Reviews of Doro Nawas

"I was sick here from eating a piece of fish. The Manageress implied that it was my fault for drinking the local water or too much wine. I don't drink alcohol and I only drank bottled water! The lady in charge of the Restaurant was much more synpathetic and tried to help me with some bland food. I was not too impressed with the way I was treated.

Hotel setting was nice, rooms were good, again service was a little hit and miss. The entertainment after dinner by the restaurant staff was excellent, local songs and transalation of the menu into the local click language was very interesting to listen to." See all these reviews: 19n in Namibia

"Difficult to fault this well run establishment with excellent food and well motivated and helpful staff. The 360 degree view from the roof is just perfect for a sundowner drink, for watching the night sky, or for sunrise." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"This is an amazing place. When you first set eyes on it, its somewhat foreboding appearance makes you wonder what you are going to but, again, the welcome we were given and the standard of the facilities immediately dispels any doubts.

The highlight of our stay here was the whole morning drive spent tracking the desert elephants - the excitement and anticipation built up until we were very fortunate and found so many of these wonderful animals. Our guide was brilliant and impressive in his knowledge and passion for the area and its nature. We benefitted further from this when we went on the evening walk with him and the day was rounded off superbly with the night-time spent star gazing and having the stars etc. explained to us.Some of our party took this further, rolling their beds out and sleeping under the stars.

The location's proximity to Twyfelfontein and the length of the tour to see the rock art was confirmed to us, making it an easy trip prior to going on to Etosha (We found the Bradt guide's comment about Twyfelfontein a little inaccurate as it gave the impression that it took a long time to see the art - "several hours"- and also gave the wrong D road number - stated that you take the D3254 off the C39 whereas it is actually the D2612)

All the staff here were excellent and we, again, enjoyed the singing by everyone at the end of our evening meal." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia

"On the whole I think we enjoyed Doro Nawas, but it was a very mixed experience. There were some great bits and some real disappointments.

The rooms were the largest on the whole trip, although we didn't try taking the bed outside to sleep under the stars! Nor did we shower in the open air - it was a little chilly for that! So much so that we had hot waterbottles put in our beds by the turn-down service (without having to ask!)

We appreciate that the operation is run by your agents in Namibia, so criticisms may be difficult to manage, but ...................

The staff try very hard to please, but some elements need attention. The bar operation is not very slick, so there can be long waits for service and the measures seem somewhat light, leading to only tonic tasting G&Ts! Breakfast is self-service and when things run out it seems to take too long to replenish. Clearly, the lack of electricity is a major hinderance and affects several service functions - like checking out which relies on a satellite phone that requires the generator to be operating (and wasn't turned on when we tried to leave, costing us an hour altogether!) The after dinner singing and dancing by the staff was the best of our trip, they really enjoyed themselves and so did we!

I don't claim to be a hospitality expert (although I'm an experienced consumer), but the major problem appears to be with management - we met or saw a number of "managers", probably 4 or 5 over the two days, but they were not very effective and tended to react badly to any adverse comments. Message - don't ask "How was your day / excursion?" if you want an honest response to something that was not too good.

Our first excursion - searching for desert-adapted elephants - was made by finding a herd of a dozen females, juveniles and babies as a result of an encounter with a vehicle from Twyfelfontein Lodge who told us where to go. Fantastic scenes and photos, followed by a very good sundowner.

The other two activities - the rock carvings and the petrified forest - were real disappointments, with the latter being a disaster! The rock carving trip took all morning as we vainly searched for the elephants again, without success, so had only about half-an-hour or so at Twyfelfontain before we had to return to Doro Nawas for lunch. The meal itself was very poor and the limited amount of food on offer became even more obvious when, after waiting for ages to get a cup of coffee, we saw the serving points being re-stocked with a much better selection to feed the staff in full public view, with the "managers" going first.

The petrified forest trip was terrible! 40+kms in a very slow, open vehicle down the gravel road stopping frequently to allow other vehicles to pass us in either direction so that we didn't suffocate in the dust, that took over an hour: 20 minutes looking at 3 bits of petrified tree and the return journey on the same road as we had come, doing our stop-start bit, followed by a very poor pre-ordered sundowner (in my case, half a glass of red wine from an opened bottle) at the side of the road, in full view of Doro Nawas a mile or so away, where we could have drunk our drinks in some comfort.

