Travel reviews by Mr P. from Vienna

"Outstanding. We had very high expectations for this place - and they were exceeded!

The "hut" we had (No 5) was superbly designed and perfectly laid out with a good, unobstructed view over the bush and a waterhole. We only ever saw two kudos there, though.

The main building was also beautiful, the staff all friendly and likeable - and the food absolutely top notch. My wife's special dietary requirements were well taken care off. We didn't do any activities with the Lodge itself, but joined the carnivore feeding tour at the associated Naankuse Wildlife Sanctuary nearby. That was perhaps a bit too touristy - with a large group of Italians, but nevertheless very worthwhile. Seeing caracals was a highlight of the trip.

Back to Omaanda Lodge: My wife used the spa facilities and had a massage, which she reported was excellent too. What impressed us most about this Lodge, beyond the lavish luxury, the food and the nice staff, was the incredible attention to detail, not only in the designs but in the timings. They must take note of when guests go to breakfasts (and there's a wide time window), then the room is made up during that time, so it's done when you return. Same with turn-down and setting up a log fire while we were at dinner.

The fires were indeed needed as it was bitterly cold at night (minus 5 degrees Celsius during our second night - there was frost on the wooden walkways in the morning!); so we were glad we had brought our thermals to sleep in after the fire had gone out. Also: they provided a two litre jug of purified water every day - unlike at all other lodges where it was still a wasteful use of plastic bottles. Extra green credits to Omaanda on that front!"

"Nice traditional European-style hotel with quite a German atmosphere (most other guests seemed to be German, mostly tour groups). We were given an upgrade to a suite (room 101) with a huge living room and a balcony, which was a nice touch (though it was too cold to make much use of the balcony).

Breakfast was a well-stocked buffet plus eggs cooked to order. We had one dinner at the hotel, which was also good, though not the best meal of our trip. Services was friendly and efficient, one of the guys in the secure car park hosed down our dusty car for us for free one day.

Smooth and affordable laundry service. Location perfect for exploring the centre of Swakopmund on foot. We didn't need our car at all. One day we did a scenic Sossusvlei flight, for which we were picked up at the hotel. This wasn't cheap but money well spent for the glorious views.

The next day we went on Tommy's Living Desert Tour, which was outstandingly educational and a definite highlight of the whole trip."

"Lovely location on the rugged Skeleton Coast – hearing the ocean’s waves crashing all day and night gave it a very special atmosphere.

We were given a very spacious room (No. 14; they called it a “semi-suite”), which was superb. Nice spacious communal rooms too, where we had a good dinner, including the best lentil soup we’ve ever had, and very generous portions of the main course.

We visited the nearby fur seal colony, which was quite a sight – even if the olfactory onslaught is at first quite overpowering (though you get used to it after a few minutes)."

"Finally some warm weather (even hot during the day, at 35 degrees Celsius), and even at night it remained mild. The Lodge is quite spread out. Having the golf buggy service for the luggage is very welcome. Out tented chalet was a bit crammed but nice. The only place where we had a mosquito net on this trip.

The scenery is grand, Spitzkoppe in the evening or very early morning light is quite something to behold. The lodge grounds are enlivened by a troupe of dassies (rock hyraxes), who are quite entertaining. The pool by the main building is a large bird bath, but that didn’t deter my wife to have a (very cold) dip in it.

The food served at dinner was nice, though not quite on the gourmet level we had expected from the advertised fact that the chef had apparently entered some nationwide competition. Breakfast was very good though and unusual – a welcome break from the standard offerings, with several quiches and pastries (both savoury and sweet) to choose from.

We did one activity, namely an evening tour to the famous rock arch, some ancient Khoi San rock paintings and narrow rock formations to clamber about in, which was a nice addition."

"Quite a quirky place with lovely, if a bit over-the-top African wildlife-themed decorations, paintings and objects everywhere. Room a bit dark and crammed, but with a balcony overlooking the lagoon (in winter too cold to sit outside long, though).

