Travel reviews by Mr & Mrs D from Bristol

"A delightful way to start the holiday. A lovely room with very welcome hot water bottles placed in the beds as winter in Namibia in early June can be and was very cold! We had the evening meal in the hotel which was well served and of a high standard. Staff were very friendly and helpful."

"The room was good with lovely hot shower. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The only thing that spoilt our stay was the insistence that everyone had to eat at the same time. The hotel is so far from everywhere that it is necessary to eat dinner there. However, the kitchen was clearly struggling to serve over 60 meals simultaneously on our first night. On the second night it was worse as there were even more residents. It was extremely cold in the dining room (early June) and a long wait between courses. On the second night we gave up before we reached dessert. We very fortunate in being close to the kitchen so our meals were reasonably warm.
Both game drives (sunset and sunrise) were very good with lots of information being conveyed in a relaxed manner."

"What an amazing hotel! We were delighted by the quirky surroundings. Eating dinner surrounded by vintage vehicles is a very interesting experience. The room was good with an air conditioning units which doubled as a heater once we got the hang of it. Comfortable beds and very friendly and helpful staff. The food was served hot and there was an interesting variety on the menu. It was easy to navigate our way to Fish River Canyon from the hotel."

"This was a very modern and well appointed hotel with an excellent Wi-Fi system which we could access in our room. There was some confusion on the first night and we were told we had to have the set menu. On the second night we were denied access to the set menu and told we had to have al la carte as we were only booked for b&b. Strange as our meal on the second night was cheaper than on the first night! Service in the restaurant was very slow and staff not as friendly as those on reception."

"We were the only guests at this Retreat due to being early in the season. However, our hosts gave us a warm welcome and took over our difficulty with a shredded car tyre. The wheel was changed whilst we were at breakfast on our first morning. Meals here are taken around the dining table with our hosts. This was an amazing opportunity to learn more about Namibia and the difficulties of farming in such difficult terrain. The food was delicious and the wine was also.

The rooms are built into the dunes. They are spacious and have good hot showers. They are well decorated and the farmhouse/reception is a delightful building with very few right angles! Lots of beautiful artifacts are displayed and it was just like staying with friends. The outlook from the room was delightful as was the garden in front of the main house. The meercat was delightful to watch and Coco the Australian Sheepdog made us very welcome.

An evening drive across the farm to a high point to watch the sun set was delightful."

"A beautifully appointed guesthouse, although we found the pebbled floor in the bathroom a little hard on the feet! Breakfast only here but that did not matter was we wanted to return to the Tug restaurant to enjoy their extensive fish menu and wine list. Breakfast was buffet style with hot options if required. Well situated and easy to park."

"We asked to stay at Brandberg White Lady Lodge as we had previously enjoyed a stay there looking at the Desert elephants. However, when we arrived we found that the safari vehicle was off the road and it looked as though it had been for a while. The room was not ready and we had to wait which was curious because as far as we could tell there was only one other couple staying. The food was average and took a long time to serve. We did not like the room which was badly in need of updating. There was a general air of gloom about the place. So different from our previous experience. We left early the next day.

However we picked this hotel not Expert Africa so we only have ourselves to blame!"

"We were a little daunted by the vertical ride up the side of the mountain (in the Lodge's 4x4 vehicle), but when we reached the top the view was spectacular. The restaurant terrace ends in a sheer drop over the side of the mountain and from our cabin we had a similar vertical drop from our veranda. But you can watch eagles circling below.

We went elephant tracking on the first afternoon and after a long search managed to locate one elephant. The second day we tracked rhinos and were fortunate to find a mother and baby as well as father lurking close by. The guide and trackers were very knowledgeable and explained how the local community has come together to work to increase the number of rhinos in the surrounding area.

The Lodge is run by the members of the local community under guidance at present but that will gradually reduce until 2015. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. Food was good and plentiful and much to our surprise we had Wi-Fi in the lounge areas.

On our last day we found our car had been cleaned for us. En route to our next destination and not more than 3 km from the entrance to the Lodge we to wait whilst 7 elephants (mothers and babies) crossed the road in front of us. Could have saved all that time tracking had we known!"

"The accommodation was comfortable and warm. Staff were friendly and helpful.The food was much better than we were expecting from reading other reviews. It was also well served. The maintain attraction was the water hole which could be reached on foot from our lodge. It is very well designed and a large number of people could be accommodated without difficulty. The animals did not disappoint. On the very first evening 35 elephants came down to drink. On the second night we saw 7 rhinos. Springboks, zebras and jackals were part of the supporting cast."

"The food here was of a very high standard and well served. The accommodation was very modern and well designed. Bed was comfortable. Staff were friendly and helpful. We tried driving out to some of the water holes near the Camp, but the approach roads to some were in very poor condition. However, we did see some animals especially rhinos, elephants, springbok and zebra in great numbers. The water hole is delightful but you do need to be pretty nimble on your feet. We did not do any game drives here."

"When we arrived at the first entrance gate we were told we had been upgraded to Bush Camp from Garden Suite. When we finally reached the Bush Camp (27 km later) the welcome was very warm and friendly and we found we had been further upgraded to the Honeymoon Suite. Unfortunately there was no heating in the suite which was a grave disadvantage as the temperature plummeted after our arrival and the hot water bottles provided were an essential item.
Food was taken around dining tables which seated 6-8 and was well presented and served, with a good variety.
The game drive on the first day was a disappointment. The tracking equipment did not seem to be working very well. We did manage to get a glimpse of one leopard (which strangely did not have a collar!) On the second day we looked for Cheetah and found two very placid looking ones which had not long since been released into the hunting area. A special treat was the Porcupine watching after dinner from a specially constructed hide."