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Traveller reviews

Travel reviews by Mr G from Torquay

Review Distribution

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor
Terrible

Total number of trips

2

Countries visited

2

Lodges stayed in

17

Excursions taken

0

Stunning Scenery

South Africa between 26 Sep 2016 and 12 Oct 2016

Trip rating: Good
"This was our first time in the Western Cape, the scenery is stunning and it was a special holiday.

We saw what we hoped for during a September/October trip: Southern Right Whales African penguins, and fabulous spring flora generally and in the Postberg Reserve. The opportunity to walk unguided in all of the reserves we visited is a bit special (West Coast, Bontebok, De Hoop, Chapman's Peak, Cape Point)

We had not expected the weather to be so cold with persistent bitter winds; but it was mostly dry.

Some of the driving directions were out of date and some ignored more obvious, shorter routes.

We were correctly warned that driving standards in SA are poor. We saw the aftermath of 2 serious accidents; were overtaken while driving single file through road works and generally felt we were lucky to escape alive!

Overall, accommodation standards were high, but someone should have warned us (and Expert Africa?) that De Hoop is still undergoing redevelopment and our beautiful room was adjacent to a noisy building site.

We discovered the penguin colony at Betty's Bay by accident: much larger than at Boulders on the Cape peninsular, and worth highlighting for anyone visiting the Hermanus area, as is the Harold Porter botanical garden."

Arranged By Lucy Copson


Cellars-Hohenort

Cellars-Hohenort

"A quality hotel, lovely gardens"

1 night Arrived 26 Sep 2016
"I would have rated excellent, but:

- There were items in the (free) mini-bar well past their "use by" date.

- The weather was rather cold, and the room heating was not very effective.

The staff, especially reception, were models of efficiency"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Farmhouse Hotel

Farmhouse Hotel

"Authentic Feel"

3 nights Arrived 27 Sep 2016
"We enjoyed our stay in a hotel that felt as though it was part of Africa - decent standards and friendly staff, without any five star pretentions.

Breakfast was not too special, and shared with sparrow droppings.

Dinner was very good SA cooking.

Group policy is to place tip boxes in the room and on meal tables with instructions on how much to tip, including at breakfast - a bit irritating, almost saying that only by tipping will you get a smile out of the staff.

Fabulous views over the lagoon and Postburg peninsula from our room"
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Food
Good
Bontebok National Park

Bontebok National Park

"Beautiful spot and decent facilities"

3 nights Arrived 30 Sep 2016
"The self catering chalets are maintained to a high standard (for a government department), and the location by the Brede river is superb. The walks are well maintained and signposted - though we found a fine new walk that was not mentioned on the map provide by the park. Stunning mountain scenery nearby.

The game drives are not so well signposted or maintained.

Never seen so many tortoises before and fine bird watching.

The arrivals details and map provide by Expert Africa was out of date, and sent us to an entrance that has been closed and no longer in use. Fortunately there was a sign telling us the correct route, which we were able to find.

Small quibble - while we had a two-ring stove, the pans were so large that only one could be used at a time. It would have been helpful to have an indication of the facilities provided in advance, e.g. there was a fridge/freezer, but as we did not know this we only took tinned stuff."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Good
Activities
Good
De Hoop Opstal

De Hoop Opstal

"Pitty it is not finished"

3 nights Arrived 3 Oct 2016
"The potential is excellent, but unfortunately we were not told that De Hoop is still undergoing reconstruction. Throughout our stay the room next to ours was being completely remodelled by a construction crew: a wall being partly demolished to insert windows and a door, another open entrance being bricked up. So constant banging and crashing and sawing and workmen's chatter during the day - which was also adjacent to the pool area and spa.

Of course we spent most of the day out in the reserve, so we put up with it rather than requesting a move - and our room (the Dassie Suite) was lovely with a fine view over the lagoon.

The food is of a high standard, although the service struggles a bit to keep up with the numbers. and on our last night the restaurant was overbooked and despite being on half board our table had been given to someone else.

We enjoyed the walks by the lagoon (but a clear map would have been helpful) and did see whales! Eland, bontebok, zebra and ostrich wander freely around the homestead complex; a bit special."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Image alt

Abalone Guest House (Not currently featured by Expert Africa)

"High standards + whale viewing"

3 nights Arrived 6 Oct 2016
"A smart, modern B&B hotel. Friendly, helpful staff and an excellent breakfast.

And we did see wales from our sea-facing balcony.

And you can step out of the garden onto the cliff top path that leads to Hermanus town centre and many whale viewing spots"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Facilities
Good
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Excellent
Long Beach

Long Beach

"High standard and great location"

3 nights Arrived 9 Oct 2016
"The views over the bay towards the back of Table Mountain from our sea-facing balcony were superb.

The room was spacious and modern and the staff could not be more friendly and helpful.

