Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch — Hotel in Hardap

We stopped off here for one night whilst travelling from Windhoek to Fish River Canyon, as its a short 3hrs 45 min journey to start your trip down to the far south.|Easily signed posted from the main road and a stunning drive through the red sand. You are met at reception with a welcome drink and a warm smile. After checking in you leave your car in the parking area and a member of staff takes you and your bags in a golf cart up to your accommodation . They are lovely chalets well spaced out and private from each other and overlooks the beautiful red sand dunes .Our chalet overlooked the illuminated water hole and the rooms are spacious , bright and airy , a lovely comfy bed with mosquito nest and an en suite bathrooms. As with most other lodges they had a lovely deep roll top bath but low water pressure meant it would take forever to try and fill it, so it looks good but not much more. There is a nice bar lounge area at the main lodge , a curio shop, an observatory and a swimming pool. We had pre-booked two activities with the lodge: an afternoon drive and sundowners and a night drive. We walked back down to the reception to meet our guide and joined a full safari vehicle. The drive is around the whole estate which is vast, and you get stunning views of the red dunes and plains and the wildlife found there. However it did feel a little staged for us , they trip felt more like a fun drive out rather than wildlife watching . The guide didn't appear to actually have to look for any of the animals they seemed to be on the set route he followed . All of the animals had been bought in by the owners and even the rhinos would come when called. The most impressive thing we saw was a Cape Cobra trying to enter a weavers bird nest ( we were impressed that the guide found it but later found out that another guide had seen it earlier and told him it was there) What spoilt the trip for us was a group of Austrian teenagers on the vehicle who spent the whole trip playing Tik Tok videos on their phones, laughing and joking about what they were watching , constantly asking when we were going to stop for sundowners and then for 20 minutes singing pop songs at the top of their voices . We stopped in a nice dune location where we met with another vehicle from the camp to watch the sunset and the drinks and snacks were very good. We then returned to camp for dinner in the open sided restaurant near the pool area. You had a choice of two starters which were served to you , you then choose your main courses and sides from a buffet and then had a choice of two desserts again served to your table. All the food was good and well cooked. We then went out on a night drive where we were the only guests. This guide seemed far more knowledgeable and also allowed my husband to use his own lamp . Although we didn't see a lot of wildlife it was good fun and the guide was very informative , and we had an exciting fast ride home as a thunderstorm hit with torrential rain. Be aware that when you arrive back the main lodge is all closed up and you have to walk back to your chalet in the dark ( although there are low lights on the path). The view from your terrace and the morning chorus is spectacular and we were joined by some antelopes and lizards. Breakfast was served in the main lodge and was a mix of a buffet and cooked items, however the cooked items took an age to come even though we were the only ones there. You are supposed to be able to see a family of Meerkats in the area next to the pool , but we had no luck. There was a lot of building work going on and I think they may have been disturbed by that. For us it was a bit of a sanitized safari experience , but its a great location, with good accommodation and served its purpose to break the...

We ( me and my husband)consider ouerselves as travellers and not tourists. During our journey in Namibia we stayed at different campsites and lodges . At the end of our journey we allowed ourselves a little bit of „ luxus „. That is what we expected for the price 250€/person / night ( dune chalet). But it was definitely not what was offered to us. The fact is we visited places with lower prices but definitely higher standard and quality of service. These were mostly lodges belonging to communities and serving them financially. Everywhere else we met a very friendly and kind staff , but not here. The staff at the restaurant did not smile and was actually unfriendly( the lady at the breakfast was the winner !) Towels at the pool were at 1:30 pm „ finished”, no room service ( we stayed 2 nights), namibian kitchen which was just superbe everywhere else , was good but much worse than in other places we visited. Thank you cook , the meat was delicious. But … mushed potatoes from powder, overcooked vegetatables . The location is really beautiful and the view from the dune chalet is great. You can see also some animals coming to the waterhole. I can not say anything to the offered activities , because we did not take part ( had other great experiences during our 3 weeks journey ), but the prices for these were definitely much higher than anywhere else. We would call this place a lodge for mass tourism and are not going to visit it again , although we loved Namibia and plan to...

We visited the Bagatelle Kalahari Game Ranch with the Chain de Rôtisseur organization with participants from all over the world.||The most enjoyable & most impressive quality of our stay was the unbelievable hospitality offered to us by the local Namibian employees. I come from the Dominican Republic where this type of hospitality is our trademark & I rarely find other destinations with our level of friendly service, however I had never visited Namibia & I was very pleasantly surprised, almost shocked at the absolute level of great friendly service.||The different animal tours were entertaining, interesting & well executed, ||The food was excellent, varied using the 0 kilometer concept of sourcing first local produce & meats. Our group specializes in gastronomy, wines & cigars, therefore we brought oour own champagne & cigars which paired perfectly with the delicious meals offered by the local kitchen & chef.||The accommodations at the dunes, where we stayed were comfortable & very special, with an incredible view of the extraordinary Namibian Sunsets every evening.||The amenities were world class keeping the local flavour of the enviorment & the cleanliness was impeccable.||I highly recommend the Bagatelle Game Ranch should you want to discover African game & flora, but I end this review stressing once again that the most significant reason to return is the quality of the Namibian staff, their devotion to service & their amazing...