Simbavati Waterside

An absolutely stunning lodge — beautifully designed with elegant suites and tasteful African-inspired art throughout. Our game drives with Julian were the highlight: he was incredibly enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and full of fascinating stories about wildlife and South Africa itself. Food and service were truly world-class, with a great selection of wines to choose from.

The fitness and spa area is quite small and could benefit from some renovation and more up-to-date equipment.

Everything was amazing. The staff, the food, the rooms, the views, and the guides/trackers were outstanding and exceeded all our expectations. The fact that there are only 8 cottages means that you as well get to know all your fellow travelers.

Everything was exceptional. The staff, the property, the food! There was such an incredible attention to detail, we could not fault it at all.

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Everyone was so welcoming and attentive. The rooms are unique, functional, and beautiful. The food was wonderful. The safari drives were informative and fun. Julian was our driver and Hervert was our scout. They were both awesome. Richmond was an awesome butler and he took care of our Every need. Molly, Pfume, Pretty, Chef, Kevin, Mary, everyone including Colin, the manager made sure we were comfortable, safe, and taken care of. This was a wonderful experience. We saw the big 5 in 2 days and when we say we saw them we were within feet of them. Amazing. This trip will be etched in our memories forever.

Beautiful

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Lovely lodge, fabulous staff, great service outstanding food! To be Recommended!!

This place exceeded our expectations. The staff was wonderful and the safari drives were incredible. We had Herbert as our tracker, and Julian as our game guide. Both fantastic and we saw the Big Five and more. Highlight was seeing the wild dogs. Great to chat to during sundowners and so informative with all the information on the animals. Julian also talked to us about various birds and trees along the way. This was a great addition in between looking for the animals. Molly, Dee and our butler Kevin were all wonderful. I couldn’t recommend this place more honestly. The staff was wonderful and attentive, everything was always extremely clean and the food was incredible. Pretty was the chef when we were there and the food was fantastic. We had the best 4 days we wish we stayed longer. The group dinners were very fun too.

Nothing! Except the call button was broken during our stay by the pool but we just walked to the bar instead.

Luxurious accommodations, excellent food, incredible staff, and truly amazing game drives!

The hotel itself is beautiful, and as it’s situated on a watering hole, animals come and go frequently, which is an amazing experience in itself. The staff are fantastic and go above and beyond to make your experience as perfect as possible. The game drives were just wow, and were made better by guide Shaun and tracker Jeffrey, both of whom were fantastic like the rest of the staff at Simbavati Waterside. Thank you for an unforgettable stay

As reluctant as I was to spend what I consider a lot of money even though it was for my Wife’s 70th 😊I now have to say it was money so well spent. The accommodation, food and staff were top class. What was there not to like? The only thing that comes to mind is having to leave ☹. A big shout out to Kevin, an excellent butler who was consistently friendly, professional, and willing to help….and always remembered our drinks of choice. Of course, the main purpose for us was to see wild animals in their natural habitat and this we did on every drive with the expert skills of Herbert(tracker) and Julian (Driver/Ranger). The passion and skill set that Herbert and Julian demonstrated on all our drives was exemplary. Seeing leopards, cheetah, rhinos, zebra, giraffe, elephants, wart hog, packs of wild dogs etc up close was so special. Topped in some way by the excitement that Julian showed when we saw a lynx on a cheetah kill. Julian was full of useful information about all the animals we saw. His passion for his work was obvious. How Herbert spotted a camouflaged leopard on a termite mount at 80-100m while we could hardly see it using quality binoculars or seeing a 2-inch green chameleon in a green leafed bush in the dark by torch light amazed us. The drives were excellent. We liked what appears to be the self-imposed rule of only 2 safari jeeps on any animal sighting at one time with others hanging back and waiting their turn, thus avoiding a free for all, which I’m led to believe happens in the main Kruger Park. We also liked the interaction between ‘competing’ lodges whereby they constantly updated each other about current animal sightings.

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