Botlierskop Private Game Reserve

Wow,wow,wow ,what can one say, Botlierskop Game Reserve is simply the best Game park we have experienced. We have to traveled to many Game Reserves and this one simply knocks the other parks for dead for value for money. Fantastic wildlife, excellent facilities, wonderful restaurant, and absolutely breathtaking accommodation, we were fortunate enough to be able to see and gaze at Elephants outside our room wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Thank you Botlierskop

This is our 3rd visit to Botlierskop and it keeps getting better! This year, we stayed in their new superior luxury tents and the quality of everything was top-notch. Everything is of the highest quality and tastefully put together. I honestly struggled to leave the room- I could have stayed there for days, staring out of the window at the passing game. We had a most EXCELLENT ranger, Alex, who was extremely knowledgeable and capable. We couldn’t have asked for a better guide and learnt so much. Our room attendants did an absolutely sterling job of keeping the rooms spotless; all of the staff in the restaurant were always positive, polite and attentive (we dealt mostly with Kristin, who was assigned to us). We didn’t come across a single member of staff who wasn’t welcoming and helpful. It’s clear that the staff are happy doing their jobs; it makes for a very positive stay. We were fortunate to see pretty much everything the reserve has to offer… It’s also good that nothing is GUARANTEED (we weren’t looking for a zoo experience ;) but the longer you stay, the better your chances. I also had an excellent massage and Darren took my husband and son on their very 1st game horse riding experience. They loved it too! I wouldn’t hesitate to return and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute; highly recommended an accessible and brilliant stay.

We visited Botlierskop as day visitors to do a safari from horseback, and it was simply the most amazing thing I have ever done from the back of a horse. We did the 3.5 hour outride with our fantastic guide Victor. Both my husband and i are experienced riders, and if you are considering doing this, be honest about your riding skills. You will ride, at pace, over some steep terrain, on fast, fit, fearless little horses. But the best part of this is that you will get heartstoppingly close to some of the largest wild animals on the planet. Rhino, elephant, giraffe, antelope, everything except lions! It was thrilling. Your pictures will tell a story that you will carry for the rest of your life! This was a unique experience and I'm grateful to Victor for his knowledge in keeping us safe around these magnificent wild animals.

This is a hard review to balance. I wasn’t sure whether to go 2, 3 or 4 stars to be honest, but here we go: We stayed here for 3 nights to see some wildlife, & we saw lions, cheetah, elephants, giraffe, hippo, buffalo, wilderbeest & lots of other stuff too. The guides are great & you get a 6am drive & one at 3pm. It’s a fenced reserve so you know that eg. they have 5 elephants, 5 hippo & 4 giraffe somewhere….so it’s not like a full safari & you know things are “somewhere”, but still. We saw everything & it was all good, pics were great. The food & drink there is excellent and the lodge is in a beautiful spot on a river. All that is what we went for & what we got, very good - so that’s why 4 stars. Here comes the bad bits: we booked an Exec tented lodge with jacuzzi, supposedly the best rooms they have. It was dirty. It had stained carpets, the windows were filthy & clearly hadn’t been cleaned in a long time….& the jacuzzi filter was full of black mould. A proper health hazard, & I was frankly appalled by the danger of it. I have to say “management” handled this incredibly badly when it was pointed out: •“It’s fixed now” (it wasn’t…) •“We’ve got new parts coming next week” (great, thanks for that…) •“You’re clearly super, super picky” (errrr, more like we don’t want to end up in hospital?) Add this to a pile of bricks you had to drive around at the entrance and you get the impression there’s a massive lack of any attention to detail? This could be fantastic if there was anyone who cared about the guest experience & made sure some of the tiny basics were done (like salt in the salt cellars on the restaurant tables, hot water in the lodge toilets, & soap in the soap dispensers, that kind of thing….). As a side issue, if guests are paying £1000 a night, are you really so bothered they might steal some shower gel worth £3-4 that you need to attach it to the wall? It’s more than a bit “small time”? The problem when you get an issue like the jacuzzi filters is you start to see everything else that they haven’t focussed on too, which shouldn’t be the case if you have any eye for detail around the property? Did we have a good time - yes Did we get some money back - yes Did we have any faith Management were on top of things & had their eye on the ball - no If you’re after a quick fix safari game view this is ok, but it would be much better all round if they were actually bothered a bit more?

Botlierskop is an amazing place to enjoy game drives. Accommodations are fantastic and offer every comfort. Restaurant is excellent with delicious food and wines. Service staff extremely friendly and accommodating. Game drives are professionally guided. Lots of information about animals and much fun as well.

Rooms look exactly as they do on the webpage The tented lodge is nothing short of fabulous We loved every second of our short stay The staff are warm and friendly Very accommodating when booking Melanie our guide was absolutely brilliant, she went over and above for my daughter on the junior ranger program and in our game drives The food was very tasty and fresh I went to the spa and it was relaxing and peaceful Honestly I don’t have a bad word to say We will definitely be back and bringing family