Eagle Creek Lodge Sabie — Hotel in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality

What an unpleasant stay. Went back for our anniversary after two years, to the place where it all started for us. Just to my utter disappointment. To start off with. I was under the impression that we will be welcomed by the actual host and manager,Sonja. Which was not the case. In fact, we never even met Sonja for the entire time we were there, we not once saw her. Never came to introduce herself as the host. Very unethical. The lady that welcomed us and checked us in and again checked us out , was a young lady named Laura, that mentioned that she JUST started there. We did not see that we had to have R400 cash for a key deposit.She Made us drive all the way back to town, just to draw money. It was put to us, that we will receive it back in cash when we book out and there is nothing wrong or broken in the unit (after inspection was done. Which NEVER happened. Laura just took the key and gave the money back. I MEAN COME ON...WHY WASTE OUR TIME TO DRIVE BACK TO TOWN THEN...FOR NOTHING! As i understood, earlier the morning, there was a funeral at the restaurant. They already left when we arrived. Soon after we settled in, one by one they started coming back. Having a party in the parking area, playing ABSOLUTE DESTURBING loud music. Screaming at each other. Not talking, screaming.Plus minus 13 vehicles full of people Just being drunk and loud. No,I'm not talking about the guest that actually stayed over. I'm talking about day visitors to the restaurant. I literally had to phone Monique to ask management (who was nowhere to be seen) if there's not something that can be done about the inappropriate behaviour. Because i was booked in unit 8, Neil came out to calm the situation after I asked Monique to assist. As he turned around and walked away, they just started again. This i must say, started at 14:30pm and went on straight through till 23:00. We were not even able to enjoy the swimming pool area because of that. Then, lets get to the unit. We had a braai. Had NO streak knives. Just a big bread knive. We phoned to ask for an outside light at the braai, cause i could see the light an think the switch is in the unit next to us. To which we were told. No sorry, that light only comes on when its loadshedding. Later on, Laura finished working, came to her unit next to us, switched on her lights and boom, we had an outside light for the braai...But too late. We already ate. We went there to get away from everyday busy, noisy life. Cause we were there two years ago and it was AMAZING. But this time around, it felt like i was working at the lodge. Because a staff member stayed in the unit connected to ours. I was in constant conversations over the radio, hearing every word. Disturbing. And not feeling like a relaxing getaway. Constant feet up and down by the staff coming to the receptionest in unit 9 as well as the day visitors moving around the units. There was a dog in a camp right next to our unit barking the whole time throughout our stay. I was told by Laura that it is her dog. We could not get a good night's rest because of the constant barking.

Everything changed since two years ago when we had such a pleasant stay. The place went backwards really bad.

I will never recommend anyone to visit Eagles Creek after the worst of worse experience i had this time round.

Very dissapointed that i actually had to pay for that. Not even talking about driving all the way from my town, just to get back home being heartbroken, cause what had to be a relaxing, romantic anniversary weekend turned out very unpleasant.

Thank you Monique for your professionalism. Handling my booking, as well as the way you handled my phone call after i left Eagles Creek and lashed out because i was unhappy. Very...

You are either one of two travelers:

1. The one who wants to be ultra comfortable and reach his / her destination in the easiest way possible.

Or

2. The one who enjoys the journey no matter if a little uncomfortable or comfortable, knowing that it is part of it and enriches the experience.

Fortunately this wonderful place would appeal to both!

The hosts are friendly, warm people who will make sure that you have all your needs attended to. They are down to earth people with big dreams for their business.

The facilities are standard but it provides a feeling of "I want to be the best that I can be, with my limited budget".

The Housing:

For Traveler 1: The housing is cozy, clean and has almost everything you would need. For Traveler 2: The housing is cozy, clean and has everything you would need.

The house is secured with a security gate (Not that you would need it) that covers off the entrance.

Depending on the house that you choose there will be a very decent kitchen, bathroom (With good water pressure and a modern showerhead), bedrooms and a spacious living room.

There is no covered parking but the trees do a good enough job most of the time. There is wifi but the strength of the signal depends of how near you are to reception. Please do take plugs with for your chargers as there are little to none catering for that.

The beds are for me the best feature of the house (because I love my sleep). The beds are covered in hotel grade bedding while the bed itself is pretty spacious. Take extra towels if you are going to be more than one person.

There is no TV which could be great or bad depending on the type of traveler you are.

The Grounds and Facilities:

The grounds are secured and there is a friendly man operating the gate.

There is a beautifully kept blue swimming pool for the hot days and a decent playground for the kids so that mom and dad can enjoy their peace.

Reception has a small range of products incase you need anything like snacks, ice, drinks, firewood etc.

Conclusion:

This small to medium accommodation still has a long way to go but they have the heart, ambition and passion to be one of the best in the lowveld area for sure.

My family and I enjoyed this place with its beautiful setting and warm people so much. We all wanted to stay much longer. I just want to say thank you to the owners and friendly staff for waiting up for us till 12 at night.

Thank you as well for the freebies we all were pleasantly suprised.

We know it can be hard to run a business, especially after the covid-19 period. We wish you all the best for you business in the future.

Thank you as well for helping us make this weekend...

This is probably the most and utter disgusting place I ever had to overnight in. Internet pictures 100% misleading. Arrived at about 7 o clock on a Friday evening to a dark and gloomy place. Restaurant closed. Reception closed. Being handed the key to our "chalet"by the security guard, we were told the manager is in town attending some car rally and we would not be receiving our decoder for tv for the night. This was however the least of shocking experience. Upon entering this establishment" we found that basically no maintenance was done for decades now. Total run down. PLEASE SEE ATTACHED PICTURES. They tell the full story. Apart from the neglect , there was an open electric wire in the cupboard touching the cups which my wife discovered when trying to make a cup of coffee. The pleather furniture peeled so badly that one could not sit on it without parts of it sticking to your clothes. Ants, holes in the cupboards, half a roll of toilet paper, filthy shower with black mildew etc etc etc. Please see all pics. Unfortunately we paid for 2 nights up front through Safari Now @ R 1200 per night (not cheap!!!) but decided to leave the next morning and lose one nights money rather to stay another night in this desolate neglected place. We were the only tennants for the night...... Horrible, Horrible, Horrible! Stay well clear of this place. Up to now we did not even receive a call from the owner or whoever is in charge to enquire why we left one night early. We did meet with the cleaning lady the next morning upon our departure, who told us she would inform the...