Emhosheni River Lodge — Hotel in Maruleng Local Municipality

Emhosheni River Lodge takes first place when measured up to all the other resorts, hotels, and lodges I have stayed at throughout my decades of traveling. My family’s treasured visit to South Africa and Kruger Park would not have been the same had we stayed elsewhere. Emhoshini is a rare gem, offering top-quality services, hospitality, housing, views, outings, and gaming. The staff is highly professional, kind, and preemptively attentive to your needs. Mareycke did an incredible job at customizing our visit and day trips to our desired schedule and encapsulating what we had envisioned for our dream safari. Our ranger, Adele, is highly qualified and recognized by others in the community for her knowledge and familiarity with the African bush. She is an absolute pleasure to have on the outings, taught us plenty, and never made us feel silly with our endless questions. Our server, Eric, and head chef, Lucia, did an exceptional job at making every meal a magical experience all the while attending to two restrictive diets in the family. From the daily changes in décor for our table, to the artistically plated dishes, we felt like royalty dining at a Michelin-star restaurant. On our last night, which also happened to be SA’s National Heritage Day, the staff treated us to a tasty braai and performance sharing their traditional garb, dance, and song – a memory that will always be cherished. We stayed in Chalet 2, which met our every need but also provided us the breathtaking view of the Olifants River. Every moment of downtime was spent with binoculars and a camera on the viewing deck or lounge chairs, observing the various animals congregating at the river’s edge and the watering hole. From the comfort of the secured grounds, we were able to see lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, baboons, kudu, impala, vultures, and many more. The property is well maintained and manicured, whilst preserving the charm and beauty of the native environment. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of wildlife in the more hilly landscape of the Balule Nature Reserve. This is also a great location if you happen to be bird nerds like us. My family participated in all the activities Emhosheni had to offer, including the vehicle game outings, the walking game outings, full-day visits to Kruger National Park, full-day visits to the numerous surrounding waterfalls and canyons, quadding in the Balule National Reserve, and a tour at the well-regarded Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center. Each outing was its own beautiful adventure, and I highly recommend taking-up on some of Emhosheni’ s additional excursions. Thank you Mareycke and to all of the Emhosheni staff for the most memorable and precious vacation of our lives! If I could provide you more than 10 stars, know that we would. As discussed, you will be seeing us again soon & possibly for one of...

We absolutely loved our time at Emhosheni. We spent 5 nights and it was enough time to see/feel/get absorbed in the culture of the lodge. It is no wonder I cried when it was time to say goodbye.

The aesthetic and decor of the main lodge and our Chalet (#2), the landscaping, and the design of the entire place was thoughtfully and beautifully done. Much to be admired because of all the intentional design touches. We loved that while we got the safari package with game drives twice a day, we could still choose to be still, be at peace and soak in the environment and the view. We came for relaxation and wonder and we got both. We experienced so much wildlife just at the lodge (a family of 5 giraffes, a family of 10 elephants - including babies, hippos, herds of impala, Nyala, baboons, monkeys, and in our last day there was a huge warthog (Pumba!!)

Not enough of a fuss is made about the cuisine at Emhosheni - we had three meals for 6 days and breakfast was good, but the lunch and dinner meals were divine. We weren’t expecting this level of sophistication and we looked forward to our meals every day. Just delicious. I would highlight this aspect of the experience some more.

The care and attention our family received was second to none - we were warmly welcomed and the level of care never waned. Every time we were away from our chalet, Paulina slipped in like a ninja to tidy our space. Very thorough but also very unobtrusive. The beds, linen, pillows were so comfortable - we slept well - and the water pressure and hot water in the shower were excellent. Sonia and Eric took exceptional care of us throughout the day and Leandra and Dave’s oversight about guest comfort was evident. Karlich’s communication leading up to the trip was excellent and the transportation from and to Hoedspruit was reliable.

Prince is a very knowledgeable game driver and we learned so much from him each time we went out about both the animals we saw and the birds we encountered. Really a great experience with him. My one suggestion would be to give the guests the option of heading back to the lodge after nightfall on the evening game drive. Once it gets dark, it is not as much of a sightseeing experience with the wildlife, especially if it is on the colder side. Leading up to sunset was magical, but once it was dark, it wasn’t as enjoyable an experience.

Truly an incredible experience that was made so because of THE PEOPLE at Emhosheni. They treated us like we mattered. They were so affectionate with our 13 year-old son. I’ve never cried leaving my hosts - this was a first. Thank you for making this leg of our first visit to South Africa unforgettable. Love always,

~The...

I was excited for my stay at Emhosheni River Lodge prior to being there after reading all the raving reviews. Though I was skeptical of whether it would live up to the hype, it certainly met the high bar of expectations and beyond.

I stayed at Emhosheni River Lodge at the end of December 2022 with my partner and had the most special 3 nights of my trip to South Africa. In fact, I would venture to say that my time at Emhosheni tops all the hospitality experiences I've had to date from my travels.

From the time we arrived, every detail of our stay was taken care of down to the smallest of details. The lodge itself overlooks the Olifants River, and we were greeted by a couple of hippos going down the river upon arrival. The property also had a number of spaces like lounge chairs, the pool and seating on the deck to enjoy when we aren't busy with game drives and excursions. We stayed in chalet 3, which was private, comfortable, clean, and had a private patio with a good view of the river. The room was well appointed with a beautiful tub, comfortable bed, A/C, comfortable chairs and a lovely outdoor shower.

Mareycke, the manager, was friendly and meticulous, arranging for all our excursions flawlessly. She had a wealth of knowledge about the reserve and surrounding areas, and was so warm that it truly felt like we were staying with a friend. Every breakfast and 3-course dinner was delicious..we were even packed breakfast for the days when we had an early start for the Kruger National Park and Blyde River Canyon excursions. Eric (our server), Lucia (the chef) and Mama Paulina all contributed to making the experience both personal and totally unforgettable. On the last night, we were treated to a braai (traditional South African BB!) and it truly was the perfect cap off to an amazing experience.

We also went on game drives organized by the lodge, led by Keagan (Emhosheni's ranger). He was a wealth of knowledge and truly passionate to his work. We learned so much on the drives, and got to see many animals - including the rare black rhino! It was truly an immersive and eye-opening experience, especially for a city person like myself.

We cannot say enough great things about Emhosheni River Lodge. Our only regret is that we couldn't stay for longer, but I would absolutely come back in the future and would highly recommend it. It was worth every dollar and we miss it so...