Kwalape Safari Lodge

Nice, upgrade to a room from our tent so big bonus. Nice balcony overlooking lush greenery, comfy bed and good bathroom. Breakfast was okay. The pool looked great but closed early as it right by the bar... Why oh why?! We did a boat tour in the avo which was fantastic!

I am a regular guest of Kwalape Safari Lodge for the past 5 years or so, I stay there normally 3-5 times a year both for work and pleasure. Always prefer them due to reasonable pricing and the chalets with balconies outside in the rich jungle atmosphere the lodge has. My last stay was the most terrible I have ever experienced (and there is always an issue, electricity, water or toilet not working). This time around, we were again woken up by their maintenance gardener at 6.28am who thought its the best time to blow leaves around the rooms and the campsite. This was the second time this happened on a separate trip. When I went to complain at reception, I was met with amusement from the receptionist on duty rather than an apology and assurance that it would be handled. On the 2nd day of stay, moved to a chalet room from the tent campsite but left early in the morning to go fishing. On return, we discovered no one had bothered to move our luggage from the tent to the new room. When approaching the receptionist, she called her colleague on the phone and mentioned me by my first name, "Which room did you provide Bob?" right in front of me. This was a young lady probably 20yrs my junior who disrespected both my age and my guest status with this highly unprofessional statement which revealed to me that they were very used to speaking about guests (or at least me) in that way, too familiar. I quickly communicated my displeasure at her distasteful remark to which she giggled and laughed the entire time. Even when attempting to correct herself and refer to me as Mr. Hirschfeld to her colleague, the lady on the line had no clue who she meant until she had to revert to my name, Bob, again. This made it clear that I was the topic of constant chatter between the two. I then attempted to contact the manager whom I asked for the number as they are never present at the lodge. This was declined but instead receptionist said she would call her. I listened to the call and heard the manager rudely ask what does he want, to which the receptionist replied he wants to talk to you about the leaf blower incident from this morning. At no stage did I communicate this as the reason to the receptionist and I again, corrected her. The actual reason was to communicate my displeasure at being referred to by my first name. The response to the receptionist by the manager was that she would not talk to me then, which was Friday evening, but would rather call me back on Sunday. SUNDAY! After accepting a long list of abnormalities at Kwalape, this was the last and final straw to get this kind of treatment as a regular guest. Mind you I never eat at their restaurant which has the worst food in Kasane and the strangest meal combos I have ever seen. For years I have avoided their food and let them off this as I eat elsewhere for all my meals. If you want terrible food, poor customer service, absent management and to be woken up daily at 6am by leaf blowers and loud staff, THIS is

Clean room, place and an amazing lodge with trees around keeping the place supper cool Its one of the best lodges to be considered when finding accommodation in kasane Botswana The lady stuff was welcoming and help everyone with anything which was required I have absolutely nothing against this resort and highly recommend to anyone

We recently stayed at Kwalape Lodge for 2 nights. They organised a a river safari and a game drive for us. Nature, our guide, was so knowledgeable and friendly and we saw so many animals including a pride of lions. All the staff from Reception to the restaurant were helpful & friendly. Noah, the shuttle driver, made our border crossing into Zimbabwe a breeze.

This lodge is terrible. First of all, our agent booked our trip 6 months ago. This was a family trip for my 80 years old parents and my husband and I. So, in all our lodges that we booked, we ask that our rooms could be close together. In March, it’s considered as low season so basically, plenty of availability. When we arrived, they were an old brook down tractor in front of the reception with broken tiles and propane tanks lying around as our welcome view. At reception, no welcome drinks nor a smile from the clerk at front desk. The overview of the lodge left us with in despair, the lodge seemed neglected no matter where we looked. We arrived around 2 pm. We had a quick lunch because we were supposed to have a boat cruise. We ask for the menu “à la carte” because nothing else was available. Knowing that my parents ate a meal for 2, it has been logical since the begging of our trip that they take the menu instead of a buffet. We ordered chicken burger and chips… Unfortunately, the waiter tells us that they don’t have any chip… but we were still charge for them. After lunch, while we were heading for our boast cruise, the front desk clerk tells us that it’s now impossible to do the boat cruise. The only avenue was to switch our morning game drive of tomorrow for today. Something that we didn’t want but didn’t have the choice. This was imposed by the lodge. The game drive guide “Nature” was awesome. A quick drive but a fun one. After the drive, we headed to our rooms. Not exactly beside my parents. Their rooms was ok but ours, filthy. The window curtains had moisture stains, the ceiling fixture was missing, it was on the ground broken and didn’t have any light bulbs. The bed filet for the mosquitos had plenty of holes, the bathroom tiles were broken and had holes in it since the towel’s poles were missing. The head shower was cluttered and didn’t run properly. The sink foster wasn’t attached to the sink and the sink corking had moles. You were able to see that they tried to patch a hole on a wall and paint it with a different color. Above all, they was a huge spider that came out of the ceiling but we didn’t have any bug repellent in our room to kill it. We complained but only had a new room the next day. The next day, we went on our boat cruise with “Nature” again. He was very good, and he was the only employee that smile during our stay. When we arrided for lunch, we ask for the menu, but we were refuse by the waiter. They told us that we didn’t have a choice and need to eat at the buffet. Very disturbing because my parents eat a meal for 2 and now we were obligated to eat a buffet that was twice the price. Because we were leaving early the next day, we ask them if they could make an early breakfast around 6:30 instead of 7:00. The agreed but the next day, breakfast was ready but no coffee. It took them 30 min to brew the coffee. At the end, it was ready only at 7:00 the exact time we had to leave. When it was time to pay o

Our stay here was very touch and go. Some staff were amazing and polite and others so very rude. One lady rolled her eyes at us when we asked to have lunch and someone on reception told us they would send maintenance to look at our broken toilet the following day (it needed seeing to immediately) The pool was filthy (I'm assuming it's because we went in off season) and a huge clump of hair had been left in the shower drain so that it took ages to drain properly during and after a shower. And most worryingly of all, the water from the taps runs a light brown. The only good things i can say about this place is that its got a great location and is very close to the national park so is convenient. The food was surprising good and our safari guide- Peace was wonderful. He was incredibly knowledgeable, kind and just amazing. We felt truly blessed to have got to spend time with him. He knew so much about the animals and plants and was delighted to share it. You could honestly tell he took pleasure and pride in his job and the beauty around the park. This place is okay for a one night stop off but I wouldn't recommend for a longer stay.