Emdoneni Lodge

Staying here was one of the best experiences I had in South Africa. The grounds are beautiful and so are the rooms. I loved the idea of the cheetah rescue project, and seeing them (and other beautiful cats) was a highlight of my stay. The hotel staff was wonderful too -- both professional and friendly. I hope I can stay here again one day.

Excellent place to rewind, tranquil environment, good food and exceptional service. The best 2 nights of my entire trip, wish it was longer. This accommodations offers everything you would need to relax, no outside disturbance like TV, phone and radio, just the peaceful sounds of nature. What else could you ask for or need.

From the first contact when booking our stay, we have had fantastic and friendly service. Our room was pure luxury (stayed in Mbali), with everything we could possibly need. The food was of exceptional quality and we loved dinner in both the garden and the boma. Breakfast catered for every taste and was delicious. The staff were so friendly and helpful, nothing was too much trouble. It felt like we were part of the Emdoneni family. The activities we loved were the Cat project, the elephant encounter and the early morning game drive. Emdoneni is a must see when in Zululand!

The Emdoneni Lodge is an excellent place for us to experience our trip to South Africa. We stayed there for 2 nights. Our lodge has a very beautiful landscape, surrounded by many plants and gave us a sense of serenity of living amidst nature. We managed to take pictures with the cheetah, up close and personal, and saw a few other animals from the big cat family. The food was also excellent. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the beautiful garden decorated with bright and colorful lighting. The most memorable encounter at this lodge however was the way the staff helped me find my lost wallet. After reporting my lost wallet which had my driver’s licence, credit card and health card to my tour manager, the owner of the lodge together with the housekeeping manager and housekeeping staff came to our room to help me locate my missing wallet. They literally turned our room upside down, looking at all the possible areas where the wallet might have been misplaced. Lo and behold, they managed to locate my wallet neatly tucked behind the lip of the safe deposit box, which was not visible if one were looking directly at the safe. We are so grateful for their dedicated efforts in helping me find my missing wallet. We cannot thank them enough for what they have done for us, and we would sincerely like to express our gratitude towards them.

Was the best service all round I have had Nothing was too much trouble Very informative with the work they do with the wild cats Service and staff excellent Rooms wonderful Food great Very clean Highly recommended

Very nice and big lodge with surrounding garden, gives you real bush feeling. The accommodations are adequate and all the staff extremely friendly and helpful. The kitchen is fantastic, marvellous prepared dishes, served and prepared with passion.

The Emdoneni Lodge is an excellent spa and cat sanctuary. It includes individual lodges that were well equipped and isolated so there was a feeling of being outdoors. Our large family of 9 considered it one of the best sites on our Smartour. . I want to praise the lodge and its staff for a wonderful stay. They prepared a very large birthday cake for my granddaughter and presented it with the entire staff coming out to sing to her. when I offered to pay for it, they declined and simply wished her a happy birthday! In addition, for a small fee, we were able to tour the various cat operations. I have long been interested in the smaller cats and this experience was a highlight for me.

We arrived in the afternoon and were checked in quickly. We got a large metal key and headed through beautifully landscaped grounds to our cabin room. Upon entering the room, we noticed it was designed with an African theme, with a large picture of a leopard on the wall and cushions on the bed. There were two twin beds pushed together, each with its own bedding. The bathroom contained a glass enclosed shower stall, a septic-tank run toilet, liquid soap, and thick towels. The pool was small, with a surrounding pool deck. The food that we had there was quite good. The staff was friendly. We saw zebras and impala on the property. The place had charm and you are definitely in the country when you are there. The Internet service was poor and there was no TV, but we didn’t expect much from such a rural place. One member of our group found a snake her room. A lizard crawled across the wall in our room. It’s necessary to check for mosquitoes in the room. I opened the curtains in the room and the shades in the bathroom to be sure I could see all of them. We killed a few and were careful to quickly close the door when entering the room. If you are looking for a charming country place, you will enjoy this one.

Very attentive staff and wonderful management. it felt like home! Great food. The cat sanctuary was ver informative. The cheetah encounter very exciting. Rangers took pictures of us with the cheetah. Great safari! Saw three of the big five, very thrilling!