My family and I traveled to the Kruger National Park game reserve in July and spent several nights at Imbali. I was born in South Africa and grew up going to Kruger, but I had never stayed at Imbali. Well, without question, I’ll be back! The lodge and accommodations were wonderful - you feel immersed in the park, but enjoy great luxury and comfort. What most stood out about our experience were the people. First, our guide, Charl, took us on multiple safari drives a day, and he was exceptional. His passion and enthusiasm for his work was infectious and the way he engaged with us throughout our time there made for a very special experience. But it was all the staff, including the chef, Matilda, who went above and beyond to always make us feel welcome and to accommodate any special dietary needs. I have always known there is something remarkably special about Kruger, and now, having stayed at Imbali, I can say, it is a perfect compliment to this experience.
the camp it's beautiful, only 6 rooms so service it is very personilized, the view from the room it is amazing and can be alone a safari itself because you see so many animals passing by your outside balcony. the room is very big and bery comfortable and food just great. the staff Ronaldo and Louis and manager Daniel was just amazing. our safari guide Hali was super experienced and manage to make us live unbilieveble emotions, I highly recomend Hamilton Camp
We loved our stay at Shalati! The rooms, the view, the staff in the restaurant (Remember & Renick) were so friendly. We also loved our guide Victor!!! Lunch & diner was also very tasteful. Some areas for improvement: the staff at the reception & the train bar could be friendlier. Hot breakfast was perfect, but the continental breakfast was in our opinion not 5 star quality. The toast bread seamed pre-made? But overall very good expirience and we hope to come back sometime :-).
Perhaps one of the most unusual places I’ve ever stayed, but perfectly clean and comfortable, and most importantly, convenient to the airport. We had a 7 AM flight and had to return the car the night before so this fit our needs perfectly. I would do it again in a heartbeat. I wish there were places like it around the world.
訪訪客We had a TERRIBLE experience in this place, that we want to share with everyone. The first day we arrived we booked a safari through the hotel, which did not meet the specified schedules and returned us more than two hours earlier than proposed. The guide never told us why, we understand that it was a quiet day and there were not many animals but that is no reason to return abruptly despite having paid for a full day safari until the afternoon. We politely mentioned this to a lady at the hotel since they managed our tour. Suddenly a man who claimed to be the administrator appeared and told us that if we were not happy with his services to leave. We were shocked, at first we didn't understand. The man named started yelling, apparently he has an anger problem, and literally kicked us out from the hotel. We had paid a very high fee to the same lodge to take us to our next accommodation and the man was the only one who could take us. He grabbed our suitcases and started putting them in the car while he told me that he was stealing coffee from the hotel because he opened my things and saw that I had coffee bags (of course wasn’t the case, that was my coffee). Between screams and disrespect, the lady who also worked at the hotel tried to calm him down (she understood the terrible situation) to which he continued to act violently. We were scared and just wanted to leave. She offered to take us in her car but since there wasn't room for everyone, some of us had to go with the man. We were very afraid on the way, the man crashed into some signs of the new lodge we arrived at. then he opened the door and began to say that he did not want to see us again and that we should leave, that we were not welcome. Really, words are not enough to describe how horrible it was to go through those moments. I have some videos in addition to the photos (tripadvisor won't let me post videos). but there is nothing that can reflect what we feel at that moment. I understand that there can be a misunderstanding anywhere (even when we were right about the tour) but what happened next is something that neither in the most luxurious nor in the cheapest hotel can happen. It was an attack, a lack of respect and an aggression on us, guests and clients. The worst thing is that the hotel denies everything so as not to have any ”bad” comments on networks and in their official response through Facebook they only say we had problems with our transportation and tour guide and that it ”has nothing to do with the accomodation” . It is totally false. Our complaint is against Kruger Riverside Lodge, because it was its administrator who attacked us for no reason. We have already made our complaints with booking and in many places but the man who attacked us always responds with lies and diverting attention to events that never occurred. The truth is only one, they literally kicked us out of the place without caring about anything and treated us in the worst way. Please never go to this place
The Lodge was arranged as part of a National Geographic tour. Our tour group stayed two nights as we spent time in Kruger National Park. This lodge was very nice, clean, well staffed, and convenient to access the Park. The restaurant and food were both excellent. One evening we had dinner at the outdoor event area under the stars which was a nice change. Rooms were spacious, with a deck overlooking a pond. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and would return.
This was a pleasant surprise. Located right next to the sabi river the best cabanas to rent are on stilts. The L124 would be ideal three bed with living room sleeper space. The whole area grounds is about 1.5km and there are no hiking trails. Some of the chalets look like they need some TLC. Avoid the ‘flats’ on R that you will see on the right hand side as you enter the facility. Many things inside the chalet were not working, the microwave and the stove, I quick maintenance checklist will fix the problems. The staff are extremely friendly and accommodating. There is a spa but the pricing is more expensive than Dubai ! The restaurant is under construction. A 10 min drive from Hazyview town where there is a shopping center and three petrol stations. 15-20 mins drive from the nearest Kruger gate. If you are South African it’s 83 rand to enter the park and foreigners pay 331 rand to enter.
We won't be back! This place has so much potential and could be an awesome visit but there was just too much wrong. The rooms we were allocated were lovely, beautifully appointed, white linen, small bar fridge, covered patio overlooking Kruger Park. BUT: - 1. It was a 250m walk from the car park to the room and even further between the room and the pool or reception. Going back and forth carrying luggage that distance without any trolley or golf cart in temperatures of about 38C is not for the feint hearted. Somebody should have been available to help with carrying luggage but we were not given anyone to assist - simply told at reception to walk until we found the room number. In fact even if someone is normally available to assist with luggage there ought to be golf carts running the 300m up and down the path constantly carrying people and luggage. When this was mentioned we were told there used to be 10 golf carts but they no longer have any. 2. The airconditioners didn't work in either room and being just canvas they were extremely hot. It took some hours for reception staff to send Maintenance to the rooms to attend to the aircons. Eventually they managed to repair the aircon in one of the rooms but not the other so offered a different pair of rooms, much smaller and less luxurious without a park view which they had the nerve to tell us was an upgrade when in fact it was very much a downgrade, so we opted to take one replacement room and keep the one room that they got the aircon functioning in. 3. The camp has 150 double rooms which means there could be up to 300 guests on site at any given time, but only 8 umbrellas around the rather lovely pool, and about 16 sun loungers. There is loads of space, but no children's play area. A small shaded area with a few swings, slides etc. for the kiddies like they have in the much cheaper Kruger Park camps would be a welcome addition. 4. Breakfast is from 5:30am to 9:30am - just exactly the time one would want to be out on a morning game drive in the Park as the gate opens at 5:30am, so to get back in time for the ”free breakfast” included in the price one has to rush the game drive. 5. The dining area under canvas was unbelievably hot even at 8:30am while having breakfast. When we asked about fans we were told they used to have fans but not any more.