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My wife and I booked 5 nights at Plato towards the end of April, ended up extending our stay to 6 nights.||||Plato is well off the beaten track, about 2 hours North-West of Upington, and about an hour from Augrabies. The drive includes about 50km of gravel road, but the road is well maintained and you do not require a 4x4 vehicle.||||You'll be hard-pressed to find friendlier and more welcoming hosts than Lea, Eugene and their son Maans, with all three going above and beyond to ensure all our needs were taken care of from the very first moment we arrived.||||Food was delicious, especially dinner, wholesome homestyle cooking by Lea.||||The rooms were clean and neat, has everything you need, and nothing you don't. Since Plato is well off the grid, electricity is provided by solar panels and hot water courtesy of an old school ''Donkie'' system. There is a small fridge in the room, no kettle, but a flask of hot water is provided after dinner every night for coffee or tea in the morning.||||There is no air-conditioning in the rooms, but we did not find this to be a problem at all, as opening the huge sliding doors to reveal the magnificent view of the arid granite outcrops and Namibian plato during the day let's through a gentle breeze that managed to keep us very comfortable. At night, the open sliding doors lets you fall asleep to the light of a billion flickering stars in the Milky-way, by far, one of, if not the most beautiful night sky we have ever seen. ||||But if you come to Plato looking for air-conditioned rooms, cell phone signal and all the modern amenities of a luxury 5 start hotel, you are missing the point.||||This part of the world makes you feel like you are genuinely far away from anything one would call modern civilisation, it is so quiet, with only the slight metallic creaking of the old windmill close to the bar area to be heard on occasion. The landscape is idyllic and unique, everything here feels really old, untouched and unhurried, with a way of life to match. Ultimate relaxation and a place where you can truly reset.||||When visiting, ensure you take a trip to the sunset lookout point, which offers 360 degree views of this other-worldly topography. You can also do some hiking on the property where you can take in the finer details of this unique landscape. Definitely take a trip or two down to the orange river accessible through the property, we spent two full days relaxing next to the river with some ice cold drinks, swam in the river and even did some fishing to the soundtrack of fish eagles and the echoing calls of baboons.||||Huge thank you again to Lea, Eugene and Maans, you all made us feel right at home and made it hard to leave. We will...
Read moreI stayed for three nights in January 2018.||||This review is based on my 10th SA visit, this time encompassing a 38 night/ 21 property road trip, so is relatively objective.||||Relatively easily found along gravel roads either from Augrabies or Springbok direction.||||This is a semi desert location par excellance, from the warm unobtrusive welcome of the hosts through to the lodge, rooms, food, desert walks and above all tranquility with views across the Orange River valley to the Namibian escarpment.||||The lodge itself is cool, airy and spacious. The meals are excellent both in quality, cooking and presentation. The honesty bar has a good range of beers and wines.||||For rugby fans there is DSTV !||||The bedrooms are in a separate building well away from the lodge, giving an impression of 'away from it all'. Large enough, with a very comfortable bed. Bi-fold doors open onto a balcony with views over the desert to the Namibian escarpment . The in room fridge provides cold beers to match the view ! Watching an rain storm with lightning storm moving along the valley is magical. As a previous whinger has noted there is no air conditioning - read the website ! Contentment is sleeping with the bi-fold doors wide open and a fan gently blowing. There is no mains electricity, hence no kettle, but a thermos does the job with a dawn coffee prior to a couple of hours of pre breakfast wandering into the landscape sighting various wild life.||||The bathroom (shower only) is compact, with not a lot of storage space, but hey, this isn't the Hilton, or pretending to be.||||The Orange River is reachable by a farm track, for which 4X4 is required. My car is a 'soft' 4X4 SUV and did the job without problem for an inexperienced off road driver. Once at the river it's a different world with river bank greenery & trees plus what I'm told is a resident Fish Eagle. To hear the cries in the otherwise silent location is magical. Take a picnic and a few cold beers !||||Excellent value.||||If in the area again I'll be back in...
Read moreWe stayed for 2 nights in January on our 11th annual road trip, which encompassed 15 properties over 26 nights, so this review is relatively objective.||||Easily found/signposted along the gravel R359 from the Augrabies direction, which has recently been graded and is in excellent condition.||||Made very welcome by Leah & Eugene.||||The secluded rooms remain in good condition and once again it was a delight to sleep with the bi-fold doors open to the night sky stars.||||Leah's catering continues to be to a very high standard with excellent wine provided and the honesty bar well stocked.||||The property is remote and off grid, so do not expect aircon and kettles in the rooms. Despite the high temperatures at this time of the year, we found fresh air and a fan more than adequate at night. Hot water flasks for the obligatory early morning coffee on the balcony overlooking the Orange River Valley/Namibia escarpment more than sufficed.||||An ideal picnic spot on the grassy banks of the Orange River is no more than a 15 minute drive away along a farm track - my 'soft' SUV with 4X4 managed this without any problems at all.||||The highlight of our trip was the Sundowner - somewhat of a rough track trip to get to the highest local hilltop, but more than rewarded by a stunning sunset over the mountain tops accompanied by a cold one. An enroute bonus were sightings of desert hares & Klipspringers. ||||There is limited wifi in the main building.||||Still highly...
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