Travel reviews by Guy and Sarah from Kent

"The Constantia was the perfect start to our trip. It is an easy drive from Cape Town airport (20-25 mins max) and although a few miles form the centre of the city, it is another easy drive into the centre where all day parking at the V&A waterfront cost less than £4.

We were personally welcomed and shown to our room. The room itself was fantastic with attention to every detail taken care of. The contents of the free mini bar were top quality and the staff turned down the beds and left a small fresh pudding each evening whilst we were out. The room facilities were first class as was the hotel in general. There is a small pool and a lovely garden area, though we did not get to fully explore these.

Breakfast was excellent with a good choice of food. The staff were attentive and offered recommendations as to restaurants and attractions. They even booked us the table mountain cable car via the computer in reception. There is an in house driver service which we used (free of charge) and we were driven to the restaurant of our choice.

This hotel is one of the very best I have stayed in across the world and comes very highly recommended."

"Clanwilliam is an easy 2-3 hour drive from Cape Town and the St du Barrys is easily found a short walk form the town centre. The welcome was very warm and the hosts were lovely throughout. The rooms are all contained in a row facing you as you drive in and are spacious and well equipped. The complimentary Rooibos toiletries were a nice touch.

Breakfasts were excellent and service attentive. The hosts had reserved a table at a restaurant in town for the night we arrived which was a lovely touch and very welcome as the restaurant itself seemed quite full. The hosts also recommended the Sevilla rock art trail which is worth a visit and the stunning drive to reach it.

The only disappointment (albeit a major one) with this guesthouse was the noise. The lower roof in each chalet has been removed to allow guests to appreciate the thatched roof. Whilst pleasing to look at, it does nothing for noise insulation. Virtually every sound can be heard from the neighbouring room and at 5am both mornings we were woken by heavy goods vehicles thundered past on the road outside. If you are a light sleeper, this will cause you a significant inconvenience.

The view form the back window of the room was also slightly poor in that it was of a yard with a barbed wire fence and sandbags lying around. I sense it could be made a little more pleasing on the eye with minimal effort."

"A gem of a guest house in the town of Springbok. We were warmly welcomed on arrival and shown to a lovely room with fresh bed linen. The room itself was spacious and comfortable and the breakfast was excellent. We only stayed here one night but it was a very pleasant place to say within an hour of the Namibian border.

A word of praise for the staff here; we inadvertently left our portable hard drive at the hotel and were not able to make any contact with them for a couple of days. When we did, they reassured us that the hard drive had been found and was safe and they even emailed us some of the contents which we needed for later in the trip. It is customer service gestures such as this that make Annie's an excellent place to stay. I only wish we had had another night."

"I have to confess that having driven nearly 100km along a gravel road, then negotiated the 19km driveway to this lodge I was rather nervous that this would have been worth the effort. I need not have worried as the first thing that greets you on arrival is the quite incredible view from the main building out over Fish River Canyon.

The main building is where meals are served and you meet for the various optional activities. The rooms themselves are individual chalets perched on the edge of the cliff, each with an equally amazing view. They are described as minimalist but are totally acceptable for most travellers. the beds were comfortable and there was even an outside shower. A door on the toilet would have been a welcome feature as it does intrude on one's privacy ever so slightly.

Meals were generally pretty good although the steak on the first night was a little chewy when compared to the fantastic meat we had tasted in SA. On the whole though the food and wine choice was perfectly acceptable. What set this place apart though, aside from the view, was the warmth and friendliness of the staff. The hotel manager spends a while at each table each evening and discusses feedback and life in general; this is a really nice touch. The remainder of the staff performed a group sing song which although it sounds cheesy, was absolutely brilliant and wonderful entertainment.

We didn't carry out any of the activities other than a self guided walk, as we were quite tired and did not fancy a 7 hour driving tour after the long journey to get to the lodge. To get the best out of this lodge you really need to stay at least two nights. A party of pensioner adventurers arrived on a coach one tea time and only stayed the one night. Luckily we had two and could quite happily have stayed more."

