Imbali Safari Lodge

The Imbali Safari Lodge is a fantastic Kruger destination. The staff is super friendly and service is excellent. The tiki hut style rooms are very comfortable and include a nice 4 piece bathroom, privacy screened deck with plunge pool, lounge chairs, mosquito netted king bed, coffee and a fully stocked fridge. Food is excellent with buffet style breakfast and lunch. Dinner selections are served in courses and have been delicious. Game viewing from the main deck has been great as well. I have attached just a few game pics. Wonderful to enjoy a beverage while witnessing nature's wonders. The game drives are also a great experience. Victor, our driver always greets with a friendly smile and shares a wealth of knowledge. Couldn't hope for better!

My wife has never been to the Kruger National Park, so I decided to treat her to a 5-star Lodge experience for her very special birthday celebration. After lots of research and reading all reviews, we decided to stay at the Hoyo Hoyo 5-star Safari Lodge for 3 nights and at the Imbali 5-star Safari Lodge for 2 nights. IMBALI The Cost per person per day was R 9 403 and included accommodation, all meals, local beverages and 2 x Safari drives per day. ACCOMMODATION The accommodation was decent and spacious. There was only a minibar but also no expresso machine in our suite which we believe should have been standard, especially for the price we paid. The mini bar was only stocked with some water and gas cooldrinks including tonic water but no gin or any other local alcohol. CUISINE The food, albeit fresh, was not on par with any 4 or 5-star establishments that we have been to and food choices were limited. There was only one Expresso/Coffee machine and at times there were 12 - 15 guests around. On our first night, we were informed that all guests will be treated to a braai/barbeque in the large Boma after our game drive which initially sounded exciting. Upon our arrival, my wife and I were ushered to a table to join 4-men of which one was our Game Ranger and the other 3 contractors staying over at Imbali as they were performing work there for the week. There were no other tables available so we decided to make the best of it, but did not enjoy it. The service we received on our first night in the Boma was shockingly bad. We had to fetch our water and red wine from a central bar counter as all the waitrons were mostly gathered around a large table of international guests and not taking much care of our ‘South African” table. The meat was tough and the side dishes very average, overall just a bad first evening experience. We had a private table the second evening and the food and service were better except for the choices of wine which were mediocre. (same as Hoya Hoya) Rather offer good wines and limit them to 1 bottle per person/couple per day. SAFARI DRIVES They were well organised with good rangers and comfortable vehicles although the sitings were not as good as I have seen when driving on the tar roads before. WELLNESS TREATMENT We decided not to book any wellness treatments given our experience at Hoyo Hoyo. SERVICE We were well received upon our arrival and after checking in we requested 2 x in-room Gym bags and we were promised that it would still be delivered to us that afternoon which did not materialise. We went and collected it ourselves the next morning. The general service was not as good as Hoya Hoya and certainly not acceptable for a 5-star establishment. NOISE POLLUTION During our last afternoon rest before the game drive, we were rudely disturbed by loud machine noise nearby our suite, and when we enquired about it, we were told that it is contractors doing excavation work. The bottle of sparkling wine and fruit received thereafter as an apology does not make up for it. Surely management should know when maintenance work is performed and then to assure that guests are housed far away from any form of disturbance? CONCLUSION Given our experience, Imbali does not offer good Value for Money as we have stayed at many other 4 and 5-star Lodges that offer much better value for money. Given our disappointing experience, we give Imbali 2.5 out of 5-stars