We decided to stay here for two nights as I needed to recover urgently after getting violently sick on our road trip from the Kruger to the South Coast and i was the driver. By that time I had vomited everything up but was still incredibly green around the gills. I wanted to recover so we could do Hluhluwe before heading for the South Coast.

Safe to say it served our purposes but not as a holiday destination in itself.

The first day I spent sleeping in the room just venturing out onto the verandah to rest and to get some toast for breakfast and a nibble for dinner. I remember the lovely little impala playing silently under and around or room on stilts, it was quiet and cool and I was feverish. The bed couldn't have been better.
Second day I was feeling much improved as you often are after these things and was up for using the facilities. Unfortunately they don't have a swimming pool because thats exactly what I wanted to do just sit in it and conserve my energy as it was also very very hot. There is a pool but it's part of another complex and hotel type thing (could be time share no idea) a short distance driving away. It was all closed that facility including the bar and what looked like a restaurant but the pool was available so i used it and was rather enjoyable as there was no one in sight just the chirping birds.

Back at the hotel the rooms don't have much of a view from their verandahs which is a disappointment. The eaves are too low so you cant see the birds in the trees or much except for the thatch roof and a few tree trunks and the ground if you looked down, but its a cool enough place to sit in the shade. The chairs are not very comfortable I'm afraid. In my condition I just lay on the floor which coincidently improves the view substantially and the comfort. I saw a few birds species this way and one building a nest which was a very therapeutic way to spend getting better.

On the second day I was up for dinner feeling much stronger. Having felt positively green the night before I had just had a soup and left it at that, it wasn't nice. I couldn't quite decide what it was for soup either but not exactly homemade. My traveling companion had a full meal. He was unenthusiastic. Anyway we put it down to my condition and tiredness from driving all day. So we tried again. I wasn't very impressed with the food at all. It was very rough around the edges and quite poorly prepared, the selection wasn't great either and somewhat fleshed out. Dont expect South African favourites done beautifully because you wont find that and if you do it will be in name only. I had a small something to eat as nothing was really enticing enough. Breakfast the following morning was slightly better but again all a bit rough around the edges. Not exactly made with any great love of cooking and ingredients but rather because they have to get it out there twice a day. So not quite standard fare even, but still you can get a fairly decent eggs anystyle, toast if thats your thing and a coffee. More effort here could vastly improve the experience.

Its not far from Hluhluwe game reserve so quite a good place to stay if you intend to go on day drives, but its not the place to rush back home to exactly and the pool is a problem. The rooms are also very far from the parking, which in my condition the first day was unbearably far as I just wanted to collapse flat on a bed. It's quite a walk , though not as far to the dinning room from the room. There is a fenced crocodile pool which the dinning room overlooks. It's not a pleasant, green, slimy and dirty. There are also hundreds of birds that roost in the trees in the middle that add to the mess bellow. The birds enjoy a much nicer environment than the poor captive crocs do and are quite diverting to watch. It looks like a messy neglected zoo exhibit which should be closed down. Not really what you want to see. There was also a single rather frustrated ostrich in a pen on the road to the shared swimming pool. The free ranging buck and bird life are charming though but it's not exactly a game park in feel.
Staff were a little absent being Christmas and also a little strained for working over the holiday but there was a porter to carry our bags which was a great help. Even though she was as older than my mother and had to carry them all by herself she did it with a smile and we gave her a fat tip for her troubles. I certainly was in no condition to help her either unfortunately and nor was anyone else by that stage.

Would I go back, probably not. It needs an injection of love, dedication and cash. It certainly has lots of potential. What could be fabulous is rather mediocre instead. At least I know now what lies behind those gates which are a lot more promising than the reality.
Still I have to say an excellent bed to recover in and our room itself felt cosy, really not that bad, though perhaps a bit pricy for what you get. Still I felt grateful I could recover in comfort and peace and quiet. Eternally grateful just luckily our room was in fact so far away.

Great place to stay, very friendly people and a beautiful quite, safe place. From your balcony you cab see the game wandering around your lodge. Confortable and clean. Excellent breakfast and buffet diner, 10 min from game reserve.