The property was lovely. Spacious and well maintained grounds. The staff were absolutely wonderful, especially the concierge and bar tender. We loved our massages from the spa and felt absolutely decadent! How can they do better? Here's the list. The dinner was a disappointment. The main course was edible but not good. The ambiance of the dinner was lacking as well..I think they played the Bee Gees on repeat for 2 hours...yikes, who does that?!!! I think they tortured us again with this playlist for breakfast also. The bikes for the guests were poorly maintained and not usable. Also, they should have a small store or snack hour. The location of the lodge is really remote so there is no chance of finding a nearby snack shack. Food is only available during their dining hours so if you don't bring food with you...you will be hungry. Having a small store on the property would be so easy to add and also be another way of making extra cash. These are all easy fixes and I think they could really offer a wonderful top notch stay for their guests.…
I love the elevated balcony, perfect for romantic late afternoon lunch. The mountain views and the lake are breathtaking and tranquility at its best! relaxing and reviving environment away from the city noise, surrounded by nature and the sounds of different butterflies species makes one appreciate the nature. The romantic bonus is to view Hippos by the lake swimming. The staff and the management were very friendly. Good food both breakfast and dinner. We had a splendid wedding anniversary! Everything was just beyond our expectation...the room romantic turndown and the table setting on the elevated balcony was indeed romantic. We will definitely visit the lodge again.
It's a nice place but it needs a lot of maintenance. Nothing big, rather small things, like doors don't close proper. The surrounding is very relaxing, there is a nice bar area and a lovely view point. The food was very delicious.
Beautiful place away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Its tranquil and relaxing, animals roam around and you can see the impalas. The food was great and they had a bit of variety on the selection.
We arrived at the Ditholo Game Lodge Bela Bela on 17.12.18 at 2.30 pm. Our room was not ready, and we waited for another 30 min to get in. Eventually, when we walked into our room 4, I noticed some washed blood drops on the bedding. I decided not bring attention of the stuff to that, because I saw and read from the reviews before that the property needs an upgrade and in places dilapidated. After dinner, we went back into the room and wanted to bring our 2-year-old to bed. As I opened the blanket, I saw more blood spatter on the bed. At this point, I called the housekeeping and they changed the bedding in 40 min! At around 12 am, while sleeping we were attacked by black bugs about 5mm in diameter. They were crawling all over the bed, couches and on top of us. As we defended ourselves, we squished them, and blood came out leaving the marks on the skin or the bed. At this point the previous blood marks on the bed made sense. We tried to contact hotel personnel, but there was no one at the reception. The whole property was dark. I called 6-7 different numbers and if they picked up, they just referred me to another number. After an hour of walking around in total darkness, calling the hotel contact numbers and desperately trying to receive any kind of help or attention, we realized that we must leave. At 1 am, we started driving out back to Johannesburg (2,5 hrs. away) taking our child out of this health hazard. As we drove out, I received a Please Call Me (!!!) from a manager Robert. He regretted the events, apologized and promised to refund us and get back to me in the morning. He did not. Up until this moment we haven’t received the refund despite all the calls that were made and promises received. The property however did not hesitate to cancel our booking made through Booking.com as a no show, which is a lie. What should have been a family holiday turned out to be a total disaster that caused us pain, suffering and financial loss. First, the necessary maintenance, fumigation and sanitation was definitely not done and the severe allergic reaction to the bites was ignored by the property and. Second, no assistance was afforded to us when we most needed it. It is negligent to lock up the property and leave and definitely not a 4-star level service. What if there was a fire?! Third, I consider the property not returning the money as theft. It also clear to me that this procedure is standard because the marks on the bed indicated it happened before. It just sad that the property acts all so surprised placing people’s lives in danger instead of fixing the well-known problem. This is the first time this happened to us in SA although we have travelled and stayed in safari lodges all over the country. It is the first time we come across the total negligence, disrespect and disregard for the norms of hospitality and guests.…
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