All Comments for Dumela Lodge

Unfortunately we could'nt stay as there was no electricity available at Dumela Lodge. They have provided alternative accommodation in town, which we decided not to utilise as we wanted to stay out of town.

Nice place to sleep ... beautiful tent

Lovely set up and clean bedding is always a plus. Pity our one night stop over did not allow for us to explore, we plan to head back there and spend a few days for sure.

Staff were also very friendly and super helpful.

Our experience was not great. Firstly we booked for a family of 4 only to find 1 double room had been booked so the kids had to sleep on mattresses on the floor.

The pool has no water and is in terrible condition. Not like the website. At night the tent was so loud from all the flapping parts and we nearly blew  away. Not to mention the loud music coming from a shabeen or the like close by.

We eventually packed up and left early, only to find out we were the only people staying at the lodge that night. Not surprisingly.

It is doubtful I will book through SafariNow again.

Establishments Response:

thank you Nicole for your patronage. Below is the booking conversation between yourself and Dumela lodge. As you can see below there was never a point at which you enquired for a family room as you allege now. All our chalets as advertised in safarinow website are Twin beds and double bed en-suite.

Your initial confirmed booking was as above (1 x double en-suite room). At check in we explained to you that we do not have family room. We are not aware of any nearby shebeen, the shops nearest to us are a kilometer away

Yes it is true you were the only guests that night. We are very sorry about the swimming pool as it looked terrible to you. Since it is winter the water in the swimming pool is half full and it will be filled up to get it ready for summer.

Kind regards
Dumela lodge Management.

We and our friends stayed 2 nights at Dumela Lodge Francis Town
It was a nice surprise to find the luxury bathroom in a safari kind of tent, the stay was a nice pitstop for the adventurer before entering RSA again. The staff was very helpful and let us at feel at home and satisfied our every need. Thanks to the night staff manager who were there.
We will stay there again.

The unit was clean and very comfortable with a lovely big bath.  We booked a family unit and the children had to sleep om mattresses. We thought that the children would sleep on beds if we book a family unit. 

A lovely place in the busy. Really loved the stay. Certainly a place I will make use of again.

Tented chalets are tastefully furnished, but in need of maintanance. We felt rather alone, as we were the only guests.

What a brilliant place to stay! The most friendly staff I have ever come across and such a lovely place. Top Notch!

My stay at Dumela Lodge was very good. It receives my recommendation and I would return for another visit as well.

We enjoyed our overnight stay at Dumel Lodge. It was relaxing and quite and also enjoyed ou dinner. Staff was efficient and friendly.

We stayed in the Dumela Lodge for one night as a stopover to go further to the Vic Falls. The welcome at the reception was very friendly and efficient. The tents are quite ok for one night, but beds very small. The restaurant was open for dinner and food was ok; as we left very early we got a good snack box with toasted sandwiches, fruits and juice which helped us on our way north. The swimming pool you can see on the photo was not operating resp. too dirty to use at the time we where there. All in all: good stopover place, but not for a longer vacation.

The lodge was stunning, lovely place very neat. The staff were particularly friendly and helpful - will recommend it to anybody.

First of all, the pictures on the internet give the impression of a new lodge. On arrival, the place seemed quite delapedated and not quite like the pictures. Secondly the mattresses in room 7 were old and very thin and the same for the bedding. When we complained, the receptionist said that there was nothing that they could do about it. Generally not a good experience.

We stayed over at Dumela Lodge in Francistown, Botswana on the 18th of July 2012. At about 01h00, while we were sleeping, the fence was cut and the guards overpowered. They then came to our tent and cut the tent open with a knife. Our friends travelling with us and another guest heard our screaming and came to help us. We were all assaulted and robbed of our cell phones, clothes and jewellery. We were very lucky that none of us was badly injured. The resort staff and police were very helpful and retrieved some of our goods but jewellery of about R70 000 was lost. This was the first night of our holiday through Botswana and Namibia and certainly put a damper on the rest of our trip.

Establishment Response:

We are also still very shocked about this incident and two of our security guards had to go for counselling. We have four security guards on 12 hours shift on the premises every evening. On that night we had closed for business at 00:30 and approximately 40 minutes later I received a call from one of the guards that they have been attacked by thieves. The burglars had cut both the security fence and electric fence then gained access through the opening. On entry they found two of our guards sleeping and tied them up injuring one guard in the process before attacking the guests in one of the chalets.

When I arrived at 01:28, the police had already attended the scene and dispatched a team to search the area. And these guests have already been offered alternative accommodation by Trudie’s brother who resides in Francistown.

