Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate (Indlovu Lodge 266)

The place was good. Environment perfect n relaxing as expected. The breeze manufic

Since Christmas eve we had a blocked sewerage n was running, bad smell also going into Christmas day n we could not even going outside cuz of it. It was only fixed Monday. U can imagine kids couldn't swim nor use the entertainment n play area. That was the biggest downfall

I stayed here for 5 nights, sun-friday. Overall amazing place to stay in the wildlife estate! -Easy communication with whatsapp with the host. I mentioned i would be early, around 12 pm, and asked if i could just drop off my suit case and walk around while cleaners finish, it was ok. I left and walked around the estate a little and already ran into many animals. returned and they were just finishing up cleaning at 2pm, and chatted with natasha about the estate and the house. keys were on the table, 3 keys, 1 front door, 2 back door, and 3 for lappa (BBQ outdoor room). -There is a gate and a code needed to enter the estate, they sent me it on whatsapp and it worked every day until friday, it expired. The gate is automated for vehicles (or you can talk to person too), but the pedestrian gate is always in person, not automated. -There is 5 bedrooms, 3 on the main level, and 2 upstairs including the master bedroom. All the rooms are very nice, well decorated, but i only used the master bedroom upstairs. The master bedroom bathroom was great, 2 showers and tub. The view from the 2 balconys was very nice sunset/rise. I didnt use the pool but its a nice feature of the house. I tried to make a fire in the fire pit but it never would stay lit, i think because i was useing the fire thing instead of building fire on the cement in the fire pit. I didnt use the Lappa, or bbq room, but it would be amazing for a family or groups to use while sitting on the deck. The kitchen is fully equipped, big fridge with brita water filter water cooler built in. Smart TV with access to netflix and youtube, etc.. A very nice washing machine for clothes. It might have had a drying ablity too, but i used the outdoor clothes line, about 20 min in the sun and dried. nice gravel driveway and covered car ports. And even a playground for children.

The negatives are (and i am picky): - The code for the gate expired on friday even though i had until 10am to check out. I went at 7 am to have breakfast just outside the gate but they said code expired. They let me out and back in again because they saw me 20+ times that week, but the code should work for friday too. (maybe they can only buy it in full days not half days) -The shower in the bathroom downstairs is low, I am 5'10', and i dont think i can stand under it. So keep that in mind. But the 2 upstairs are good height, and there is a bath tube with hand extension downstairs also. -none really, it was a great stay, they offered to come and clean dishes and make beds, but i said no it was ok, they came one day anyways and cleaned up my dishes i was "going to get around to". So it was very nice of them, plus with gate trouble and other delays i was running late checking out and again they cleaned my dishes. -The host also works with a tour company called "vast horizons" in hoedspruit, steff was great at arranging some game drives and transfers from and to the airport and a elephant experience i booked. I really wanted to see rhinos before i left and steff got me the game drives to see them.

Huge family home, made my stay feel like a home away from home. Everything you need is in the house. WiFi, solar panels. (No load-shedding). Even the washing machine helped.

The lady that I communicated with aka Yolandie was a nice person. She even offered an extra stay as a compliment for the inconvenience caused. The house has a backup in case of loadshedding.

Some of the things looked like were thought after, there are lots of cables and extensions everywhere that looked like they are not part of the original plan. The lapa was not cleaned and the pool table sticks not functional. The darts broken. The second bedroom upstairs doesn't have a bathroom nor wardrobe. We had to share the bathroom and toilet with the ensuite bedroom which has 2 showers and a bath in or go downstairs. Pool lights not working and the tvs in the bedrooms not working. It basically like they didn't know that guests were coming which was really disappointing for the amount of money one pays and after 2hrs of driving you get such. I feel disrespected when I pay full amount and get quarter. I even thought I will never use Bookings.com because of such bad experiences and just use Airbnb because you get what you see on the pictures. I hate feeling like some people get on the internet and rate themselves. Airbnb the hosts know they won't get paid if they don't deliver on what they promise.

We were downgraded to a small house, with a dirty pool. The other house was clean but we could hear our neighbors talking.