Reviews of Sossusvlei Desert Lodge

"The Lodge is fabulous, located in a valley with a view down to the dunes. The rooms are palatial with air conditioning and individual small outdoor pools to relax in.

I was there in February with temperatures in the high 30oC so the ability to keep cool was really appreciated! The staff are attentive and well organized and each chalet has a personal butler who looks after all your needs.

While there I took advantage of the helicopter and hot air balloon rides both were amazing, especially the helicopter ride that goes directly over the dunes and you can choose the length of the flight to include going all the way to the coast. We left just after sunrise and the colours of the desert dunes were stunning. The pilot was cleared to fly directly over the Big Daddy dune and Deadvlei. Seen from above the star dunes are beautiful I would highly recommend the flight.

The Lodge has a resident astronomer and the evening of star watching was one of the highlights." See all these reviews: 19n in Namibia; 3n in Zimbabwe

"This hotel is pure luxury. The rooms are very well equipped with some lovely personal touches and the staff were very attentive.

We enjoyed a day trip to the sand dunes, hiking up the Big Mamma dune and walking to dead vlei. We booked a hot air balloon, which was just 15 mins drive early in the morning although sadly the weather did not permit the fly.

We also enjoyed a hike to a cave with some old cave paintings a short walk from the hotel. We had 2 nights here although wished we could have stayed for 3.

The rooms are so luxurious, we would be happy to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet and the beautiful views.

There is a watering hole beneath the hotel which attracts lots of oryx and zebra." See all these reviews: 11n in Namibia

"Outstanding place in every possible way, including ways we hadn't even thought about.

Above all the service was excellent, but we enjoyed the location, the views, the trips, and the food.

Though the telescope was out for repairs and there was no resident astronomer, I had brought my telescope and spent 2 nights sharing the sky with staff and other guests." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia; 1n in South Africa

"A fabulous lodge, wonderful staff, amazing views and delicious food.

The hot air balloon ride that was included in our package was a trip of a lifetime. The guiding was great.

Only sadness is that the upcoming major upgrade will probably price it out of our range, but delighted that we got a chance to stay there now. The massage we took was also top-class.

Thank you all! (Also saw our first ever aardwolf - awesome!)" See all these reviews: 5n in Botswana; 4n in Namibia; 2n in Zimbabwe

"Sossusvlei Desert Lodge is absolutely outstanding in every way and we're already planning a return visit as we loved it so much.

The service is exceptional and we felt very well looked after by all the staff, headed by Grant. The staff-to-guest ratio means that there is always someone on hand to answer any questions and we felt that the staff had a genuine interest in making our stay a thoroughly memorable one. There were so many 'nice touches' including drinks on return from activities, staff waving us off when we left, little notes in the room. The view from the bathroom is stunning as is the design of the lodge as a whole.

Our 'butler' was Kristof who served all of our meals and who had just the right balance between efficiency and informality. He always seemed to pre-empt our needs and each night we were given a different location to dine including in the wine cellar and by the pool. The food was exceptional. Our guide was Bonniface (Bonni) and he made every activity an individual, relaxed and thoroughly enjoyable experience. He went out of his way to point out different wildlife, both large and small, and was a pleasure to be with.

One of our main reasons for selecting Sossusvlei Desert Lodge was to take part in the astronomy/observatory. This didn't disappoint, mainly due to Paul, the resident astronomer, and his outstanding knowledge of the night sky, telescopes and astro-photography. Views of the Milky Way, planets and moons were stunning and Paul went out of his way to make sure that this part of our stay was really special.

In short, a real treat. We didn't want to leave." See all these reviews: 19n in Namibia

"The lodge was about to close for refurbishment when we arrived. Rooms were fantastic, though could see they were a bit tired eg scuffs and chips to stair edges and cloudy shower screens - not that this affected our enjoyment in any way.

Setting is amazing, guide was fantastic and took us on lots of brilliant excursions which we left to him to decide. The landscape is stunning and we saw lots of antelope and some rhino, but the scenery is definitely the main draw plus climbing the Big Daddy sand dune and running down into Dead Vlei. Food lovely, staff very accommodating, eg organising early dinners for our 7 year old.

We loved the observatory although the bright moon slightly curtailed what we could see.

Highly recommend." See all these reviews: 18n in Namibia

"I had a huge smile on my face hours after arriving here. It's such a gorgeous property with gorgeous views.

The rooms are amazing & we esp loved the skylight above the bed where we could see the stars overhead.

We stayed 3 nights & did the Bike Daddy hike, rode ATVs & hike to the caves to see 700 year old bushman drawings. Also loved the observatory where we saw planets & star clusters. Guide Obbie, butler Hilma, managers Clinton & Sarah & everyone else made our stay special." See all these reviews: 14n in Namibia

"Fantastic place, the location and the isolation is what i was looking for. I'm definitely happy to have chosen this over Little Kulala, which i was also considering. I did pass Little Kulala on one of the excursions as a reference point and i definitely preferred the setting at Sossusvlei desert lodge. The service here was phenomenal. They literally went above and beyond for us. There was a surprise every day waiting which overwhelmed us and really should the quality of the company, our sunset and dinner experiences differed every day and it was just amazing. The team was always warm, genuine and welcoming. Our butler Anna was superb, a big shout out to her. The food was great, especially the deserts at dinner. The only thing i can constructively criticize is the room and our assigned guide. The room is nicely decorated but there are aspects that are outdated and a little warn out. There is a safety hazard on the 3 little steps that connect the living room to the sleeping area. My wife actually fell in the middle of the night because the step sizes and distances. Fortunately she wasn't badly injured. As for the guide, he wasn't bad by any means, but in comparison to the other guides we had on the trip we connected a little less and was a little less engaging for us. Speaking of excursions i would have preferred going on less mainstream activities where we would be amongst a lot of tourists or alternatively started earlier before the migration. I would have been happy to climb up another less 'famous' dune alone, near by, and then gone to 'Dead Vlei' separately after the morning rush has thinned out. I would have captured the ambience a little more, it would have definitely felt more exclusive and it would have been more relaxing. As we were climbing 'Big daddy' dune we constantly felt rushed going up the ridge as there was a line up of people behind us, leaving us barely any time to take it all in, let alone feeling that we would inconvenience people if we wanted to stop and take a photo. The dune was impressive and just gorgeous, but i would have rather been walking on a ridge alone or in a smaller group. AndBeyond should explore an alternative, since our guide never gave us one. On that note though, our morning picnic after the dune experience was fantastic. We definitely felt that 3 nights was a perfect. 2 nights would have been to short and 4 nights would have been too long as we would have run out of excursions to do." See all these reviews: 10n in Zambia; 4n in Namibia; 1n in South Africa

"This is a beautiful lodge located in a beautiful location. There is not much wildlife but you can see oryx, springbok and jackal walking in front of your room by the huge windows at the back of the bungalow. The night sky is magnificent and the astronomer was keen to help you with the telescope.

Unfortunately, our guide was not as good as the ones we had at other lodges. We were a bit disappointed that we were not allowed to climb the Big Daddy dune. The duration and the location of the activities were not following the information we were given prior to departure for these activities." See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia

"Wonderful!" See all these reviews: 15n in Namibia