Park accessible?
Yes, it offers wheelchair access. For specific enquiries, we recommend calling ahead to confirm.