Pondoro Game Lodge

Food was very nice although rather limiting. At breakfast they hand you a card with the dinner selection for that evening. For the 3 days we were there the starter options consisted of one ingredient i.e Day1 Bean soup or Bean fritters, Day2 Sweetcorn soup or sweet corn fritters, Day3 Tomato soup or Tomato on toast. If you don't like one of the ingredients then you're stuffed. I did ask them on the third day if they could substitute a tomato dish for something else as I am allergic, this didn't go down well and I was made to feel a bit uncomfortable. They eventually honoured this but wasn't very pleasant negotiating over breakfast. Not much selection to choose from with the main either which I found quite frustrating. Only two starters and two mains to choose from. Lunch was similar, you don't have much choice and some dishes are just put in front of you without choosing at all. When paying 2495 for 3 nights, I kind of expected more food choice and slightly better quality. All rooms come with a hot tub which is a lovely touch. Although I jumped in ours to find it was pouring out water that smelt like raw sewage. We used WhatsApp to notify the hotel of this and they were very quick to come out and fix. Still not very nice to be sitting in dirty/smelly water. Did feel a bit uncomfortable on our transfer back to the airport when our driver insisted we go to the ATM inside the airport to get him some tip money, Not against tipping at all but we paid 180 for transfers already and had spent the rest of our cash as we were heading home! Overall, a lovely hotel with lovely staff and an amazing safari! We had a great time together and would recommend to any couple looking to have a romantic few days together. I do think there are a few areas that need reviewing to warrant the cost we paid and the 5* rating, but generally speaking, the hotel was good. Couple from the UK

I loved everything about this lodge and I plan to be back one day. Staying here was such an adventure, from the game drives, bush walks, meeting the black Mambas, and sunsets. I had the impression that I would have time to nap, relax and read a book but the lodge offers so many acivitities that were hard to say no to. I enjoyed that the lodge is boutique because every guest received so much attention and it was easy to make friends with other guests in the lodge. One of the highlights of this lodge was the food and wine. Every meal was amazing, a blend of South African and European foods, lets just say you will never be hungry during your stay. The wine was also very good, we enjoyed it with our meals and also during our evening game drives. I'm so glad I picked this lodge for our first safari experience.

The lodge looks a bit neglected The food was not good - very low amount of choices, all meat meals were dry You choose your evening meals everyday- When we asked (12 hours before) to have a different kind of dissert (a chocolate one instead of their offer -pudding), we got a plate with a candy bar from the store. The hot water didn't work at start and we couldn't have a bath. The jacuzzi outside was dirty There were much less animals than in Sabi River The pool eas dirty and unreachable due to an elephant waking around the area. Overall we paid 5 times more than what we paid at kruger gate hotel, and got less