The directions to the hotel were out of date and caused us some confusion. We were told to look out for a speed hump and gravel road, but these have gone and been replaced by a tarmac road all the way to the hotel gate."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good

Trip to Southern Namibia / RSA

Namibia and 1 other country between 28 Mar 2008 and 17 Apr 2008

Trip rating: Average
"The Scenery is fabulous and the visit was well worth while.

There were problems with some aspects which detracted from the overall experience - poor vehicle from Europcar, some booking problems, some places where wer appeared to get the worst of the accomodation that was on offer, rather than the best.."

Feedback response

We’ve learnt from chatting with these travellers, and are sure that we can use their very precise comments to improve trips for the future. We were delighted (and surprised) to hear that overall, despite their issues, they managed to have an enjoyable time!

We apologised about the issues with the rental car, and have taken them up with the car company’s management. These concern us; so it’s important that the lessons are addressed.

The ‘booking problems’ referred to a miscommunication with Vogelstrausskluft Lodge about a day-trip; see the link below to the lodge’s review page for comments.

With regard to them getting ‘the worst accommodation’ at some places… we can only say that we try our best for everyone. Where we know which rooms are best in a given lodge (within a given room type/price level), we always request these for our travellers. Often we are very successful – especially with more individual hotels, lodges and bushcamps. (Of course, our relationship with the lodge, and our buying power, helps us a lot!). This trip used some bigger, more anonymous hotels – so we were less successful than we often are. We’re sorry that this traveller felt that he was unlucky – but the rooms they had were simply normal rooms, typical of the establishments.

Arranged By Tracy Lederer


Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch

"Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch review"

2 nights Arrived 29 Mar 2008
"Fine.

The Location of the Dune chalets is excellent."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Activities
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Canyon Village

Canyon Village

"Canon Village review"

1 night Arrived 31 Mar 2008
"High turnover lodge, well run.

Convenient for the Fish River canyon."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Average
Rooms
Average
Food
Good
Image alt

Vogelstrausskluft Lodge, Namibia (this camp has since closed)

"Vogelstrausskluft Lodge review"

2 nights Arrived 1 Apr 2008
"Well run and attractive location in a quiet, private valley.

Hard to comment on activities as there was a problem with our booking of the one-day excursion."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Good
Food
Excellent
Nest Hotel

Nest Hotel

"Nest Hotel review"

2 nights Arrived 3 Apr 2008
"We were given a room without a balcony, which is a pity as it is much better to have a balcony and so to enjoy the sea views and the sunsets.

Our room had not been well maintained - I repaired the wardrobe myself as the door was falling off.

Serive was slow in the overcrowded restaurant, which was struggling to cope with a tour party."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Excellent
Service
Average
Rooms
Poor
Food
Average
Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest

"Eagle's Nest review"

3 nights Arrived 5 Apr 2008
"A well run, designed and located facility, with lovely (but tough) hill walking opportunities"
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Excellent
Activities
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Kalahari Tented Camp

Kalahari Tented Camp

"Kalahari Tented Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 8 Apr 2008
"Well located (view over water hole) and a high standard for a government camp."
Excellent
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Excellent

Location
Excellent
Service
Good
Rooms
Good
Nossob Rest Camp

Nossob Rest Camp

"Nossob Rest Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 10 Apr 2008
"A typical, basic, government rest camp.

Just a base from which to explore the Park."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Poor
Service
Average
Rooms
Average
Twee Rivieren Rest Camp

Twee Rivieren Rest Camp

"Twee Rivieren Rest Camp review"

2 nights Arrived 12 Apr 2008
"The chalets are of a good standard, but the location is poor - mostly overlooking the main park entrance road. Therefore it only serves as a base to explore the park."
Average
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Average

Location
Poor
Service
Average
Rooms
Good
Molopo Kalahari Lodge

Molopo Kalahari Lodge

"Molopo Kalahari Lodge review"

1 night Arrived 14 Apr 2008
"Our rondavel was badly in need of renovation, although the gardens are well maintained."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor

Location
Average
Service
Average
Rooms
Poor
Food
Good
Image alt

Protea Hotel Upington, South Africa (this camp has since closed)

"Protea Hotel Upington review"

1 night Arrived 15 Apr 2008
"A high standard. modern hotel.

Some rooms overlook the Orange River and (provided the quality is OK) it would be good to have option of staying in one of these."
Good
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Good

Location
Good
Service
Excellent
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Good
Image alt

Southern Sun OR Tambo, South Africa (this camp has since closed)

"Southern Sun Jo'burg International review"

1 night Arrived 16 Apr 2008
"The hotel is of a high standard and close to the airport and the transport link was quick, but it was being renovated during our stay and so parts of the hotel were very noisy, and so not suitable for a day-room and our personal experience was poor since we were initially allocated one of the rooms right next to the renovation works."
Poor
Experience Report
Overall Rating:
Poor

Location
Good
Service
Average
Rooms
Excellent
Food
Average

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