Panzi Lodge — Hotel in Maruleng Local Municipality

This was our second time here, the first for my Mom, niece and nephew. It was an amazing trip!! |As expected, everyone was welcoming and Irene and Charmaine (and Leah) were absolutely fabulous, just as we remembered them. It was like coming home. |The accommodations were perfect for us as a party of 5 in the 2 rooms with one bed added. We did not know about the monkeys, we did not see them last time, so those rascals did manage to grab a few snacks off of our deck before we knew about them. I kept telling the kids not to litter, then we saw a monkey with a snack bag in a tree! We were more careful after that.|My Mom with limited mobility did so good there! The railings for the walkways are not very far apart, so she was able to use them to help her get around. We did not use her wheelchair at all the whole time we were there, which was so good for her legs and for her independence. She has early stage dementia, so forgets some of the things she asks or is told, and everyone just answered her questions and were so accepting and forgiving. We could not be more thankful for the empathy that was shown to her.|The food was incredible, just as we remembered. The kids did not eat much, which I felt bad about. They are very fussy eaters and do not eat a lot anyway. I hate to see food wasted though.| The activities we booked all worked out great. We did 3 afternoon game drives in 3 different parks, kruger park all day, the HERD elephant interaction, panorama day tour, blyde river canyon boat ride and the hot air balloon. Thank you to Irene at Panzi for the recommendations! My Mom had no trouble getting in or out of the game vehicles and our guides were extremely helpful with her! They also just answered her questions with grace, and stopped at every bathroom when she needed one without complaint. The kids favorite part was the elephant interaction. What an experience! We were fortunate with the weather also, so the hot air balloon ride was incredible! ||The only thing we really did not care for were the 2 lunch stops we had when on excursions. On the panorama tour, we went to Harrys pancackes (?) in a little town last time and loved it. This time we went to a place down a bumpy road on the water called the chubby pig. It was very buggy, the service was slow, the people were not overly friendly, the food selection wasn’t great (no salads, they did not have a lot that was listed on the menu), and the food was sub par, no one ate their meals. The other lunch stop was at a gas station! Definitely not what we expected. Again, very slow, as there was one person working and she was busy, no real healthier options, they had grilled cheese sandwiches and fries, which we all got, but no one ate. There was one small table inside, and a picnic table outside for seating. We wound up getting waters and ice cream inside the store there and called that lunch. Last time we went to a local diner/sport bar type of place and it was great. Simon took us to a great lunch place in Kruger park on our all day game drive and that was more of what we were looking for. Great views, loads of options, good service, and the food was wonderful.||Other than that, everything was put together perfectly, everyone was well met and friendly, absolutely no complaints with our travel in South Africa, our stay at Panzi, our guides and activities… just an incredible trip all around! Highly recommend...

Panzi Lodge had a good mix of the good, the bad, the ugly..

Let's start with the good: • Friendly & Extremely helpful staff • Beautiful views from the viewing points • Really gives you the outdoor experience • Love that the animals are free to explore, which gives you the experience to spot them even while just driving in and out • Dietary needs are taken into consideration

The bad: • If you're accustomed to fine dining, you would not find it here. And since we love our food, this was not great for us • Also with the food, they dish up for you, with really large portions, which goes to waste • Big bad for us, no cellphone reception or wifi in bedrooms, despite them saying that there are boosters that would reach the rooms. I ended up working in the common reception area where there is signal

The Ugly: • Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! They are everywhere. Now being in nature it is expected, but the lodge could have done more to prevent them from entering the rooms. Everything from scorpions to, spiders, to weired insects that I've never seen before can be found in the rooms • Lack of attention to detail and cleanliness • Shower basics not replenished daily • Although room is "serviced" daily, it seems like its only the beds that gets made up - but ants can be found under the pillows • Drinking water was osmosis water, leaving us to buy bottles of water to drink, since the taste was not plattable • The towels had a bad smell, which stuck to your body.

Would I recommend this place: Maybe not. Just because for the price we paid, we expected a whole lot more. The owners that stayed over while we were there, were unfriendly and unwelcoming. We...

Just spent a wonderful week at #PanziLodge in #SouthAfrica! There has been substantial investments and improvements made to the property by new owners. All 10 Huts have been completely rebuilt and are very comfortable. The clubhouse and pool have been upgraded along with many other items. The Owners (Dale and Michelle) are amazing. My daughter had her wedding there and they took care of everything for our entire group for the whole week. It was like she had an adoptive father there local to make sure everything went with out a hitch. You name it, it was taken care of for us, Food, drinks, beer, alcohol, Tours, Entertainment, and anything we asked to have done they graciously accommodated. The grounds had plenty of wild life, but if that was not enough you are a short ride away from #Kruger National Park Proper. We only scratch the surface of things we could have done using Panzi Lodge as our base. The staff was so friendly and eager to assist. I did truly feel like family from the time I stepped off the transport van. Nixon and ALL the staff were a delight to interact with. It is a long way to South Africa, but I definitively would like to return to Panzi Lodge.

Dale, Michelle, and the whole Staff Thank YOU ALL for making my daughter's week...