Gwahumbe Game & Spa — Hotel in Mkhambathini Local Municipality

I had a 2 night stay at Serengeti 2, the pictures on the site do not do the room justice. The room décor was so beautiful and the view of the sunset was unmatched! ||Staff were quite friendly and I enjoyed the spa treatments booked. The Spa bathrooms could do with an upgrade in particular the shower facility.||The food is average.||There also was construction currently going on at the property, I do wish it was communicated prior to me making my booking, but it didn't end up being too bad.||Simon on the Game Drive was just exceptional, very informative and patient with all the questions.||The one major negative was the lack of hot water, out of the 2 nights stay, I had no hot water on 1 evening and no hot water on the morning of my checkout (being winter). During the morning of my checkout, I had to fill up the tub and use the little kettle to boil water and fill into the tub, the tub also had a leak due to the plug not working well. My disappointment was that I filled out the survey and wrote about my experience, the owner approached me to discuss it and her response was 'I went into your room and there is hot water', this was about about 2 hours after I had tried to bath. I did not think that was an appropriate response, as it was not like I could go back to my room and shower after checking out. The rest of the staff were lovely. I did not appreciate the treatment from the owner upon my leaving. An apology would have been fine, but the comment of checking afterward felt like I was being accused of lying. At the price of R3 300 per night I would expect hot water to be available regardless if all rooms were occupied as she mentioned that could have been the reason. There is a clear issue with water, while having a shower, if you are washing your hair it does go cold after 7mins. As a recommendation to her, maybe install a geyser...

This place should not be given a 4 star rating..most deceiving. Upon arrival the lady who was at reception was not well spoken in English. She could not explain directions how to do a walk on the property. Room was neat but with thin wooden petitons between the balconies separating us and the neighbors...we could basically hear everything our both neighbors were saying. Such an invasion of privacy. Bathroom had an awful stench coming from drains. Supper was highly mediocre...barracuda was the driest fish I ever had. Overcooked with no flavor in the least. Dessert was below average. Malva was dry and plz don't order the pavlova. The swimming pool was not maintained in the least. Filthy and unappealing. I wouldn't dare put my baby toe in it. Furthermore for a 4 star resort...u don't have even the freedom to have supper later than 6h30pm as staff needed to leave. So we felt pretty rushed. Didn't give us the relaxed and pampered feel we were expecting. Facilities are most limited. Breakfast offered no variety. Forget abt muffins, crumpets or even a croissant. No hot chocolate or any speciality drinks offered. Orange juice at breakfast is the only drink u get and trust me it was one of the most awful tasting orange juice. We just came from Fordoun and this was chalk and cheese compared to that. When I asked for a laundry bag the lady at reception told me that my laundry won't have time to dry so why do I need one. Really? No one to help with luggage to and from ur vehicle. If they experienced a fire and don't have their place up to standard..my advice would be is to get your resort up to standard before booking guests at your place because this experience has left such a bad taste with my husband and I that we will never visit this...

So this is a bit of a tough one for me I must say. A bit of a mixed bag so to speak...

Arriving the way you are directed when driving in seems to take you to the back entrance of the place, so look out for the "Reception" sign somewhat hidden against a wall when you drive in so that you don't end up at the backside of the place.

The rooms are basic and without a TV, so no point lingering there other than pure rest. The service is generally very good and most staff are very affable.

A big (& very pleasant) surprise was the private dinner my wife and I had booked. I've never enjoyed an evening quite like it so if you're a couple (no spoiler alert), book the couples spa weekend which includes the private dinner. That, along with the spa treatment (which was enjoyable albeit mediocre) is a lovely combination. And that alone would make this place worth visiting.

The game drive was fun if you're with a small, fun group. If you're not in a group then maybe not so much. The outside areas were reasonably well kept although the pool was not clean enough to swim in (watch out for frogs), and the boma/firepit area was under construction and occupied by a snake at the time of my visit (March).

The food options are surprisingly limited and it's not an upmarket dining experience - our 1 steak was tasty and yet the other was over cooked - so hold your expectations in check. I can highly recommend the burger however. Definitely a highlight of the menu items.

In terms of value for money, we're pretty good at finding nice value for money places. This wasn't it in my opinion. Although it was a pleasant weekend, I'm not sure I'd pay R10k to go...