Reviews of Kulala Desert Lodge

"Very good setting and friendly staff. Rooms comfortable but no hot water in one lodge for whole stay." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"We stayed at Kulala for 2 nights at the end of July 2015

The drive from Swakopmund to Kulala took around 6 hours, but with amazing scenery on the way. Well worth stopping at Solitaire and visiting the bakery!

The track off the road is long (20km?) and rutted, but it's worth it! The main building had a great veranda for sitting and enjoying the fantastic view as well as indoor areas for a drink before and after the meal. The area round the pool is very nice with plenty of loungers to read a book on although the pool was very cold being winter. The food and service was excellent.

Our double lodge was one of the closer ones with thatched roof and canvas walls with a veranda to sit out and enjoy the view, very nicely done. Being winter it was cold at night but the blankets and hot water bottle kept us warm. However we, and the children decided to sleep out on the roof. This needs to be 'ordered' in advance so that a mattress and bedding can be put up there. It was pretty chilly, especially when the wind blew and we returned to our proper beds, but the boys stayed out both nights - good fun, and of course you get a fantastic view of the nights sky.

Of course the main reason for staying at Kulala is to visit the dunes and we went on the tip offered by Kulala. Early wake up call followed by breakfast and away by 6.30 with just one couple and us in the vehicle. Beautiful views in the early morning light as we headed to the dunes via the private gate into the national park. We arrived at Dune 45 where there were many other people walking up / coming down. At about 80m high it is a bit of a climb but as the ridge was well trodden, it was reasonably easy going. Great views from the top.

Then off to Sossusvlei to see Deadvlei. It really is an amazing place, very photogenic and worth spending time at. Big Daddy (one of the largest sand dunes) rises up 1000m behind Deadvlei and we could see others walking up the ridge and then down the side. Some of the family were tempted to have a go but as we were in a group, it wouldn't have been possible as it would have taken a couple of hours.

The visit to the dunes was relatively expensive (like other Wilderness Safari trips). In hindsight another option would have been to do it ourselves, however only the lodge can use the private gate so it would have meant driving to Sesriem (including the 20km Kulala drive) total about 50 mins, getting a ticket, then driving down the 60km road in the national park to Sossusvlei and if you haven't got a 4WD vehicle, you will need to get a lift the last 5km. This is why we opted to do the early morning Kulala trip. If we has done it ourselves, we would have left late morning and in our own time claimed up a dune (probably not dune 45), had the option of climbing Big Daddy, visiting Sossusvlei and Deadvlei and visiting the canyon. A key point in this is that we visited in the winter so it was cool enough, even in the middle of the day (mid 20's deg C). Kulala was lovely, but if you did want to do the trip yourselves, you may want to consider staying at a lodge close to Sesriem." See all these reviews: 12n in Namibia

"Kulala was a superb place to stay.

We had the connected family rooms which were spacious with a huge veranda and the ability to climb on the roof to look at the stars. It is a little drive to Sesriem and has a long and rocky drive (7km) this was not a problem for us - we felt out of the way here, away from the bustle of Sesriem and we saw Bat Eared Foxes on the drive in.

Staff were excellent - they got us up early for hot air ballooning (which was a superb experience) the quality of the food and dining experience was high.

A real desert atmosphere." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"We were very lucky with the guide. Michael was excellent! Thank you!" See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"We really enjoyed our stay at Kulala. It had a really nice 'feel' to it - good service and good food but not ostentatious or complicated. The staff were very good, personable and remembered our names - impressive given the visitor turnover.

Our room was very comfortable, and well laid out, with a good view. We liked the rooftop place where we could look at the stars (we weren't brave enough to try to sleep up there, but other people do). If you want to drink tea and coffee in your room, you have to ask for a thermos of hot water to take back there, but we never wanted to because there was tea and coffee always available in the main area (and cake in the afternoon).

The main area of the lodge was comfortable. All our meals here were good, and as one of us is vegetarian we particularly appreciated being given two good choices. It is good that they give waterbottles and so we could top those up at anytime.

We did two activities at Kulala - we went to Sossusvlei to climb a sand dune (we chose Big Daddy) and see Dead Vlei. This was amazing. Then in the afternoon we went to Sesriem Canyon, which was interesting but couldn't beat climbing the dune. The guide for these activities, Oscar, was great, probably the best we encountered during our stay in Namibia." See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"THE DUNES AND SESRIEM CANYON TRIPS WERE FANTASTIC" See all these reviews: 17n in Namibia

"This was a magical place with great facilities. It was wonderful to be able to go through the 'back door' to see the dunes." See all these reviews: 19n in Namibia; 4n in Botswana; 3n in Zimbabwe

"Welcoming friendly staff

Hot air ballooning is a must as is early morning dune climbs." See all these reviews: 13n in Namibia

"The Kuala Lodge was also wonderful. Everyone was helpful and accommodating.

We loved being able to sleep outside on the roof watching the stars.

The excursions were fun and interesting.

The desert scenery there is spectacular." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"Very nice location. Overpriced activities but later I noticed that Wilderness Safaris are using the same price level in all their locations. The Family room was very good. Meals good but not highlight.

Activities were great and our kids fell in love with Suwama - our guide.

We have taken two sundown excursions and one morning to sand dunes. Big advantage of the Resort is the private gate which saves appr. 1 hour drive." See all these reviews: 10n in Namibia