"This easily found lodge is a welcome break between Fish River and Sossuvlei area. It is on a working farm about 3km from the main road and very well signposted.

We were met with juice upon arrival and introduced to the owner, a delightful lady of German/Namibian descent. She provided a fascinating insight into life in Namibia and also ate dinner and breakfast with us (we were the only guests on the night we stayed). the food I thought was excellent, home cooked and plentiful.

We had a lovely walk as the sun set over the mountains and then spent an evening at dinner. The rooms are basic but perfectly well equipped. The thing that was lovely here was how dark it was at night. It was literally pitch black in the room with the lights off and we had a wonderful night's sleep. Could quite happily have stayed here longer."

"An interestingly located lodge about 35km from Sesriem/Sossuvlei which are the main reasons I would imagine one would stay here. The drive up to the national park entrance to Sossuvlei takes about 30 minutes followed by a 40 minute drive through the park on a tarred road. The lodge offer a guided excursion to Sossuvlei but at 850 Nam $ each it seemed excessively expensive and we drove ourselves.The lodge also offers horse riding activities but we did not avail ourselves of these.

The rooms are small circular stone built which although well equipped (though again without a toilet door), do have a tendency to retain heat, even with the ceiling fan on. On the first night there we hardly spelt as it was so uncomfortably hot; opening the windows offsets much of the heat but it can be quite blowy.

The meals are taken in the main area which also houses a small swimming pool. The food was excellent and the service very good."

"We stayed at this guest house for two nights and were blown away by its quality. The welcome and service were first class; they even gave us a pre programmed mobile phone with their numbers on in case we experienced any difficulties.

The gardens are simply stunning and smell wonderful. The rooms are equally as good, spacious and clean with fresh linen. The owners were happy to recommend restaurants and make bookings for us, which they did on both nights. The town is within an easy 5-10 minute walk.

Breakfast was excellent."

"Wow. One isn't quite sure what to expect as you pull up at the bottom of the hill to be met and transported up to the lodge but what an incredible place awaits you. the lodge manager gives you a personal welcome and talks you through the set up and other activities.

The rooms are simply incredible. Huge tented chalets with excellent appointments, big balconies and even a day bed outside. The view from each chalet is wonderful.

Meals are taken in the main building, from which the view is also amazing. We dined outside with a view across to a floodlit waterhole and had a superb meal accompanied by first class wine and service to match. It was a shame we only stayed here one night."

"This was a very interesting place and I was a little wary as I had read mixed reviews. In all honesty I found it a very good place to stay and an ideal base from which to tour Etosha National Park.

Upon arrival, reception was a little chaotic (don't forget to pay the park permit fees to the tourism official sat at the end of the reception desk) but the welcome was friendly. You leave a N$500 refundable deposit which must be in cash. The rooms are chalet style and perfectly well appointed with a separate kitchen/sitting area. Upon advice of Expert Africa we carefully went through the inventory and found a couple of things broken/missing. These were pointed out to reception who came straight around and repaired them. The site offers a mini bar replacement service whereby you fill in a form and drop it at the bar; they then stock the fridge in your room.

The floodlit waterhole is incredible and we were lucky enough to see rhino, elephants, lions and many more each day, both there and in the wider park itself.

The shop on camp is pretty poorly equipped provision wise so you are really left with no alternative than to take dinner at the camp. This was however very reasonable at N$180 a head and consisted of a three course buffet style meal. It might not win any culinary awards but it was wholesome and well cooked.

Check out was smooth and we were sorry to leave Okaukuejo. It might feel like a holiday camp in some ways, but it more than makes up for it with the quality of wildlife on offer."

"Okonjima is the home of the Africat foundation and everything is understandably centred on this. The individual lodges are very well equipped with huge beds and bathrooms and a wonderful view across the plains. Don't be worried if you have a 'standard' as opposed to a 'view' room as I really couldn't see what the difference was and the view from the 'standard' room was wonderful.

The food is excellent and served from an outdoor buffet style arrangement.

The activities on offer are focused on spotting/tracking cheetah and leopard, both of which we managed to see in the wild which was a memorable experience"