Outdoor pool, pool umbrellas, sun loungers
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Reviews of Sabie River Bush Lodge

3 out of 5
Sabie River Bush Lodge
R536 Kruger Gate Road, Southern Kruger National Park, Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga

Reviews

9.0

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 92 out of 160 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 58 out of 160 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 6 out of 160 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 2 out of 160 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 2 out of 160 reviews" "

9.2/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

9.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

8/10 Good

irving

Travelled with partner
Liked: Amenities
Special clean place with ability to view wildlife . Great hard working staff.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2024

10/10 Excellent

Mehrdad

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Really good and perfect for us!We needed to be close to an airport and Kruger Park for safari, so that we could fly in, go safari, fly out without long drives as our time was restricted. So this was perfect. It is only ~30 mins from Skukuza airport and also 30min drive to Paul Kruger Gate, entrance to Kruger Park. It is a 3star accommodation but it is super-nice.We stayed in the Luxury Cabin overlooking the Sabie River. It has 2 bedrooms,sitting room,really nicely tiled bathroom, and a fantastic porch to sit and watch the wildlife on the river-a family of hippos was daily viewing and a crocodile sunning on the river bank. There is also a decked area for all guests with small swimming pool, overlooking the river. Again perfect for watching wildlife on the river while enjoying a cold drink! Lovely grounds and gardens meticulously cared for. Very friendly, helpful staff. The bar is nice with satelite TV to show sports- eg Premier league and European football.We were halfboard, breakfast very good (full English, omelette) and dinner also very good and varied each night.They arrange safari for an extra cost (amount very reasonable compared to other places). And the safari guides were great, really knowledgeable and keen to maximise our experience. We saw all the big 5 on the first day-even leopard which is difficult at the best of times. And Skukuza Airport is actually in Kruger Park.So safari starts from pick up at airport as you go to Sabie River Lodge! Highly recommended!
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Jonathan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023
Response from Candice Lane on Oct 20, 2023
Hi Jonathan, thank you for your great review score of 10/10. What a wonderful picture of your view from our upstairs gecko lapa overlooking the Kruger National Park and our pool deck. We hope we can welcome you back to our Lodge soon.

10/10 Excellent

Patrick

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful views
This is a magnificently situated lodge, with wonderful views over the Sabie River to the Kruger. We had elephant, hippos and otters entertaining us. The staff are wonderful, and the rooms are clean and comfortable.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from Candice Lane on Oct 20, 2023
Hi Patrick, thank you for taking the time to provide us with feedback of your recent stay with us. We are so pleased to hear you made memories during your stay with the wildlife coming to welcome you to South Africa. We are glad our staff made your stay great! We hope to welcome you back to our Lodge in the near future.

10/10 Excellent

Jacob

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jacob

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from Candice on Jul 4, 2023
Hi Jacob, thank you for taking the time to review your recent stay with us. We are so pleased to see you enjoyed your stay! Thank you for the wonderful review of 10/10. We hope to welcome you back to the Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger National Park. Regards the Sabie River Bush Lodge Team

10/10 Excellent

Yanyi

Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2023

10/10 Excellent

makoto

Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Liza Renate

Stayed 6 nights in Feb 2023
Response from Candice Lane (GM) on Feb 16, 2023
Hi Liza, thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback of your stay with us with your review. We are happy to see you enjoyed your stay with us with your wonderful review of 10/10! We hope we can welcome you back upon your next trip to the Kruger Park.

8/10 Good

Eduard

Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2023
Response from Candice Lane on Feb 16, 2023
Hi Eduard, thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We appreciate the time taken and thank you for your business. We are pleased to see you had a great stay with us! We hope we can welcome you back to our Lodge in the near future!

10/10 Excellent

Maiken

Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2023
Response from Candice Lane (GM) on Jan 26, 2023
Hi MaikenThank you for taking the time to review our Lodge. We are pleased you enjoyed your stay with us. We hope to welcome you back to the Lodge in the near future

10/10 Excellent

Irena

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Response from Candice Lane on Feb 16, 2023
Hi Irena, thank you for the time taken to review our Lodge and your stay with us. We appreciate your feedback and thank you for your business. We are so pleased to see you had a great stay with us! We trust we can welcome you back to our Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger Park.

10/10 Excellent

Livit

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The proximity to the Kruger national park.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022
Response from Candice Lane (GM) on Oct 13, 2022
Hi LivitThank you for taking the time to review your stay at Sabie River Bush Lodge. We are happy to hear you had a wonderful stay with us and trust you took home many memories to last a life time! We hope to welcome you back very soon!