No water in the morning due to a burst pipe, which got repaired just as we were checking out. So we didn’t have a shower until the next place. Breakfast was alright, but nothing special. Didn’t have dinner here (but at the Anchor at the Jetty on the waterfront, a 20+ minute walk away), so can’t comment on that.

No activities here, but seeing the flocks of flamingos in the lagoon just outside the lodge was a joy."

"Superb. Second best place we stayed at on this trip (after Omaanda). Our expectations were far exceeded. This really is much more than just “mid-range”.

The main lodge building is of an exceptional and very appealing design. Dinners (BBQ and buffet) were very good, breakfasts and lunch quite good too. Staff were extremely friendly and pleasant. Our chalet was unusual in layout in that it’s in two parts, the main bedroom being separated from the bathroom so you have to go through a bit of open air (shielded from others’ views, though) to get there. But we found that an advantage rather. Also the fact that the fridge was outside in between the bedroom and the bathroom – which meant no audible humming at night!

There was mild air-con, which was nice during the heat of midday. Nights were cold, and there’s no heating, so our thermals paid off again. A special bonus were the very large wooden supports for luggage in our spacious bedroom tent, so much better than the usual small suitcase rests you typically get in hotels. So no need to put suitcases on the bed – a small point perhaps, but one we took special note of.

We didn’t do any activities offered by the lodge but instead drove to the dunes and Deadvlei, as well as to Sesriem Canyon, ourselves. The scenery is fantastic to behold – but we found it far too busy with tourists. In fact, Sossousvlei was the only place on this trip that felt like it suffered from too big crowds. That was quite a contrast to the vast emptiness we experienced almost everywhere else in Namibia."

"Quirky, lovely, characterful place in a very remote location.

We were the only guests, so we had the full attention of the owner/host during dinner and breakfast, and were given a good insight into his life and the conditions in such a location in general (all in German – I don’t know if it would be similar in English).

The home-cooked food was excellent, including a lovely bobotie and a nice fish dish for my non-meat-eating wife. Our bedroom was a little more basic that others we had on this trip (no kettle, fridge or such things), but it was perfectly OK. It was nice sitting on the veranda for sundowners watching the farm’s goats being herded home.

Sadly, the neighbouring Duwisib Castle was closed, so we couldn’t see the lavish interiors of this unique folly with our own eyes and had to make do with the black-and-white photos of them displayed in the large dining room of the farm (formerly the castle’s smithy)."

"The only slight disappointment on this trip. The tented chalets are OK, but quite small and with limited facilities due to electricity restrictions. I’m not saying it’s “basic” but it certainly isn’t “luxury in the desert”, as it is advertised. Again, nights were very cold (and obviously there’s no heating) so our thermals came in handy once more. The long paths down to our chalet (No. 5) were quite steep and gravely – OK to negotiate for us (with care), but for people who aren’t very sure on their feet (or have real mobility issues) this could be quite a problem indeed.

The main part with the dining room at the top of the site (another long climb) is too small for the lodge’s capacity, and the table layout was not made appropriate use of. So one group of travellers who arrived later for dinner the first night had to sit outside in the cold, while inside one table for four was occupied by a single traveller and three more by couples. This could have been organized better. The staff felt a bit overtaxed and stressed. Supplies were limited too: on arrival we were presented a long lunch menu – just to be informed that the only item actually available was cheese-and-ham sandwiches, so nothing for my non-meat-eating wife. That said, though, they accommodated her dietary restriction excellently at dinner.

I was less lucky; on the second evening my main course was oryx steak, which I ordered medium-well-done, but it arrived rare. I sent it back to be cooked more, but it returned medium-rare (so I only ate part of it, leaving the rare middle). Of the drinks menu, less than half of what was listed was actually available, and white wine had run out entirely on the second evening. After dinner there was some unexpected “entertainment”: three of the female kitchen staff singing a number of songs, mostly in Nama, which was intriguing to listen too. But it was basically a way of extracting extra tips. I’d like to except one staff member from all my criticism, however, namely Sharon, who was all-round lovely, with her sparkling enthusiasm making up for some of the shortcomings of the place.

