What a fantastic oasis! Beautiful lodge by the Selati river with wildlife roaming around the property. The lodge is beautifully furnished. We enjoyed excellent hospitality by the team and great game drives with Duncan - our passionate and very knowledgeable guide. Everything was perfect; food was fabulous every meal. it was exceptional!! We highly recommend this place and will be back for more.

Stayed in April 2024

We had the most incredible 3 nights at Abelana celebrating our honeymoon and my 30th birthday, which was made even more memorable due to the fantastic staff, delicious food and beautiful lodge & facilities. Wern and Mr T were our personal (and private!) guides for all our drives who were both incredibly knowledgable and made sure that every drive was a completely different experience, from seeing 4 of the big 5 throughout the duration of our stay, to finding the best spots on the reserve for morning coffee and G&T sundowners. We even experienced a bush walk with the lions and managed to see the incredible views from the south of the reserve, including the ancient baobab trees and a rare leopard on our way! The staff were friendly and hospitable, always making sure we had a drink in hand when we were relaxing by the pool. We were even lucky enough to spot a couple of elephants cooling off in the river as we were sat poolside on not only one but three separate occasions! Every meal and cocktail was 10/10 - not to mention the amazing birthday braai and cake the staff arranged for my 30th birthday. The rooms were beautiful, clean, spacious and private whilst offering perfect views of the river. Couldn't recommend it enough and will be encouraging friends & family to visit!

Stayed in March 2024

There is nothing not to like.

Absolutely everything. The property is stunning, the staff the best. The service goes above and beyond. The game drives give you the most meaningful experience in the bush. You may see the big 5 or you may not but it doesn’t matter as you get to live the bush and understand its delicate and complex ecosystem. It was one of the best experiences I have ever had.

Stayed in February 2024

- Meal portion and lack of variety - Some insects in the room - Only water is free and all other drinks (even soft) are chargeable

The views, the location by the river, the room facilities, the game drives, the staff as well as animal encounters at the lodge

Stayed in January 2024

Lowlights: - Food quantity is very minimal especially for lunch. We had to order a side of toast with every meal so we could feel satisfied. For dinner, the portion is amazing but the problem is you have lunch at 13:00 and dinner at 20:00, in between there is only the food for before the drive (so a little cake, nothing much savory). We even asked for more food for lunch and offer to pay for it but was denied. Also, there are only 2 options for lunch. Usually a very small salad and then something with protein ( for instance, one day it was literally just two fish cakes and the other day just 2 Arancini the size of a truffle) - The property started being conserved very recently, so they are just now having animals there. We didn’t get to see many animals on our game drives, it is a very Bushy area so to spot animals we had to go very deep out of the trail sometime. It was our first experience, so we liked it (got to see 3 out of the Big 5) but the family that were going on the drives with us said it was a disappointing reserve because of the lack of animals. So, if it’s your first time: amazing, go for it!! I would say 3 days is enough If it’s not, then I am not sure about the diversity of animals in the reserve *** NOTE ESPECIALLY TO ABELANA *** — the transportation service they use (sable tours) is not the best. On the way to the lodge, the experience was ok, but on the way to the airport the driver was horrible and truly put our lives at risk. He was driving checking his phone all the time, almost hit the car twice, (thank god we were wearing seatbelts, my mom almost hit her face and got injured). I suggest abelana switching providers, or if you book transportation request a different company for your own safety!!!!!! This is not the property’s fault and I had nowhere to give this feedback as the ride was for the airport.

Highlights: - Rooms are very comfortable! Cozy for the winter because there is a fireplace and amazing for summer because of the balcony in the rooms (where I tanned every morning :) ) - Very protected area, so there are animals naturally around the property. We got to see elephants bathing and playing in the river from our balcony, monkeys were always jumping on our rooftop! - Service is amazing, shout out to Cedric our Ranger!

Stayed in January 2024

We had an amazing time with Nathalie and the entire lovely team of Abelana River Lodge. Special thanks to Thomas, our tour guide, who showed us the big 5 in 3 game drives - extraordinary! Next to that we were even able to attend a bush walk with John, which was a completely new experience to us. Over all, everyone is very lovely and welcoming, the service, rooms, the lodge itself and food is just wonderful. You made our trip end with an unforgettable experience by the stay at your great place. Thanks so much, Nadine&Robert

Stayed in November 2023

Welcome kit, coffee and tea, non At 5 stars. They keep to offer you cocktail At the afternoon but those are not free. This is not Clear At all.

Nice location and safari

Stayed in October 2023

Limited food selection, although it was all good meals, I would’ve like a bit more variety

Clean common spaces, very friendly staff

Stayed in September 2023

1 night they changed from a set menu to buffet. Even though the food was amazing I rather sit and enjoy company of my family the getting up for buffet. And WIFI at the main building was quite poor. I loved that there was no wifi in the houses. But I needed to do some work and wifi signal was quite bad. Leaving me stranded to finish what I needed to.

A real gem, Amazing staff, amazing location and amazing food. Really well organised and just a pleasure to stay at. I love the attention to details like the game drive drinks and the little snacks before game drives. Perhaps a bigger wine collection would have been nice. But that is just nitpicking/

Stayed in August 2023

Almost nothing. Only thing I mentioned to the staff was that the bush was slightly too thick. So sometimes you don’t see any animals. But other then that nothing to say!

Everything, location, staff, food, enthusiasm, ambience For us as a family we really enjoyed every second and our guide/driver Eden was really fantastic and did his utmost best to make every second memorable.

Stayed in August 2023

There’s no fence around the lounge so it’s a bit scary sometimes

The property was private and have beautiful view of the dam

Stayed in October 2023

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Stayed in December 2023

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Stayed in July 2023

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Stayed in April 2023

There are no comments available for this review

Stayed in July 2022