Hotel berhampiran andBeyond Ngala Private Game Reserve, Ehlanzeni

I can’t imagine anyone leaving a poor review for Motswari. My husband and I visited for five nights as part of a honeymoon trip. We were absolutely blown away by the accommodations staff and grounds. The camp is situated in the middle of the bush with individual villas for each set of guests for a total of 32 maximum. There was only Wi-Fi in the common area, but this made the experience that much better allowing us to fully focus on the animals and Safari, which is why we were there. Once it gets dark, they do have to escort you to and from your room, but this is purely for safety reasons which we completely understood. Our Guide Eden and tracker Magic made our game drives very educational and we were beyond blown away at all the animals we saw and how close we could get to them. The camp staff was very hospitable and friendly and provided us with anything we needed. The food was also fantastic! In between the morning and afternoon drives, they have a masseuse on site for massages and a beautiful pool overlooking the surrounding area that you can relax in with drinks. It was much more relaxing than we had thought about it being which was a plus for us. We also spent a night in the giraffes nest, which was a once in a lifetime experience; with a tree house like structure out in the middle of the bush by yourself. We saw a hyena and heard lions roaring all through the night. Overall, my husband and I thought this was the absolute perfect first Safari for us and we would highly recommend to anyone wanting to experience it. Thank you Motswari team!

Whilst the game drives and our guide were amazing, that's where the magic ended. The lodge itself is extremely overpriced for what it offers. The reception and restaurant staff are poorly trained, do not listen to any requests outside of their normal routine, the food is mediocre especially the breakfast. The drinks on offer were pathetic and there were only 3 different local beers to choose from, and no international brands at all. There was no option of a non-alcoholic beer even when we asked on arrival if it could possibly be arranged. This request was seemingly dismissed. The few wines on offer were on more than one occasion not even put in a fridge before lunch or dinner and an alternative wine would often need to be ordered so as to get a chilled wine. The staff would push you to put in your lunch or dinner order before you had even finished your starter of your current meal - only interested in completing their required tasks as fast as possible rather than concentrating on guest service, enjoyment experience. On arrival the staff were not expecting us, there was nobody to welcome us and the room was not ready for us and we had to wait for it to be prepared. After the game drives there were no staff to meet you on your return as in other lodges and the refresher clothes offered were simply left on the reception desk along with the tray of liqueurs which remained uncovered - seemingly hidden for the guests to find and serve themselves. This was not a single occasion but observed each and every time. On leaving there were no staff to see us off, help with bags or bid us farewell. We were constantly reminded of remembering to leave a tip by any staff we encountered on our last morning - seemingly that was all they cared about, and whilst we did leave a tip, we feel it was definitely undeserved. The lodge itself is in disrepair and seems tired and old. The decking and the pool need urgent maintenance with missing wood panels, exposed nails and screws, rotting and warped wood. The pool itself was a milky green and the bottom of it which could not be seen was littered with branches which was not pleasant to discover whilst attempting to take a swim. The lounge furniture was constantly dusty and all the lodge windows and glass were milky and had not been cleaned in weeks. The electricity was constantly going off with the back up generator not working as it should. Even when electricity was on the air conditioner did not cool the room and merely acted as a fan - definitely in need of a service. Even when electricity was on, the WiFi signal would fluctuate from nothing to a very slow and weak signal at best making any online activity almost impossible. The game walks advertised (and what we were most interested in) were only available on one of the days as the guide had to be brought in from another camp as their own bush walk guide was unavailable. The same applied to the massage treatments with the lady being there on the first day of our stay, b

the camp it's beautiful, only 6 rooms so service it is very personilized, the view from the room it is amazing and can be alone a safari itself because you see so many animals passing by your outside balcony. the room is very big and bery comfortable and food just great. the staff Ronaldo and Louis and manager Daniel was just amazing. our safari guide Hali was super experienced and manage to make us live unbilieveble emotions, I highly recomend Hamilton Camp