Lodge 603 Hoedspruit Wildlife Estate

Dont do it, I had a bad stay when I stayed at this above mentioned estate. We stayed at 603 wildlife estate from the 24th of december till the 31st of december. Upon arrival we where given the keys by the security at the gate and nothing was explained to us about the services. To my surprise, when we walked into the place there was a note on the table explaining a number of thing but one the was highlighted with a pink marker: "something about the cleaning services only been made available to us if we had booked through another services. But as we had booked with safarinow it meant that we had to pay R50 per day for someone to come and clean. please let me explain this, cleaning is not a problem for me. I just hate that this is something that was only communicated to me once we got there and top it of. There was no cleaning material provided even if we where to clean our selves. The building was very substandard, yes the owner sent us a welcome email and only in that welcome email that is when he revealed that there is a termite issue. The door leading to the outside shower is holding on by a whisker, same for the wooded windows in the living room.the pool was only maintain once, same for the braai stand and the rubbish was only collected twice and we had no rubbish bags for excess rubbish only one was provided at a time. When we left on the 1st there was no one to collect the keys and make sure that everything in the house is in order, so like when we arrived we had to leave the keys at the gate with the security. While I was with the security guard I called the lady who is supposed to deal with all that. She said to me its fine I must leave the keys with the security and graham is the one who will send me my deposit monies as she did not deal with booking us in. I then called graham who reassured me that my monies will be sent back to me within 2 days, that was on the 1st January we had that conversation. I had to call him today, to check what was the hold up with my money. He then proceeded to give all sorts of excuses and run arounds.

Establishment's response

There are wooden windows that have termite damage and need to be replaced with aluminium. I am currently going through the process of this very expensive renovation.

The estate is great. The house itself needs maintenance. The window and door frames are rotten (a window actually fell out one night), kitchen tap is loose, the door to the outisde shower is only held on by one hinge so it doesnt open and close properly, etc. Despite this, we enjoyed our stay.

The building needs some maintenance...lights not working, tap loose and window frames rotten. In general the furniture is of good quality.

Ons het baie lekker gebly! Die diere was pragtig en baie. Ons het diere gesien wat jy nie maklik op ander plekke sal sien nie soos byvoorbeeld 'n luislang, reuse slakke en ons was so naby aan die kameelperde dat jy amper aan hulle kon vat. Die wild was volop! Dit was baie stil en rustig in die reservaat en ons het die swembadjie baie geniet. Ons het die gazebo oor die swembad gesit sodat die son ons nie dood brand nie. Die diere het tot teen die gastehuis gekom en ons kon hulle vanuit die huis geniet. Die winkels was baie naby aan die gastehuis vir wanneer ons iets nodig gehad het. Ons sal beslis weer kom kuier en beveel die plek aan vir almal wat stilte en diere wil geniet! We had a very nice stay! The animals were beautiful and plentiful! We saw many animals that you wouldn't necessarily see somewhere else, like a python, giant snails, and we were so close to the giraffes that we could almost touch them. The wildlife was in abundance! I t was very quiet and peaceful in the estate and we enjoyed the swimming pool very much. We put a gazebo over the pool so as not to burn too much in the heat. The animals came right to the lodge and we could enjoy them from inside the house. The shops are very close to the lodge for when we needed anything. We will definitely visit again and recommend the place to everybody who enjoys tranquility and animals!

Dit was regtig baie baie lekker gewees, Ons het dit baie geniet om daar te bly en die Lodge is regtig goed ingerig met alles wat mens nodig het. Ek sal verseker weer daar gaan bly. Verlang sommer terug en wens ons kon sommer daar bly. Baie dankie vir 'n wonderlike geleentheid daar in die mooie bosveld. Dit was baie rustig en stil. It was really very nice. The lodge is well equipped with everything you need. I will definitely stay here again. Miss it so much and wish we could still be there. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity in the bushveld. It was peaceful and quiet.