What really pained us, however, was the pricing - the afternoon trips (with a sundowner) at N$550 per person and the morning trip (with lunch) at N$950 per person. Given that we had 7 or 8 people in each vehicle on each trip, there must be a big profit here somewhere!

We spoke with an Austrian family who were on a "fully-inclusive" deal and they were horrified to hear how much we had paid for the activities, they of course didn't know what it had cost them in their price, but said they would have warned us off the petrified forest trip, no matter how little it might have cost!" See all these reviews: 20n in Namibia

"Here again everything we could ask for was provided for us from quite excellent elephant sightings to birthday cakes, wonderful singing and ... hot water bottles!

The breakfasts were the best throughout our trip but it was really the knowledgable guide (Lister) and the warmth and charm of Florentia (the Assistant Manager) who made our stay the truely memorable and wonderful experience that it was.

Again the rooms were very comfortable and it was great to be able to sleep out under the stars (having enjoyed stargazing on the roof of the main building helped by the very powerful telescope and a knowledgeable guide - Lister again!)" See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Another place we really wish we had had more time at. It was lovely, both in terms of the accommodation, the location, the staff and the trips on offer.

One night was very definitely not enough, although we managed to get there in time to go on the afternoon drive to find the desert elephants – one of the best wildlife drives of the trip, largely due to the brilliant guide, Lister, who tracked a large herd of elephants with amazing skill, and effortlessly followed them across very rough country with some amazing Landrover driving." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia; 6n in Botswana; 2n in Zambia

"Excellent! One of the highlights of the holiday. Nothing was too much trouble for staff, food was very good and the atmosphere wonderfull.

With Elaine as our guide we went for an early morning trip to see wild desert elephants and were rewarded with an extremely close encounter from the magnificent beasts!! Don't miss it." See all these reviews: 20n in Namibia

"This was the hottest part of our trip. We spent 3 nights here and spent quite a lot of time lounging around on the beautiful balconies to recover from exertions on the earlier part of our trip.

The room was vast and very comfortable. The location was fantastic with endless views over plains and hills. On the first morning, we went out on our own to see the rock paintings which was interesting, if not compelling - far greater paintings in Kakadu in Australia!

We went on 2 fantastic guided trips, both with Gabriel, on both occasions we were on our own. the first was by LandRover to find elephants, and he found 2 herds for excellent close-up views, as well as loads of birds. The second was an early morning walk through the scrub, and we really appreciated the amazing efforts of explorers like Livingstone who walked (for years) in the bush.

All the staff were fantastic and very professional, especially Florentia, with whom we talked for hours." See all these reviews: 16n in Namibia

"We only used this camp as a staging point. Externally the main building appears to have been designed in the style of a second world war gun emplacement complete with camouflage, but is internally delightful with central courtyard and a roof platform allowing extensive views over the region by day and star sightings through a telescope by night.

A larger camp than many and felt a bit less personal, though maybe that was just because we only had a short stay. Rooms large and comfortable, offering choice of inside or outdoor shower. Food good. Advised not to walk on local trails without guide owing to presence of local predators, so cooled off in swimming pool.

Advised not to drink local water, but lodge did not provide bottled water in room and it had to be purchased; a curious omission." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Doro Nawas was a wonderful place - the staff here were the best we met. Friendly, efficient, helpful, and excellent management. Some of us took a trip to find the desert elephants - successfully.

The place looks rather like a desert fort and the views from the lodge are world-beaters. Sunset is a magic show.

One of our party had a birthday here - the breakfast staff (who saw the cards being opened) sang Happy Birthday in the local click language, with descants and other extras that I have never heard in the song before. Extremely well managed place. At Doro Nawas, as at most of the places where we stayed, it was good to see so many Namibian women in management posts.

Our visit to Twyfelfontein was excellent - we drove ourselves and there is no need to take the offered trip there." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia