River Lodge

Below are a selection of comments from guests of Travel Butlers who specifically mentioned River Lodge in their feedback to us at the end of their trip.

To see what guests thought about other places you can either look for the "guest comments" link on the main page for a given property, or see a selection of recent comments here.

Please keep in mind that these are the opinions of individual guests rather than Travel Butlers Ltd, although we do make every effort to ensure that the comments published here are factually correct!

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Guest Comments for River Lodge

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“Fantastic attention to detail by Kwandwe staff made our stay a 5* experience all round.”

L GRACE, August 2011

“Beautiful hotel! A really magical place with fine food, well appointed rooms and extremely friendly staff.

And thank you to Travel Butlers for getting me a much better price quote than any other company!”

T WILSON, July 2011

“Went here on honeymoon and couldn't have picked a better place, very luxurious and well looked after with a few extra touches. Very attentive staff and friendly. Food excellent and great choice and drink plentiful. Game drives excellent, day well filled with activities. A real highlight of our honeymoon and would recommend to anybody.”

V HOBBS, June 2011

“But I have to say Pumba is absolutely and utterly outstanding! The service was unbelievable – they did all my laundry with no charge and it was back in 2 hrs! The river lodge and our hut was out of this world, and really, you should definitely recommend it to your clients.

It’s just an amazing experience and I have never had such fantastic service at any hotel before.”

S CHAMBERS, April 2011

“Madikwe River Lodge was spot on for families, although the cot was old and they did not have any highchair for dining - a bit disappointed but the manager has assured me that they will buy them soon. A bit late for us.

Otherwise, the staff were friendly and the safari trips were great.”

A NOGAROTTO, January 2011

“The Kariega Game Reserve was incredible - we have never experienced anything like it. Muriel (the duty manager) was so welcoming, the food was so tasty and creative, our suite was lovely (except for the spiders!).

We had the best Game Ranger - he knew exactly where to be to see all the animals on our drives, he even took us down to Kenton-on-Sea in a little boat on a really sunny day so we could enjoy the beach. We really coudln't have benn looked after better or made to feel more special! Even when we had two flat tyres on our car at the end of our stay, the Ranger took them off, ran down to a local garage and had them fixed for us within an hour...

Thank you again for making the arrangements that helped make our first trip to Africa so memorable!”

D DANBURY, September 2010

“Madikwe River Lodge - friendly, knowledgeable staff, excellent rooms and food.

Travel Butlers - Very friendly, personalised advice and very prompt reply to queries.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and I would happily recommend Travel Butlers and Madikwe River Lodge!”

G SEN, July 2010

“We had the most amazing trip to South Africa and it completely changed our impression and stereotypes of the country.

We enjoyed ourselves tremendously at Ezulwini River Lodge. Thanks for the recommendation, it was personally the highlight of our trip. We had the entire lodge to ourselves, and of course the Land Rover too. We were most impressed by how the game trackers went out of their way to spot and look for animals during our short 2 day stay there. We will definitely recommend River Lodge to others.

Thanks for your efficient and fast response to everything too. We will definitely use Travel Butlers again if we do return.”

S FOO, June 2010

“Excellent service from Travel Butlers. Accommodation was very good; safari at Madikwe memorable made all the better by our guide/ranger Sharle; Le Franschhoek 5 star with superb food. Recommending you to a colleague who is planning a trip to SA - they may contact you within next few weeks.”

I LLOYD, March 2010

“Accommodation at Kapama River Lodge was excellent and I would recommend it to families.”

A ROSE, July 2009

“Thank you so much for your recommendation for Kariega River Lodge. It was perfect for Mum and Dad, and just what we were looking for. Everything about it surpassed our expectations, and we cannot speak highly enough about the staff and the service they provided there. The food too was outstanding.”

D WILKINS, March 2009

“At Dungbeetle we were given an exceptional welcome from Derek and the rooms and views over the river were lovely, as were the breakfasts.”

J CHALLACOMBE, February 2009

“Our holiday was superb and lived up to expectation. Particularly enjoyable was our stay at Kwandwe which we both agreed was the highlight of the holiday.

We met and are keeping in touch with a number of people including one of the rangers. It was informative, exciting and relaxing. The staff at all levels were terrific but our ranger and guide were exceptionally friendly and professional. If ever we wanted anything or asked for something we were reminded that we were on holiday and everything was possible.

We even saw the Big 5 including the leopard which was the first time it had been seen in almost a year.”

J SANGSTER, January 2009

“Kapama River Lodge - great staff including at Reception, restaurant and our guide whose name was Richard. Beautiful setting.

Game drives were the best part and very well managed indeed.

Quite a flawless experience and one that we will treasure forever.”

D Tak, January 2009

“Thank you so much for all your help with booking our holiday ... Kapama River Lodge was fantastic in every way from the luxury accommodation to the fantastic food and wine - we loved it.

The safaris in Kapama were the best ever. We did more safaris in Krugar but they didn't even come close to the ones in Kapama River Lodge.

Thanks again for everything it was a fantastic holiday and the accommodation was brilliant. I will definately recommend your site to friends.”

B DEVERY, November 2008

“Just wanted to drop you a mail to say thanks for helping sort out our holiday. We got back yesterday morning.

Fi and I had an amazing time, very memorable and as one South African put it to us - "SA gets under your skin" and we are already talking about when we can go back.

Your recommendations were spot on in all ways and the safari at Kariega was mind blowing.”

M LAPENSEE, November 2008

“I would like to just say a huge THANK YOU for recommending Madikwe River Lodge as we had the most fantastic holiday ever!!! Sun City was great and the accommodation was lovely.

The game drives were spectacular - so many lions, impala, giraffe.......the list goes on. We saw 4 out of the Big 5, with the leopard being the shyest. I didn't expect to see it so I wasn't disappointed - the giraffe more than made up for it.

Anyway, thanks once again for all your help in organising our trip of a lifetime - I just wish that we could go again real soon.”

M BELLINGER, July 2008

“We had an absolutely spectacular time in South Africa and cannot help you enough for helping us book our accommodation.

We wanted to note in particular Timamoon, which was so romantic and beautiful and Lion Sands River Lodge, which was really really nice and had great rangers and game viewing.

Will definitely be in touch with respect to future vacations in SA.”

G MESSIKA, June 2008

“Just wanted to let you know we had a fantastic holiday & thank you for your help arranging the safari and accommodation.

The safari in particular was superb & I would definitely recommend the Madikwe River Lodge to anyone. It was excellent in every way - rooms, food, staff and game drives. We were so well looked after and they were very accommodating with the children who all had a ball.”

S WATSON, October 2007

“Visit to Bushmans River Lodge was amazing and all arrangements went like clockwork. Thank you for your part in it.”

P PARROTT, October 2007

“Everything at River Lodge was outstanding! There is nothing I can fault. The manager (Lex) and our ranger (Alan) plus all the staff were fantastic, friendly but not in your face at all, the accomodation was luxury, the food both quantity and quality was outstanding. As you can tell, I thouroughly enjoyed the whole experience and am already recommending it to others.

My only niggle is that we didn't spend an extra day there just chilling out, the whole place is tastefully decorated and very relaxing.

Thanks very much for recommending this lodge to me and finding us accomodation at such short notice. I'm sure to be using Travel Butlers again.”

S LUMBARD, February 2007

“Apologies for not getting back sooner - wedding and work seem to have taken over my life for last two weeks.

We had a really brilliant holiday, and in no small part due to Travel Butlers' knowledge and advice.

The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay was a great recommendation. I don't think we would have liked the hotels around the waterfront - and we even had a whale in the bay on our last day there. One of the best designed hotel rooms I've been in, but not over impressed by the restaurant in the hotel, despite it's apparent high standing. Blues Restaurant, 50 yds away was much better.

Hermanus was really good, and Abalone Guest House a real treat. Relaxed and informal, great views, with provision of binoculars for close-ups of the whales.

The Phantom Forest was phantastic, and the food here was the best we had throughout the holiday. 6 course meals for £25 per head. Maybe we had a discount as residents , but even so, we would be paying 3 times that amount for similar quality in London. The rooms and the views at Phantom were spectacular.

Kruger was all we hoped for and more. The lodge (Exeter River Lodge) was fine, guides and trackers very good, food excellent, and an all-round brilliant 3 days.

Stanley Safari was another excellent recommendation. We were certainly better there than in Mauritius, which was my original plan. Stanley Safari Lodge was an excellent spot. Quiet - no phones, no TV, no newspapers, not even a connection to the main building. Service there was excellent, and all meals well prepared and served, including light lunch and evening meals.

As luck would have it, when we went to Livingstone Island to sit on the edge of the falls, we were accompanied by 73 year old great grand-daughter of David Livingstone, along with her daughter. A great finish to a wonderful trip.

All in all, a great trip.”

R STACEY, October 2006

“We had a marvellous time in S. Africa ...  Thank you for all your assistance.  We especially appreciate your helping us get Orlande as our guide at Lion Sands -she is an outstanding guide.  This was certainly beyond the call.”

J MICHAEL, September 2006

“I just wanted to drop you a note for helping me to organise my trip to the River Lodge. We had a fantastic time and the place was wonderful.  I would recommend it highly to anyone else.”

C ONSLOW, September 2006

“Just got back from our trip to South Africa. Had a fantastic time. The safari at Shamwari was great - the Bushman's River Lodge and the staff all excellent. Many thanks for your help earlier in planning this holiday.

Thinking of going to America next year the Grand Canyon area or Yellow Stone Park.

Can I contact you re this nearer the time?”

P GAYDON, September 2005

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