Inverdoorn Game Reserve — Hotel in Witzenberg Local Municipality

My wife and I booked the afternoon day Safari which starts at 10.30. Rather than stay at the Game Reserve we drove up in our hire car and spent some time in Stellenbosch and Franschoek before getting to the room we had booked at Klondyke Cherry Farm which is roughly 45 minutes away from the game reserve.

When we arrived we were welcomed nicely by the Safari operators and waited outside while the buffet style breakfast was laid out. It consisted of some scrambled egg croissants and bread and cheese with some cakes and pastries. Not bad overall.

We waited for the Safari to begin and at around 10.20 a coach load of visitors who had booked day safaris arrived. We're talking something in the region of 50-60 people. I worried that the start would be delayed as they all ate breakfast. Luckily the start time wasn't impacted too much.

The Safari organisers thankfully had preplanned which cars people would be travelling through the game reserve on before we came so getting to our car was nice and easy. We ended up with a group of 4 visitors who also drove to the game reserve themselves. This was great as in total there were only 6 of us while I saw some of the other cars had upwards of 12 people.

The Safari itself lasted around 2.5 hours we were lucky and saw all the animals in the reserve. I understand that this is not always the case. Our guide was very informative and amusing. It was overall a great experience.

The game reserve is quite large but don't go expecting a natural experience roaming the wild and seeing animals in their natural habitats. The animals in the park are bought in from various other areas and are being kept for humanitarian reasons such as lions which have been rescued from cage hunting scenarios.

Lunch was also provided but not drinks, you have to pay extra for these, I looked at my email confirmation and indeed it did mention this. We were heavily encouraged to order drinks and the impression is given that these are included. It would have been nice for the servers to reiterate that these would have to be paid for separately before being encouraged to order. My wife and I already had water so if this was mentioned I doubt I would have ordered again. I felt these tactics were a little shady.

We were able to leave immediately after we had finished lunch as we drove down ourselves. The people who had travelled down via coach had around an hour of "leisure" time to wait before they could head back. I'm sure this might have been an annoyance if I had chosen to come via coach from the city.

I think the experience overall is very good, I would dissuade people from travelling from the city on the coach and set aside 2 days to drive down yourself as opposed to be herded around like cattle. The landscapes on the drive down to the Safari were breathtaking and were part of the joy...

So a bit of a delayed review. We stayed for two nights back in November 2024 as part of a three week trip to visit relatives in Cape Town, and to see the southern cape.|I had searched many options for a stay at a game Reserve and settled for Inverdoorn. The cheetah conservation centre together with an ability to see the big five at one location, and at a site that did not seem too commercialised, was a big attraction to my decision process.|I booked on line and opted for the Ambassador Suit, as I wanted to push the boat out a bit to ensure my wife, who had not been to a game reserve before, had the best experience.|The booking process was simple and easy. Plus the team at Inverdoorn were very helpful in the communications I had with them leading up to our arrival.|Our experience from the moment we arrived to our last activity on the day of our departure was absolutely fantastic.|Our room was spacious and had all the comforts we needed and more. We had our own rooftop terrace with fantastic views. Access to a private swimming pool and rest area, all private and not overlooked.|The food in the buffet restaurant, both at breakfast and in the evening was very good and the service we received was excellent.|The star experiences were the game drives. Staying in the ambassador suit meant that we had our own vehicle and guide/ranger. This was a surprise (and a very pleasant one!) as we had expected to be part of the normal group game drive, and had started to queue when we were called over to our dedicated vehicle and ranger. We were introduced to Ashlee who proved to be extremely friendly, helpful, knowledgeable (with a great sense of humour), and made our stay a true pleasure.|He asked us what we wanted to see, what we hoped to see, and then drove to all the places needed to allow us to tick off them off our list. All the time Ashlee was giving us details on the animals we were seeing, along with interesting and amusing stories.|The Cheetah run and enclosure was also great. It was fantastic to get so close to these beautiful animals and be able to take some incredible images.|So would I recommend a visit and stay at Inverdoorn? Yes. Was everything perfect and 5 stars, not always, did that spoil my stay at any point, not at all. Anyone can walk around any location with a clip board and find fault if that’s what they want to do. For me, Inverdoorn gave me everything I wanted, a pleasant living space, good food, good service, helpful friendly and knowledgeable staff, wild animals to see, loads of photo opportunities, fantastic memories and a slice of the wild Africa experienced in a safe and controlled but enjoyable way. A great stay – so go and enjoy, and...

We had a great time, spending a night here. I wouldn't want to stay longer (max 2 nights).

SUMMARY: the Reserve has great luxurious potential with its location and facilities but execution leaves much to be desired. The lodge caters for people who want to see the big 4 (no leopard) plus hippo fast and not have to drive far.

REASONING: Organisation/Reservation was top notch with great support and fast response times.

Check in was also smooth. Shade for the car was a big plus. Check out was fast, just make sure to check the drink bill for any mistakes.

Accommodation was decent, but just about. The bed was a rolling hill and the room had a style from far back. There seems to be a room cleaning during every game drive, which I find quite excessive and makes it a lesser personal space.

Garden and pool were awesome considering that there is a desert around the place.

Food was ok. Service could have been better and just seemed a bit off and unorganised considering that it's a upscale place. Buffet was good. The snacks during the drive were also a let down as there was barely any food (only a fruit sosatie) and no cold drinks left once we arrived (maybe in future every car takes their own food?)

Game drive was nice and the ranger quite informative and friendly. The lions are separated from the other game in two large parks which is ok. Animals are easy to spot/the locations don't change much as not that big of a park so that killed the 'looking for the animals' aspect. Animals looked well kept after. Generally focus was on the big game and not things like birds but I guess that's what most guests want.

CONCLUSION: My partner and I had a great stay and enjoyed our time. Our quality aspect was on the game which was fulfilled, while food and service was decent but should definitely be improved for us to consider...