I went to the police station the same night and pleaded with the officer in charge to arrange a wider search in the morning when there is light. The guests came back in the morning and I apologized profoundly and offered to refund them the full amount paid and to settle all their outstanding accounts on the restaurant. We searched the area outside the lodge (me and the guests) in case the burglars dropped anything. We could not find anything. By the time we came back from searching outside the lodge the police have already arrived. So we finished off helping the guests pack the remaining belongs, gave them BWP 1,200.00 in cash and wrote-off their restaurant bills.

Then the police escorted them to the police station to make statements. Around 12 midday (the same day), I was called by the police reporting that they had recovered everything stolen expect cash and jewellery and they have handed them over to the owners. The burglars are still at large and the police keep on updating us.

Accomodation fine, but you had no wine and only 3 fish, no mushrooms and no burgers. 7 guests very dissapoined. I wwould only recommend your lodge as a one night stop over.

A lovely lodge in a serene area, very quiet and peaceful. After a hectic day shopping it was lovely to come back for a swim.

The food was good and the personnel were very friendly. The overall stay was very enjoyable.

After the terrible experience we went through around Botswana, Dumela lodge was a God send. The people were friendly and the service was outstanding. Thanks to everyone for making our stay great.

Very nicely situated just outside of Francistown, Botswana. An ideal stopover for a long haul north. It has very nice amenities and caters for all your needs.

Not easy to find, but tents were absolutely fantastic and the lodge building great too. Impossible to access the Wi-Fi. Restaurant was very good and service great.

Very clean and comfortable. Pleasant and helpful staff.

It took a little while to find despite the directions we were given, but the accommodation was clean and comfortable, the restaurant served adequate food and the staff were very friendly and efficient.

We arrived after dark and had a lot of difficulty finding the lodge. Once there, the staff was very warm and friendly and the tented chalets were very clean and comfortable. Dumela Lodge is a good place to spend a night.

We spent one night recently at Dumela Lodge, en route to Zim. What a great spot. Friendly service, lovely accommodation, accessible and clean, and great food! The chef, waiter and host looked after us brilliantly!

The accommodation is lovely and the staff are super friendly.

We stayed over just as a stopover on our way home back to SA. The tented chalets were wonderful and the luxury baths fantastic. We had dinner in the restuarant which we all thoroughly enjoyed. The owner Dominic was wonderful to chat to. All in all a fantastic end to our holiday.

We stayed at Dumela Lodge for one night on our way back to SA. The staff was so friendly and helpful, just what we needed after a long trip from the north of Botswana. The food was amazing, and the tented rooms lovely and clean. We had a great time and I would recommend Dumela Lodge to others.

The staff were very friendly. We liked the accommodation and we had a wonderful stay. The food was excellent.

This is a very nice place to visit. I was in a trip to Zambia, but this was an ultimate awesome place. We felt like Kings and Queens and my friends were equally impressed.

We had a super stop over even though it was very very hot. The tent accommodation is very different and we found it stunning. The staff were so pleasant, even have photos of some of them which I will send off to them in the post. The fact that we stayed over again on our way home SAYS IT ALL. Thank you Dumela Lodge for a great time, I certainly will recommend your Lodge to all.

We stayed overnight at Dumela Lodge. Very clean accommodation. Friendly efficient staff. Dinner tasty and well served. Would recommend this Lodge any day for overnight stay.

We were really surprised with the staff's attitude to help us in whatever we needed. The chef's food was superb, and overall we felt welcome. They even organized us some red wine (Merlot and Shiraz) for our supper, which they didn't really stock. Thanks again, we appreciate everything you did. Keep up the good attitude and work.

Very comfortable, good food, friendly service and reasonably priced. We will stay there again on our way to Zimbabwe.

We went there on a business trip and got lost so we phoned Dumela Lodge and the owner came to fetch us. The people are great and they treated us like kings. We received great service and a delicious breakfast. Our rooms were absolutely gorgeous. I would recommend this place to anyone. They do not deserve two stars - they deserve five stars.

We had a large group that camped and lodged at Dumela. From the moment we arrived, we were taken round to see the chalets and also ushered around to view the camp spots, restaurant and the ablutions. Our luggage was kept safe before we could set up camp and later carried to us. What we noticed was that people at Dumela were always happy, full of smiles and giggles, I swear if we were not black we would have thought they were seeing our kind for the first time. We later realised that they are generally happy people and one can only allude that to the love of their job. Though I camped, I fell in love with the chalets when we ushered around to see the area. If you're a bush lover like myself, what I saw at Dumela is serenity for a camper. Dominic and his wife have done a wonderful job with the place. We also noticed that they continue to grow it. They are also hands on and attend to the maintenance themselves, hence the spotlessly clean facilities we found. None of the group members regretted our choice for Dumela lodge.

Liked the idea of selecting your diner requirements and time in the early evening - meant we did not have to wait for for the meal at diner time.