Hotel a Ladysmith

"Amazing stay with Nambiti Plains - very highly recommended. We chose to celebrate a big milestone in South Africa to create some very special memories. We toured from Joburg, through Nambiti to Durban and then onto Cape Town, and Nambiti Plains why by far the most memorable experience. Not only did we get to see each of the Big 5, we had close-up encounters with many animals on every game drive. Phil, our guide, was absolutely amazing and kept us captivated and engaged throughout - its easy to see why he won Safari Game Drive Guide of the Year. In addition to the 2x3hr drives each day (sunrise and sunset) we also did a guided Walk with Phil and got scarily close to a Rhino and some Buffalo! Nambiti (especially in the Winter) is amazing - every day we saw Buffalo, Black Rhino, White Rhino, Elephant, Giraffe and Zebra. One day one we heard the roar of a Lion close-up, the next day we found them feasting on a kill, and the next day we saw them mating! Really great Safari experience. In terms of the accommodation it was certainly 5*. We loved the sympathetic design, the lodges really blended into the environment, and we often had wild animals roaming right up to the lodges. The rooms were spacious, clean and well appointed. Housekeeping was amazing and inconspicuous. The food was very good, wide selection for breakfast, varied options for dinner - and chef was happy to take requests. Facilities were okay (noting the main attraction are the game drives) but no Gym or Spa and neither would have been out of place at a 5* resort and would have been used by our group. Service was the best we experienced in South Africa, everyone was super friendly and attentive - and being a small team they remembered our names just as we could remember theirs (Magdel, Cindi, Mambosa, Kate, Precious and Bethi). For example, we had a problem with our transfer on arrival day so arrived too late for the scheduled game drive, but Magdel and Kate kindly put on a special shorter game drive so we didn't miss out - nice touch. However, everywhere else we stayed (and had meals at) put on some cake or bubbles to celebrate our milestone - but sadly not Nambiti Plains - though on the final day they did dress the room a little. I'm 100% sure it was an oversight as we otherwise were treated like family. If I had mentioned it they'd definitely have done something, but to be honest the memories Philip helped us create were more than enough. We only stayed four days, but shed a tear when we were leaving - you will absolutely enjoy your Safari experience at Nambiti Plains."