Olifants River Lodge by Dream Resorts

We had such a great time, great Conference venue, the food was excellent and the fireplace and boma fires were a fabulous add on. Great coffee. Hotwater pool. Rooms clean, comfortable and nice ammenities. Friendly team members. We will be back.

The resort probably has a lot of potential, but the overwhelming feeling was one of not our problem, contact corporate. When making the booking online I received a reservation number and a few hours later another email said I must pay or it will expire. Travelling at the time I did not investigate and made the payment. When we arrived at reception I was told I had two bookings which was clearly wrong. But since it was an online booking I was told to contact central reservations - zero attempt to assist. I have now reported this twice - still no response. We booked dinner bed and breakfast - nowhere is it stated that the last dinner orders are at 19:00. We had 45 minutes to decide what to eat - not quite the evening we had planned. The breakfast was equally uneventful and the heated pool had slimy algea growing on the sides. The Cabana were clean and had an aircon which was a pleasant surprise. Should be noted that the shower in the Cabana is in the bath which is not suitable for aged visitors. I requested via email check-in and check-out times and received no response. If you are planning on doing self catering note its not a quick drive to buy anything you forgot - the gravel road is hectic and we were in a 4x4. There were signs of recent money spent like the loungers at the pool and the grounds looked well kept. But overall certainly got the feeling of a tired family owned business with a corporate take over that left a few people disillusioned. Bit of a tragedy if you ask me.

We stayed at Olifants River Lodge in March 2022. We stayed in one of the “luxury” rivierview villas, whilst friends of ours stayed in the camping area with their caravan. The resort is easy to find, although there is about 6km of dirt road (in a very good condition) one has to travel to get to the resort. The resort has a large heated pool inside a building, and 3 or 4 cold water pools. (We didn’t actually see anyone use the cold water pools – everyone was enjoying the heated pool.) There is a shop which stocks all the basics, and a restaurant. We only visited the restaurant one one occasion, and although there were very few people, the service was very very slow, and the waiter struggled to understand our basic order. The food was quite good though. We stayed in a “luxury” riverside villa. I wouldn’t call it “luxurious” – it seemed quite basic, but there was everything we needed. The villa was clean at first glance, although if you are very fussy, you are bound to find areas which haven’t been cleaned/dusted. The villas also need some basic maintenance – ours had one or two loose tiles, and some light bulbs need to be replaced. I wasn’t mad about the in-bath shower with plastic shower curtain, but it served its purpose and there was always hot water. The beds were very comfortable and we slept like kings. Our friends stayed in the large camping/caravanning area. There is a huge grass lawn, and all the caravan/camping spots are nicely spread out, so you’re never falling over other campers’ tents. It was very quiet and enjoyable. There is a river which runs in front of the camping spots, so take enough warm clothes/blankets if you are camping. The ablution facilities were in fair order, but could also do with some upgrades. We saw plenty of carp and catfish being caught, so it’s a good spot for those that enjoy fishing. There were plenty of kids around, but they were never distracting as they were always in the pools or on their bicycles cycling all over the resort. We look forward to our next visit there, although we’d rather camp then stay in the villas again.

We just returned from a lovely weekend at the lodge. Our villa had two rooms on the first floor, both with en suite bathrooms. At the bottom there was a guest toilet. The facilities are neat, the gardens are a delight and the new minigolf course a hit with my two small boys. Our guest toilet leaked and after reporting it, it was immediately fixed! As one can expect there are signs of wear and tear but everything that should work, worked. The lodge was not very busy, which was a bonus because it added to the tranquil and exclusive character I experienced. Lots of space for the youngsters to ride their bicycles. My three year old son told me this morning first thing, "Dit was so lekker by Olifantsrivier."