We had one activity included, namely a sunset scenic drive. This was very nice though slightly marred by a couple of French kids (maybe four and six years old) constantly wittering away without a pause throughout the drive. We also booked an extra scenic drive the next morning, which was superb, this time included various animal sightings, and ended with a cool drive into the red dunes. On balance, though, I’d say a single night here would have been sufficient. Now that the two cheetahs they used to have in a large enclosure have passed away, a key attraction of Kaanan has disappeared. And since the morning drive can be done before departing, I’d advice on not staying more than one night here.

The scenery and the views are outstanding, but they’re not unique to this lodge’s location, so maybe there are better alternatives in the area."

"Lovely home away from home. It’s very secure, and getting in on arrival required a phone call to get somebody to open the gate for us.

We were then given a remote control for the gate so were able to come and go as we pleased for the rest of our three-night stay. Our room/apartment (No. 3) was very nice and spacious, with a lovely sheltered balcony overlooking the sea (bit too cold in winter to sit out there long, though) and a huge bed.

We made use of the self-catering facilities most of the time (except one dinner out at Ritzi’s), and they were quite adequate."

"We had the Mountain View chalet, which is the south-eastern-most of the set. The neighbouring chalet was unoccupied, so it really felt remote and lonely.

This really is a place to truly get away from it all. We didn’t see any wildlife other than birds, but the views were superb and the starry night sky without any light pollution whatsoever was very special indeed. Unfortunately the sky was overcast early in the morning when I intended to do some star photography, and we even had rain later that morning. Very unusual.

The chalet was well-appointed for self-catering, and we got ourselves a nice pack of groceries prepared for us at the main lodge to take along. The layout of the chalets interior with the huge boulder behind the beds oozed lots of special character. Lovely site.

Breakfast we had at the main lodge, which was buffet style and very good."

"This was meant to be just a convenient stop-over between Aus and Windhoek, but turned out to be a very positive surprise!

Our chalet (Desert Dune One) was superb, spacious and with all amenities you could imagine, including even a deep claw-foot bath tub with a view over the bush and a waterhole. The main building was large too and there were animals: an oryx, a kudu and some springbok that came right into the premises by the swimming pool! Dinner was three-course and quite formal, but very nice indeed; though it was very busy with every seat occupied (including some people wildly coughing away behind us), so we relocated to the lounge area with our desert as soon as it arrived.

We didn’t have any activities pre-booked but were lucky to get two places on the cheetah-feeding and sundowner tour. This was really excellent, again better than expected and a very nice final wildlife activity before our last stop in Windhoek.

Glad we had this place included – it certainly is much more than a “Bagatelle” (something trivial). Here we thought we could have had an extra night – and pre-booked extra activities. Maybe next time."

"A perfect final stop for two nights before our flights home. ‘Boutique hotel’ is a designation that often gets overused and misapplied, but here it couldn’t be be more spot-on. Our room’s interior design was like out of a deluxe interior design catalogue, the bathroom with a huge rain shower and separate bathtub had a lovely “industrial” design and the bedroom was spacious and pleasant. The small balcony overlooking the courtyard was an added bonus, though not very practical.

The compound included a separate spa that my wife made ample use of and enjoyed it, and out of the various eateries within the compound we chose the Cape Town Fish Market twice, so vast and tempting is its menu. Breakfasts at the hotel were also outstanding, with a three-tiered “breakfast tower” with cold cuts, fruit, jam and pastries plus a cooked breakfast made to order from a menu of about five or six alternatives. Very nice.

We found that the compound was frequented not just by tourists but even more so by the local Windhoek “elite”, so it was interesting people watching too. The hotel also had lovely staff and good services – except a little hiccup with the laundry, which was returned late and only after some inquiring. But that was the only thing that wasn’t as perfect as all the rest.

Brilliant final stop-over before the (quick and easy) drive back to the airport on our day of departure …"