Reviews of The Garden Lodge
(92%) From 13 travellersThey do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa.
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Garden Lodge Review
The Garden Lodge was a lovely introduction to Botswana and viewing the animals. It was very comfortable and exceeded my expectations in terms of amenities.
The owners and the staff were uniformly helpful and very welcoming. They accommodated the need for vegetarian meals without making any sort of fuss at all. The only thing that surprised us was the number of German-speaking guests. We learned that they focused on that population because Gabi, one of the owners, is from Germany. It gave us an unique experience since many of them also spoke English.
We also enjoyed John, who was our guide in the game drives on the river trips. He seemed to know quite a lot about the animals and the environment. We particularly enjoyed learning about traditional uses of some of the plants.
The Garden Lodge review
fantastic place to stay, staff very welcoming, helpful and friendly. The rooms are exceptionally comfortable.
the excursions we did from Garden Lodge were absolutely amazing. we did two game drives and one boat cruise which were exceptionally well run and good fun with John (or shall we call him Carlos) and Kelvin the prefect guides. The sunset boat cruise was one of the most amazing things we did on our trip and we would recommend this as a must do / stay
The Garden Lodge review
This is a wonderful place to stay.
The rooms are lovely, the food was fantastic, the staff were all very helpful and the boat trip along the Chobe River was amazing - well worth doing.
The Garden Lodge review
Excellent land and water based game viewing. Staff were very helpful and friendly. The room needed an uplift.
Read more about the whole tripThe Garden Lodge review
A very nice little lodge in the center of town. The management couple aswell as the staff was very serviceminded and really enjoyed our stay there.
Read more about the whole tripKasane to Cape Town Day 1
After our delayed flight from Jo'Burg we were met at Kasane by Morgan who immediately asked whether we would still like to do a boat trip that afternoon; this perked us up immensely as we had been thinking the delay would mean we'd lose the opportunity. He drove us to meet the boat at the park registration point (therefore not inconveniencing other guests who had boated from the lodge) and took our luggage off to our room. The boat trip with John (aka birthday boy!) was excellent.
Staff at the lodge could not have done more to help with resolving the problems caused by Elegant Farmstead having 'bumped' us at the very last minute. They were also happy to allow us to leave a bag at Garden Lodge pending our return in two days time and there was no problem in agreeing we would settle our bill for both stays on our second departure.
All staff were smiling and friendly and we were welcomed back after two nights elsewhere like long lost friends; our spare bag was already awaiting us in our new room. Everybody was so helpful on the last morning when our car key was mislaid – much appreciated!
Rooms at Garden Lodge are rustic in style but have everything necessary including A/C and a hairdryer; they're very comfortable but not fussy. Food is wholesome, well cooked and tasty but not fancy and you eat at communal tables including some of the staff which leads to some fascinating conversation over dinner.
There is an attractive pool, lovely gardens complete with family of warthogs and the owners' dogs and cats about.
Another excellent riverside location
The garden lodge rooms were comfortable with our upstairs room having a good balcony with good view. The food was good and there was a good range of activities.
We went on the game drive which was a little disappointing as it became a little rushed and we drove out of the park on the same route as we had gone in - some variety here would have been preferable and a sighting of the river!
However, the afternoon boat trip was excellent - fabulous close ups of animals, very relaxed and an informative and entertaining guide.
Expert Africa comments
Gabi, the owner of Garden Lodge, is grateful for all of our travellers’ comments, the ‘good or not so good’. She replied to us about this: "As far as the game drive is concerned, our guides take our guests where they feel guests will have the best game viewing. That could mean the same road is used for going in and coming out. It all depends on the day, time, and what other guides have seen the same day."
The Garden Lodge review
An excellent, relaxed atmosphere. Rooms were well equipped and a laundry facility available. The pool area was well designed and looked inviting. Dinner is a communal affair with wine included – food is good, wholesome and home-cooked – we had duck salad (ducks shot that morning by staff!), and pork chops.
We took an excellent afternoon boat trip and good drive in Chobe NP the following morning. We could have happily stayed 2 nights or more as many guests were doing.
Busy, friendly river lodge with big garden
Coming from the Caprivi, the 'mass-tourism' of Chobe is a bit overwhelming. Lots of (rather noisy) boats on the river and too many jeeps in one spot.
The lodge itself was nice, tastefully decorated, with friendly owners and staff (including the 7 dogs and 3 warthogs!).
We have always believed that acting responsibly is the only way to approach tourism and we're one of
the few companies to hold AITO's original coveted 5-star status for responsible tourism. It's a lead
that others are now following.
