Zebula Bush Lodge 47

We stayed for 5 days over Christmas 2024. The house is in a beautiful location. The layout, with the entertainment area leading out to the patio overlooking the pool and fairway, was perfect for hosting our group of 8 adults, 1 child. We had zebra, wildebeest, impala etc. walking through "our back yard" which was magical. The main area, where we all hung out, was spacious and inviting. The kitchen and dining area are very open and large, which worked really well for our family who loves cooking and eating together. The dining table was perfect for our Christmas dinner. The bedrooms are spacious, each with en-suite bathroom and privacy from each other. We would recommend that the outdoor dining furniture on the upstairs balcony be replaced: most of the chairs were rusted and broken and we were unable to utilise that space. Otherwise the facilities offered at the house were excellent: pool table, foosball, arcade machine, braai & bar (with an extra fridge), and swimming pool. Mosquito repellant and bug spray was provided which was very welcome. Also all the bathrooms had soap, shower gel, shampoo. The cleaning staff were amazing and very helpful when we were dealing with electricity issues on the property. We did go the clubhouse a couple of times and enjoyed lovely food & live entertainment there. Some of us are gluten & dairy intolerant and the staff were very knowledgeable and had GF options (pizza, bread) and oatmilk & almond milk. Their Piña coladas are the best!

However, we experienced significant issues with electricity during our stay. Due to these issues, we couldn't fully enjoy the facilities and cannot provide a 10/10 rating. There was a power outage in the entire Bela Bela area on Christmas Eve. Although Eskom restored electricity by lunchtime on Christmas Day, only the kitchen side of the house had power. We were without lights, hot water, water pressure, and Wi-Fi in the main living areas and bedrooms. Luckily Christmas dinner was potjie on the braai & the stove top was gas. The management company was in contact with us and managed to have an electrician fix the problem on the 26th. Unfortunately, on the 28th, the electricity went out again, and once again only the kitchen side was restored when Eskom restored power to the area. We were without electricity for the rest of our stay. We hope the owners have since fixed this wiring issue, as it was clear that the problem was with the house and not Eskom. While we understand the outages were beyond the hosts' control, we were disappointed by the lack of backup facilities and the absence of empathy from the owners. The loadshedding flashlights and lanterns provided were not working, and no replacements were offered. We appreciated the efforts of the management company over the Christmas period which we understand was difficult. In the end they were agreeable to provide us with a partial refund, which we greatly appreciate.