Reviews of Ilala Lodge
Wildlife sightings and reviews
273 independent comments and wildlife information from our travellers who have visited Ilala Lodge and kindly agreed to share their thoughts. They do not necessarily represent the views of Expert Africa
0% success
67% success
54% success
14% success
13% success
"Traditional Lodge in a good location"
At the Palm restuarant we enjoyed two good evening meals. The Raikane sunset cruise was great and staff on this very nice.
Activities we had arranged prior to our arrival were a helicopter trip over the falls.(the shorter of the two) which was a great way to get to see the whole falls and a trip into Zambia to Devils pool.Here you swim to a pool on the edge of the falls and then have a good lunch. The whole experience was great. Great pictures taken by the guide on our camera(he has a head for heights) and we enjoyed a really good lunch after on Livingstone island.I would recommend this to really experience the falls up close. Also visiting the falls by foot early meant we had them to ourselves great for photos." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
"Ilala Lodge review"
In our view, this is the best hotel in Victoria Falls. Staff couldn't have been more helpful, and the food is very good. Thanks to all.
Ask them to contact Chris Worden to come and give his David Livingstone talk - it was fantastic." See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 4n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe
"First stay of our trip at Ilala Lodge"
Eating outside was great with a visit by elephants at dinner, although eating after dark on the terrace was difficult due to not enough light, but the next night there was no problem with moving us indoors even thought they were very busy. The menu was good too and we struggled to choose. Breakfast was lovely too and eating that outside was a lovely treat.
Most of the staff were really helpful and even if service at the bar was a little slow sometimes it was made up for by the good humour of the team.
While we were there we took a canoeing trip on the Zambezi run by Wild Horizons. This was excellent and a real high-light of the whole holiday. The guides were very professional and helpful, letting us go in separate canoes with a guide each as neither of us were used to canoeing. They were very safety conscious, especially of the presence of hippos and made sure we kept a safe distance. During the rough bits (exhilarating for us but not proper rapids) the guides put our cameras away in special padded, waterproof boxes and brought them back out as soon as the rough water was past. We saw lots of wildlife, especially birds and the breakfast and lunch were good too." See all these reviews: 8n in Zimbabwe; 6n in Mozambique; 3n in South Africa
"Ilala Lodge review"
Our only criticism was the noise from the helicopters flying over the falls all day." See all these reviews: 9n in Zimbabwe
"Ilala Lodge"
"Ilala Lodge review"
Rooms are very comfortable, service and food were excellent. The Ra-Ikane sunset cruise was delightful.
We had to leave very early our last morning and the lodge packed us a very ample breakfast." See all these reviews: 11n in Zambia; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Quiet informal luxury in Vic Falls "
The included river trip on Raikane was excellent - small boat with drinks / canapés at sunset with knowledgable captain
Also bought their afternoon game trip to Livingston & Stanley reserve where we saw black rhino plus numerous giraffe
Breakfast excellent as was dinner with good service
Checkout surprisingly was somewhat bureaucratic / lengthy" See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
"A Little Gem"
"Ilala Lodge Review"
They even gave us a coupon for dinner on the first night which was a nice surprise.
Lovely memories of Vic Falls." See all these reviews: 8n in Botswana; 4n in South Africa; 2n in Zimbabwe
"Visiting Victoria Falls Ilala Lodeg"
We enjoyed some excellent dinners in the evening and were treated to viewings of elephant visiting the garden just below the restaurant terrace.
The Sunset cruise arranged by the hotel was a magical experience and they also booked a helicopter trip over the Falls for us.
We only booked a 15 minute flight in the helicopter and we thought this was long enough and was money well spent to be able to see the falls, the bridge and the gorge all laid out below we were able to appreciate the scale of the whole thing.
Our onward travel by road to Kazangula and acroos the border to Kasane airport was very efficient and the airport at Kasane is very smart and almost brand new. Just one note that we did not have to make a river crossing at the border as mentioned in our itinerary, we just waled through the border and were picked up the other side.
Our overall experience at Ilala Lodge and Victoria Falls was very enjoyable and the locals very friendly and polite.
We saw elephant, baboon, Warthogs and monkeys in and around the hotel and the Falls." See all these reviews: 6n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe
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