Reviews of Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
Wildlife sightings and reviews
38 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Sossusvlei Desert Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa

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"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge review"
You really felt that this was your holiday and everything was built around making it an exceptional experience.
A truly great way to finish the holiday and the only thing we didn't like was having to leave." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia
"Beautiful location, excellent service."
Thoroughly recommend this place." See all these reviews: 8n in Namibia
"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge review"
If staying at the full moon though cover the roof skylight that lets you look at the stars from your bed as otherwise you end up drenched in light at 2.00am as the moon transits.
Dune buggies are good fun as an alternative to a drive." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia
"The Icing on the Cake"
Arriving by plane a real luxury to be spared the long drive - although we do enjoy the driving - but it seemed to give us an extra day of activities. Game drives, balloon flight, trip to Sossusvlei - I've run out of superlatives - just one of the best places we have ever stayed.
The star gazing too was excellent - both with the telescope being tutored by experts and from our bed when waking in the night." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia; 3n in Botswana
"A wonderful treat of a place"
The guide assigned to us during our stay, Peter, took us on some very enjoyable excursions, including to the dunes at Sossusvlei and was amiable and very knowledgeable. We had our best sun-downer experiences here - in terms of location, drinks and snacks and company.
The food was excellent - the best we had during our stay in Namibia. We would love to have spent more time at this lodge and would definitely return again." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia
"Stunning location and lovely staff!"
The excursion to Sossusvlei was well worth the drive and the dawn ballon trip was amazing. As an extra we hiked up a nearby hill with the resident astronomer to a group of quiver trees.
We stayed 3 nights - could have done with another just to carry on soaking up the views and atmosphere. We had high expectations both of the lodge and the desert - if anything our expectations were exceeded.
We flew in from Windhoek - efficient, quick and very scenic..." See all these reviews: 7n in Namibia
"paradise in the desert"
Architecture & design elegant ---units spacious, private and sumptuous---stunning views of desert from large picture windows.
Only place which provided booklets on fauna & flora of area in room on arrival. Lots of small touches under the heading of little things mean a lot
Final big unforgettable surprise--last night returned to find in celebration of our wedding anniversary --heart shaped from sand in hall outlined with tee lights, bottle of champagne and every surface covered in candles
A magical place" See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia
"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge review"
Pros:
1. Chalets designed so that each one is very private. Paths from main building to each chalet paved and clearly lit at night.
2. Magnificent setting.
3. Excellent food, huge quantities.
4. Lots of personal service. My guide George, and butler Anna, were very knowledgeable and friendly, and so was all the staff. Excellent cooks, too.
5. Lots of attention paid to personal preferences. Each mealtime, my table was set in a slightly different place, and one night it was set upstairs so as to escape a particularly obnoxious child.
6. Every luxury provided in the chalet; the bathroom with its floor-to-ceiling glass windows was a real treat.
7. The activities were diverse, including a game drive, dune drive, hot -air balloon and trip Sossusvlei itself. They were well-organised and included - guess what ? Lots of food!
8. The star viewing platform was wonderful and the resident astronomer very informative.
Cons
1. No ceiling fans in chalet, only air-conditioning, which was noisy as well. A direct counter to the environmentally friendly image that & Beyond cultivates.
2. The stairs from the main floor of the chalet up to the sleeping area are too shallow, and difficult to negotiate.
3. I found the decor very gloomy and depressing - all ivory and bone and cream and grey. The desert has a lot of colour, too; it would be nice to see colour used a bit more.
4. At times, the personal service seemed like too much, and there was a big emphasis on the activities. It was hard to get time to just be alone and do nothing.
5. Too much food. I started to feel sick after a while. I know one doesn't always have to eat it, and I didn't. It's just being faced with it all the time.
Personal comments:
I found the Lodge almost too luxurious for my taste. It seems unbalanced, in that environment of starkness and scarcity, to be wallowing in such excess. That said, I cannot fault their professionalism. It is all extremely well done." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia
"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge review"
Siegfried, our guide was first class." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia
"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge review"
Feedback on morning balloon flight arrangements:
Sadly they failed to fly on 3 successive mornings and they were not able to make the decision not to fly until we had arrived at the launch site on each morning. So that was 3 successive mornings that we rose at 4.45 am to leave the SML at 05.15 to get to the launch site.
We understand the pilot cannot fly if the conditions are not right but surely they could decide earlier and ring the hotel to save us all the journey ( there were around 20 people there on day 3 and some had travelled for 2 hrs just to get to the site)
All very disappointed" See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia
"Unfortunately, it is true, we have never seen this kind of weather in November, when we woke up and prepared the days flight we had perfect weather conditions, the time the transfer arrived at the launch site, the weather changed completely, strong winds bringing very dark clouds so we could not take off. You can imagine the disappointment of our passengers, pilots and staff crew. All our guests who were able to rebook for the next morning decided to have their balloon safari rescheduled, unfortunately the balloon flight was cancelled 8 days in a row.
What we do is the day before the balloon flight we call all the lodges and give them the pick-up time. When we have a strong wind during the night or if the weather forecast is not 100 % sure, the pilot goes to the take-off site and check the weather around 04h00AM, if it is too windy then we call the lodge to advise them that the balloon is cancelled in order to avoid the wake up call to their guests.
Unfortunately on this specific week the weather conditions at our take off sites were 100% until sunrise. I understand your clients disappointment but if we had cancelled the balloon flight and the conditions would have remained good by sunrise then they would have been even more upset. As you can imagine the costs for us during this week were very high so I can assure you that we try to limit this situation to a maximum by cancelling the balloon before the clients leave their accommodations.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused to your clients but please rest assured that this is not an usual situation."
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