Bateleur Lodge, Mabalingwe

We didn't have breakfast

Enough sleeping facilities as requested

Peaceful and spacious

They keys were not at the arrival when we got there, but the security staff were friendly and the keys were brought to us after a couple of phone calls.

The security staff and reception did not know that we were arriving on the day.

Mabalingwe is an amazing game reserve with so much wildlife activities to participate in. Truly a great holiday! Loved the hot and cold swimming pools with a fantastic view. Bateleur Lodge was exceptional in the amount of tame wildlife greeting us every day just around the house. The house is very private with its own swimming pool. With wildlife close the only issue was keeping doors closed the whole time especially for monkeys 🙈. That made the house feel a bit stuffy. We LOVE having our windows open normally and letting the outside in. Otherwise it was a wonderful experience!

Good value for money

The French drain was blocked

The house is large, roomy and comfortable. Well appointed with enough cutlery, crockery, glassware and kitchen items available. Air conditioning in all the bedrooms worked well. Location is superb, easy access to the reserve and amenities.

The lodge is showing some wear and tear, but minor, e.g. front patio door jambs have been bent and it's not that easy to open/close. Some of the mosquito screens have also been bent, we suspect rampaging vervet monkeys. Some of the kitchen cupboard doors have been damaged, making it difficult to access the adjoining drawers. Linen on one of the beds quite threadbare with tears. Fans on the patio worked but no extension cords available to plug them in. We bought an extension cord ourselves as the fan helped keep the bugs at bay at night while using the patio. The owners need to attend to these minor issues to make sure the stay is fabulous

On arrival we had to wait a whole 5hours for the cleaners to finish cleaning the house(arrived at 2pm only got access at 7pm). The drainage in the bathrooms and kitchen was blocked. The pool was dirty, there was clogged water outside next to the patio which attracted biting insects . There was a power and water outage on our 2nd day, property had no backup plan and we informed the hostess and she promised to refund us for the remaining days. Up till now she has not honored her promise to refund its stories after stories. We left the property on the 9th of Jan 2025 up till now the 28th of Jan nothing from her. She is such a dishonest person. Would never ever recommend this property to anyone!!