Travel reviews by Mr DN from NW London

"Originally only booked to break the drive from Windhoek to Etosha, but so worth it.

We were upgraded from Plains Camp to Bush Camp and had the most wonderful experience. The staff were lovely and really made a fuss over our honeymoon and really made us feel welcome. The food was great and they catered for our dietary requirements.

We did the leopard tour and were not disappointed! The guide was knowledgable and made the tour fun. Would love to stay here again.

FYI, minor point: you will probably also miss the turn off from the road as the sign is at the turnoff and doesn't give you enough time to slow!"

"This is a great central point to stay in Etosha with easy access to many waterholes. As its a government run lodge, the facilities are a bit more basic than other lodges around Etosha, however rooms are good value, clean, well maintained and nice enough.

However, you will be coming here more for the quick access to wildlife and not for the luxury aspect. In addition, the lodge has its own floodlit waterhole which is a fantastic place to spend an evening watching wildlife right in front of you.

The food is buffet but the chef was able to help cater for our dietary requirements."

"The drive up the 4x4 path is quite an adrenaline rush! Once you are on the top, the view of the valley from the lodge is absolutely breathtaking.

The lodge is run by a really enthusiastic team from the local community and their energy and heartfelt hospitality made our stay so memorable. The pool overlooking the valley is gorgeous. The rooms are cosy and share the same magical view. One memorable activity was to visit the Himba tribe with a guide from the Lodge who acted as translator - quite a bumpy ride to get there but well worth it.

The creative menu was varied every day and was lovely."

"Mowani was the most amazing lodge we stayed at in Namibia (also one of the more expensive ones). We stayed in the honeymoon suite as all the rest was fully booked (and we were on our honeymoon, so thought we'd spoil ourselves). The view is just incredible, it's like being on a different planet with boulders dotted around and monkeys playing with each other in the background.

The suite had it's own terrace as well as an indoor and outdoor shower as well as an outdoor bathtub (yes, insane!). Most insane view I've ever experienced during a shower! :)

The staff were lovely, memorizing our names before we even arrived, always ready to help.

The view from the sundowner lounge overlooking the sunset was incredible, and really set the scene for the evening.

The food was amazing, a proper creative kitchen - and the service was one of the best we experienced in Namibia (where it's sometimes a little slower and less detail-oriented as one might be used to). There is no wifi in the whole lodge, which is so nice for once! You can really tune out of the business of this world and just relax!

We forgot a scarf in the room and called them up from the next place we stayed at. They went out of their way to get it back to us in the hotel we stayed at the end in Windhoek - that is just amazing."

"This newly opened design hotel in the heart of Swakopmund is a nice change from the lodges in the rest of Namibia. The breakfast is by far the best breakfast we've had in Namibia - so much variety and beautiful presentation!

Rooms are modern and spacious, also very stylish. However, not all rooms have the same view, some overlook the parking lot which isn't that great. Staff very helpful."

"The lodge has it's own gate into the Namib Desert National Park, allowing you to enter straight from there at sunrise, which is useful compared to all other lodges that are outside the park (there is only one that is inside the park at the moment).

The little chalet rooms have recently been extended and are very cute, all offering a great view of the dunes in the distance. They also have a flat roof space, where you can request a mattress to be laid out and sleep literally under the stars - of which there are so many visible, it's incredible! This aspect of the lodge is really cool!

We did the Namib Desert tour, but really disappointed at our guide: we left 25minutes and stopped at a non-spectacular point (Dune 1) to view sunrise and a talk about the wildlife, when you should actually make sure to get to the photogenic dunes as quickly as possible to view the amazing color changes there at sunrise. The guide didn't understand this - he didn't even stop at more interesting dunes on the way to Sossusvlei. Given the namib desert and deadvlei were the main reason we went to Namibia, this was quite a disappointment. We even sat down with the tour guide the night before and stated that we wanted to leave as early as possible and he confirmed departure times with us. We then ended up leaving 25 minutes later than we should have - partly because we were waiting for other guests - something I have no understanding for when it's meant to be a sunrise experience.

In addition, there was a school class of 35 staying at the lodge while we were there, which we were surprised the lodge or Expert Afria (if known) didn't tell us in advance as they knew we were celebrating our honeymoon. Knowing this we might have opted to upgrade to Little Kuala - or as a gesture the lodge could have upgraded us when they saw our disappointment.

The staff were friendly, but not that attentive. E.g.-
1) they set out a twin mattress on our honeymoon
2) the same waitresses would need reminding about our dietary requirements even after serving us every meal.
3) needing to repeatedly remind staff to put out the mattresses in the evening.
However, the Food & Beverage Manager Brodwin really made our stay! He went extremely out of his way to cater for our dietary requirements - something none of the other lodges had done to this extent and was really touching!

Having said all this - the own gate really does make a difference (with the right guide) if you don't want to stay in the government run lodge within the park. So staying at one of the two Kuala lodges is definitely recommended - we will probably opt for the more luxurious little kuala next time."

"This is a classic Hilton - we were lucky to be upgraded to a stunning room with bathtub! Good service overall but with the usual Namibian slowness.

The Skybar and Sky Pool is a trendy feature and is a great place to watch the sunset of Windhoek. The gym facilities overlook Windhoek and are good. They organized cabs for us which were good value. There is a wide choice for breakfast.

Would stay there again and would recommend as a good place to stay at the start/end of your Namibia trip."