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BECAUSE OF THE EXCELLENT HELPFULNESS OF THE HOTEL MANAGER AND THE MARKETING MANAGEMENT, I HAVE DETAILED THE EXCELLENT POINTS ON OUR BRIEF STAY AT AQUILA, AND THE AREAS WHICH WE FOUND DISAPPOINTING. .
RECEPTION. ..Very Organised and welcoming. STANDARD ROOM... Advertised "mountain view" was non existent. Only one high window in the room which looked over the passageway, so to get any privacy in the room one kept the thick net curtains closed, making the room very dark and claustrophobic. No TV in room ( which would have brightened up the room a bit) The De luxe rooms looked awesome, and worthwhile booking. MANAGER, DOUGAL.... Incredibly helpful, and addressed concerns promptly and effectively. UPSTAIRS BAR LOUNGE... Lovely views over the Reserve, and very comfortable and pleasant. STAFF... Generally all the staff were exceedingly pleasant and went out of their way to be helpful. SPA... Looked excellent, though I did not get a chance to use it. FOOD - BUFFET MEALS... Extremely disappointing. Nowhere near the standard expected for a sought after flagship luxury destination. All food was cold. Menu choices and presentation far below the majority of local country guest houses, even, at far lower pricing. For example, the soup at supper was powder soup, and the only egg and bacon choice for breakfast was scrambled eggs and macon. TEMPERATURE..... It was a cold weekend, and all the public areas were very cold. (Nice heater in the room.. But no TV) POOL AREA... Looked absolutely stunning, but not used on an icy winter weekend. FOR INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS... We are proud of almost all tourist destinations we have taken overseas visitors to... But we were relieved that we've never taken international tourists here. It would have been embarrassing. Food, and room definitely not a standard normally found for visitors to our country.... And certainly would be unacceptable at the usual price point of this establishment. Even for the excellent value weekend special offered to us, the food and room were not as enjoyable as expected. OVERALL... TREMENDOUS POTENTIAL, BUT...
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I booked this tour as a day trip from Cape Town with Aquila organising the transport to and from the reserve.
The confirmation e-mail stressed the importance of my being on time for the pick up however, the pick up was about 20 minutes late getting to me. We then had to spend a further 45 minutes waiting for other customers to be brought to where the minibus was waiting.
On arrival at the reserve, we pent 15-20 minutes filling in "disclaimer" paperwork at the main gate - this was after a 2.5 hour road trip from Cape Town. Could this not have been completed inside with a drink maybe?
Once finally inside, we ere given just 20 minutes to use the toilet and have lunch before the tour of the reserve started. This lack of proper time for lunch was obviously a result of all the pick ups being late. Our Cape Town group was 11 strong - could our party not have been put on a tour truck on its own and departed a few minutes later than the others so we could have had a decent amount of time for lunch?
The tour of the reserve itself was fine - our guide was Trevor and he was excellent. Its advertised as seeing the big 5 but I'm not sure there are any leopards.
Just remember this is a game reserve and not the wild as such, so as others have said, it may have the feel of being a bit staged, especially where we went to see the lions.
All in all, a good tour but the organisation failings which were the reserve's fault did detract from the enjoyment of...
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not recommended... masstourism The sunset tour, meeting point 3pm, everything a bit uncoordinated. Register or get a welcome drink first - cheap sparkling wine. And then "lunch" - a buffet with sandwiches, springrolls and 2 deserts - that's all. The other drinks have to be paid for immediately... then wait, wait, wait... 4.25pm, board 12 open wagons for 30 people each. Again waiting, waiting, waiting for.... departure... first a giraffe eating the hay that was hung for it from a tree. Then a couple of hippos and 4 elephants at a pond. The journey continues in wild rushes through the landscape to a couple of buffalo and 4 rhinos and.... to the lions... well behaved behind an electric fence - .... only a zoopark. Then in a furious hurry to... a rest area where all the wagons "unload". There is some biltong and nuts and a drink...and then it's time fir drive back to the starting point...with a few Bockies in between that we quickly drive...
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