8/10 Good

Abraham

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in May 2022
Response from Candice Lane on May 15, 2022
Hi Abraham Thank you for the positive feedback from your recent stay with us. We are pleased to see that you had a memorable stay with us. We hope to welcome you back to our Lodge in the near future.

8/10 Good

Angelika

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We like the place, close to the kruger gate. We are always enjoying breakfast with the view to the hippos. Staff are very friendly and helpful, we are vegetarian and they prepared us a veggie dinner. Thanks for that. Everything was great. Even they washed our car.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Candice on Oct 14, 2021
Thank you Angelika for taking the time to review your stay with us. We are pleased to hear that you enjoyed your stay and that you were taken care of the Sabie River Bush Lodge way! Thank you for choosing us, and we look forward to welcoming you back to our Lodge in the near future!

8/10 Good

Yvette

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great view of the river bed of Kruger. Fantastic bed, clean tent and bathroom. I did not understand the box with remote for aircon and plug system, thought it was a bit unnecessary. Loved the complimentary car wash! Staff is very friendly and rates for drinks are very good. Will be back!
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021
Response from Candice on Oct 14, 2021
Thank you for taking the time to provide us with the feedback of your stay with us Yvette. We are pleased to hear that you had a memorable stay with us. In regards to the box it is to ensure our guests have all their amenities for their booked unit, and it’s a little extra personalisation as each box is branded and labeled. We look forward to welcoming you back in the near future.

10/10 Excellent

Risuna

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2021

10/10 Excellent

Jenny

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2020

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Warm friendly helpful staff in an excellent location to travel the Kruger and sights around Graskop
Stayed 4 nights in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Fast check in, nice view of Sabie river with hippos to welcome us when we arrive.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2020

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We opted to stay for Christmas 2019, having first visited in 2016. We could not fault our first stay but can see that they have modified the accomodation and added extra seating in the gardens since our last visit. The staff work exceptionally hard to make your stay memorable and are always happy and polite. It is very well priced for half board in lovely surroundings, giving you the feel of the African bush. It is located a little way out so a car would be needed but is close to the Kruger, Panoramic route and the town of Hazyview. We would definitely recommend and return. It is our accommodation of choice when staying in the area.
Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Dale on Jan 30, 2020
Hi Anonymous, great to see our guests enjoying their stay at our Lodge. Thank you for your business and the time taken to review our Lodge, appreciated by all of us at the Lodge. It is always wonderful to welcome back previous guests. Thank you for all the positive feedback, great to hear that you enjoyed staff and location at the Lodge, great review score 10/10, thanks. Trust we will see you back at the Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger National Park. Regards Dale Owner Sabie River Bush Lodge voted best Three Star Lodge in Mpumalanga by Tourism South Africa for 2015, 2016 and 2018 based on over 1700 verified guest reviews over the past 12 months.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
hippo heaven....
Beautiful setting, watching the hippos at the waterhole. Food good. Rooms OK. Staff lovely.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

10/10 Excellent

Jabu

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019
Response from Dale on Jan 30, 2020
Hi Jabu, great to see our South African guests enjoying their stay at our Lodge. Thank you for your business and the time taken to review our Lodge, appreciated by all of us at the Lodge. Thank you for all the positive feedback. Great review score 10/10, thanks. Trust we will see you back at the Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger National Park. Regards Dale Owner Sabie River Bush Lodge voted best Three Star Lodge in Mpumalanga by Tourism South Africa for 2015, 2016 and 2018 based on over 1700 verified guest reviews over the past 12 months.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff is very kind . The room was confortable but a little bit noisy
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2019
Response from Dale on Jan 30, 2020
Hi Anonymous, Thank you for your business and the time taken to review our Lodge, appreciated by all of us at the Lodge. Thank you for all the positive feedback, and that you enjoyed our staff, great review score 5/5, thanks. Trust we will see you back at the Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger National Park. Regards Dale Owner Sabie River Bush Lodge voted best Three Star Lodge in Mpumalanga by Tourism South Africa for 2015, 2016 and 2018 based on over 1700 verified guest reviews over the past 12 months.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wish I didn't need to leave
Friendly staff and check-in was easy. I stayed in the tent for one night and stayed in room #5 for two nights. This room appeared to be a tad smaller than the tent but still good. There was a mosquito net on my bed but I didn't need to use it as it's winter time. Breakfast and dinner were both great. My favorite part was the ability to mingle with other travelers by the fire pit. Highly recommend it!
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2019
Response from Dale on Jan 30, 2020
Hi Anonymous, Thank you for your business and the time taken to review our Lodge, appreciated by all of us at the Lodge. Thank you for all the positive feedback, great to hear that you enjoyed our food and the bonfire on the deck overlooking the Kruger Park and Sabie River, great review score 10/10, thanks. Trust we will see you back at the Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger National Park. Regards Dale Owner Sabie River Bush Lodge voted best Three Star Lodge in Mpumalanga by Tourism South Africa for 2015, 2016 and 2018 based on over 1700 verified guest reviews over the past 12 months.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay with river view
I was able to book this lodge at the last minute. I stayed inside a tent overlooking the river. Check-in was easy and staffs were friendly. Comfortable bed and there was even an outdoor shower but it was too cold to try that. The rate included breakfast and dinner where I was surprised by the quality and variety of food. There was a fire pit where folks mingled and shared experiences. Wifi was sporadic as it was hard connecting to whatsapp. Overall, a lovely stay for less than US$100 per night is a win!
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019
Response from Dale on Jan 30, 2020
Hi Anonymous, Thank you for your business and the time taken to review our Lodge, appreciated by all of us at the Lodge. Thank you for all the positive feedback. We are pleased that you loved the tent, your bed, and our food - we strive to meet all our guests expectations! What a great review score 8/10, thanks. Trust we will see you back at the Lodge upon your next visit to the Kruger National Park. Regards Dale Owner Sabie River Bush Lodge voted best Three Star Lodge in Mpumalanga by Tourism South Africa for 2015, 2016 and 2018 based on over 1700 verified guest reviews over the past 12 months.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Stayed 1 night in May 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place
The Sabie River Bush Lodge is an amazing place and has all of the finest ameneities, while being a bush lodge and sleeping in a glamorized tent. Great staff, comfortable beds, amazing food, and riverfront views of hippos.
Stayed 1 night in May 2019
Response from Candice on May 14, 2019
THANK YOU for such a wonderful review! We are pleased to hear that we exceeded your expectations and that you left our Lodge with wonderful memories. We value all feedback from our guests. We hope to welcome you back to Sabie River Bush Lodge in the near future! Regards Candice Lane (GM) & the team.

8/10 Good

Jenny

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful!
We really enjoyed our stay at the lodge. Staff friendly, dinner and breakfast great. The view of the hippos from the pool deck was fantastic. Every morning when we went to our car, it had been washed! They go the extra mile!
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2019
Response from Candice on May 14, 2019
Hi Jenny Thank you for taking the time to review your stay with us. We value our guests feedback! I am pleased to hear your positive feedback on your experience with us and we are happy you had such a great stay! Our staff pride themselves on going the extra mile for our guests and they love hearing that guests enjoyed their stay! We look forward to welcoming you back to Sabie River Bush Lodge in the near future. Regards Candice Lane (GM) & the Team.

8/10 Good

Kathleen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely setting and very relaxing!
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2019
Response from Candice on Apr 5, 2019
Hi Kathleen Thank you for your review of our Lodge. We are pleased to hear your positive feedback and thank you for the time taken to review us. We love hearing from our guests. We strive to exceed our guests expectations to ensure their stay is a memorable one. We hope we will welcome you back to our Lodge in the near future! Kind Regards Candice (General Manager)

6/10 Okay

Verified traveller

Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2019

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful place in front of Sabie River and Kruger Park
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2018

8/10 Good

Ms Omolade Selina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Good lodge
Staff were so lovely
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Vicky, Bolton, UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The lodge is great value and in a fantastic location. Being outside the national park it is very competitively priced, but it is just a short drive away from the Paul Kruger gate. We were expecting the accommodation to be pretty basic for the price we paid half-board but we were very pleasantly surprised on our arrival. We stayed in Tent 4 with a river view and it was great. We saw the hippos in the river during the day (we also heard them at night but it didn't disturb us and we rather enjoyed it!) Given we were in a tent and you are only surrounded by canvas - you can hear the nearby main road. This didn't bother us at all and it did not disturb us during our stay. The staff are fantastic, they really do their best to look after you during your stay. Also the food was fabulous, we really enjoyed every thing we ate during our stay here. The only negative thing I have to add, and one I would advise other guests of - is that you check your drinks/food receipts when checking out and settling your bill. This is really our fault, as we didn't wish to check them and just settled the bill trusting it was in order, only later realising we had incorrectly been charged for 14 bottles of water from game drives which we hadn't had with the lodge, and 2 cokes from the bar. That said I am sure this was an honest mistake and that if we had checked the bill and raised this, I have no doubt it would have been resolved - just one to look out for if you are staying here.
Stayed 5 nights in May 2018

10/10 Excellent

Trevor

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
All in all a beautiful place with an amazing view
Staff were amazingly friendly and professional. They were there to assist from start to finish and to find my car had been washed when I woke up was proof of the great service we were given and that the staff really go the extra mile. There is only 1 complaint, which is by no means the fault of the Lodge, but there must be a shabeen or tavern in close proximity, as lying on the deck looking at the stars and enjoying the nocturnal sounds of africa on Saturday evening, was ruined by loud music. As I say, this is not the fault of the lodge, but seems to be a bit of a problem.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Avish

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location, excellent staff
This establishments biggest asset is its staff... Always going above and beyond the call of duty to ensure the comfort of their guests. They are wonderful people and did everything possible to make our stay perfect
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Elizabeth

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
I love this place!!!!
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
it wás awesome. love this place.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2017

10/10 Excellent

Tali, Israel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great value for money
Great price for half board! the lodge is small with warm and personal feeling. The stuff are very nice and professional and really try to provide a great experience to all the guests. They have a very nice day tours and sunset tours (Lucky the tour guide is super nice and extremely professional), and if you go out early they will pack your breakfast and bring it to your room before you go (at 5:00 am!).
Response from Dale on Apr 3, 2017
Hi Tali great to see that you enjoyed your stay at our Lodge, your business is really appreciated by all of us at the Lodge. Thank you for all the positive feedback regarding your stay, great review score 5/5 thank you. Please do visit us again soon. Regards Dale Owner Sabie River Bush Lodge voted best three star Lodge in Mpumalanga by Tourism South Africa in 2015 and 2016

10/10 Excellent

lebitsi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

B & H, London

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very Nice.
The lodge is lovely, the grounds are nicely maintained. The room was lovely, comfortable and has everything you need. The staff are very friendly and helpful. Food is ok. Compare prices before booking, the lodge management charge a lot more than normal travel/ holiday websites. Book directly with other organisations for other tours.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Riccardo, Basingstoke

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location amazing safari
2 night solo getaway to this lodge- amazing location over looking the Kruger - saw elephants play for 3 hours meters away from me having a g and t on the deck! Very quiet in the week day evenings - so take a book to read as most people go to bed early or relax in there cabins after dinner - so little lonely when travelling solo! But highly recommended Also the airport transfers didn't happen as they were busy so make sure you sort this out way before Last tip - book ahead for the night time safari drive - it fills up quick and I couldn't get on ! Willem was a great safari guide and the all day safari trip was amazing ! Seen the big 5

10/10 Excellent

Dena, Manchester

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Very friendly and helpful staff
Excellent safari service and lovely food. The waiters and receptionist are lovely.

8/10 Good

Gareth J

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful safari getaway
2 night stay. Really enjoyed the food and the place is beautifully located on the Sabie river. Close enough to Kruger for day trips. Also enjoyed rounds of put put on site. Free WiFi is provided but it did the work in our room. Nothing was done to rectify this when reception was informed. Otherwise a very enjoyable stay, they even cleaned our very dirty car for us.

8/10 Good

Matthew , Brisbane

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very relaxing
Great place to stay very close to Kurger national park main gate 20min away. Very relaxing place. The bathrooms are a little dated but still in a nice setting. There is a river at the bottom at the complex, and I was very lucky to see elephants coming down to the river to drink.

10/10 Excellent

Tania, Johannesburg

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing
The game drive was a waste of money. truly most expensive and worst game drive I have ever been on.

6/10 Okay

dimitri, brussels

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
well located but very bad services
the hotel is correctly located , close to the kruger (30min) . Beautifull garden, nice team in the restaurant . BUT !!! the person at the reception is completely incompetent . total lack of response to our questions. we had a problem of family and we had to leave the hotel urgently. no way to cancel the room. no assistance was given. we wanted to rent a car , even the transfer to the rental agency was not organizable by them . We had to make do by ourselve . In summary do not count on them to help you and do not go in this hotel if you do not have your own transportation. I find it quite deplorable hotel for 80 euro a night. Another point , the offer is limited to the restaurant has two menus and that's it . personally we had better food in city that hotel . Another point the shuttle to return in Johannesburg was organised but us because not possible to do it from the hotel !!!! incredibly incompetent !