Reviews of Doro Nawas

"Absolutely stunning setting with lovely views from both room and all general areas. Rooms were really spacious.

Only criticism of this lodge was that the excursions were really expensive so we didnt do any of them. We went to the rock drawings by ourselves which was about a 45 min drive." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"Excellent breakfast and lunches but the evening meals were rather average.

The safari to see the elephants was excellent with a nice meal at the end. However we were up at 4.30am for this safari and had the meal at around midday which left us all rather hungry. It would have been better at 11am

Morning excursion in search of desert-adapted elephants
A very early start . A slight haze detracted from obtaining any stunning photographs but all in all a very satisfying and comprehensive morning." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"Great location. good service and an eco friendly lodge to boot. The activities were on the expensive side. Well we couldn't tell the difference between the desert elephants and the ordinary elephants but paying NS650 per head for this privilige. The otherwise excellent service was slightly marred by one of its inexperienced guide/staff." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Excellent. The game drive perfect.

Just one point : the afternoon activity was dedicated to the engravings near Twyfelfontein; the guide was not very convinced concerning the interest of this activity and consequently poor and less comments. A pity for me because I was very interested by engravings." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"Watching desert adapted elephants from the dining room what more do you need?

Although they were rather expensive the guided trips were excellent and all the guides very informative." See all these reviews: 25n in Namibia

"Doro Nawas was everything it promised to be - the room was fantastical with its mock stone headboard, stone bathroom and inside and outside shower - the only disappointment was that noone told us that you could unlock the bed and push it out on to the huge verandah - we only learnt that on our second night, in conversation with other guests, and then we slept under the starts which was a breathtaking experience.

The food was excellent - unsurpassed salads, crisp vegetables, delicate puddings.

We joined an afternoon drive to see the desert adapted elephants - was a bit disappointed that the drive around the property is no longer part of the deal (as described in Chris' book) - and were delighted to come across 13 of them and observe them for some time. Our guide was knowledgeable as was the person who pointed out the stars to us on the roof that night." See all these reviews: 24n in Namibia; 11n in South Africa

"The initial wow factor of the castle and large and nicely furnished rooms was soon obliterated by the noisy staff. I have never been to a desert that is so noisy. A large group of italians showed up just after we arrived and as we were resting in our room the staff thought the best way to determine which italians were in which chalets was to walk around the camp shouting their names out. My husband went and told them to be quiet.

We then discovered that there was no hot water in our chalet - having arrive around 4pm there should be hot water at that time as the solar panels have been out in the sun all day. We told one of the managers before dinner and she said she would send some maintenance men to look at it but advised us that we had to run the water for ten minutes before the hot would come out of it! That is ridiculous. We weren't too worried as we thought there would be some the next day it was a slight annoyance.

The next afternoon at about 1.30pm we tried our water again and there was no hot water. I went to see management but spoke to the guide Johann who went into the office and advised the manager that we had no hot water. I was outside of the office and personally heard her reply "They complained yesterday, they do have hot water". Needless to say I was very unhappy with this total lack of customer service. T

he maintenance guys had looked at the solar panel the night before and found nothing wrong with it. Finally a chap called stephen came out and came with me to the chalet. he looked at the solar panel, ran the water both in the taps and the shower and declared that we had no hot water. I told him I had overheard the manager. We were put on to a generator and that night we had hot water. we did receive a basket of fruit and a note to say sorry, by this time I just wanted to get out of the place.

WE had a bottle of wine on our first evening in the chalet and the dirty wine glasses were still there when we left two nights later even though the housekeeping had come in and made our bed!

The second sink leaked and so instead of getting water in the sink it ended up all over the bathroom floor!

Being Wilderness Safaries we thought the food would be as good as at Anderssons Camp but it was quite poor. we had lunch which was a cucumber soup which was truly inedible, (my husband eats anything but wouldn't eat it). The last night's main meal consisted of some kind of bland potato pasta, uncooked red cabbage and a chewy stew. The chef seriously needs more training.

The overall manager Lena and Stephen were very helpful and listened to our complaints and did somethng about them. But the other manager we found to be unfriendly and I think she was the one who made the comment that I overheard.

The camp is pretty large with 19 chalets and it felt very commercialised. This feeling may have been heightened by the fact that we had come from Entendeka which is the opposite.

Although the rooms were nice the service is poor and we would certainly not recommend it to anyone." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia

"Nice welcome here from Agnes and large rooms with good views - hot water bottles were a nice touch. Nice to see solar panels being used to heat water for showers and fun to have option of showering outside!

Food was good, but a bit rushed. Swimming pool would have benefitted from some lighting in the evening. The staff sang after supper but, unfortunately, we had not been told this would be happening and had already gone to our rooms.

There were not enough torches to go round so it was good we had brought our own." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"Our stay here was excellent, with fantastic 'rooms' (especially the outdoor showers) and outstanding service in a truly spectacular location.

Food was delicious and we spent a long time in close proximity to Desert Elephants on our morning activity. We were also shown where to find Welwitschia in the grounds and the night sky viewed from the roof was breathtaking." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia

"We wanted to use Doro Nawas because of its links with the community and its place as part of a conservancy and we weren't disappointed with the feedback we got from all the people there about how it brings in an income that is then distributed to the wider community. The staff were happy to talk to us about how it all worked and were obvioulsy enormously proud of what was being achieved. I just hope that the rudeness from another English group (not with Expert Africa I have to say!), making comments, and asking what we thought were intensely personal questions about life in Namibia and ethnic isues, does not give the staff there the impression that all English people are so ignorant! We certainly wanted to apologise for their rudeness and insensitivity.

Anyway, the important bits are: The location is wonderful, the rooms enormous and so luxurious, and the 'bed out under the stars' had to be tried, even though it only lasted a few hours due to the damp night. Tracking elephants was great fun, and so rewarding to get so close and spend so long with the group. Food and facilities in the main camp couldn't be faulted and to end each evening with the magical singing from the staff made it a very special place. Tranquil, peaceful, with huge views and wonderful sunsets." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia