2 outdoor pools, pool umbrellas, pool loungers
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Reviews of Bukela Game Lodge Amakhala Game Reserve

5 out of 5
Bukela Game Lodge Amakhala Game Reserve
Amakhala Game Reserve, Paterson, Eastern Cape

Reviews

8.4

Very good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 8 out of 15 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 4 out of 15 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 1 out of 15 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 15 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 15 reviews" "

8.8/10

Cleanliness

8.4/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Alison, Wilton

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
A luxury all- inclusive game lodge experience. The 8km drive from the main road is dirt and gravel so a little challenging for our tiny hire car. A warm welcome on arrival and our room was very spacious and comfortable ( the bed was quite hard but perhaps the mattress was new). An indoor and outdoor shower meant you could wash under the incredible stars in the night sky if so inclined. Lodge was comfortable and well decorated if slightly lacking in atmosphere. Not sure if the pools were for swimming in but they looked attractive. Meals were all delicious with generous portions. The highlight of course was the game drives - you are assigned one ranger for your stay and get two drives per night stay. Our driver Edisonnwas completely brilliant and made sure we saw Lions, Elephant, Giraffe and Rhino as well as numerous species of antelope, baboons and birds. We managed three drives but opted on our last morning to relax at the lodge instead. There are more luxurious lodges out there but this is at the high end of the less expensive lodges on Amakhala.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2022
Response from Bukela Game Lodge on 19 Jul 2022
Dear Alison Thank you for this 5/5 review. It was a pleasure to have you stay with us and we hope to welcome you back one day!

8/10 Good

Kevin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Lodge with awful access road for cars
A great lodge in Amakhala reserve. Accommodation very good but in need of upkeep. Balcony furniture was in a sorry state and outside shower was too unhygenic to use
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2021

8/10 Good

Michael

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent game drives and good accommodation
Main reason to visit is the game drives and these were excellent. Lucky, our guide, was fun and informative. The tent was amazing and comfortable. The staff,with one exception, were very welcoming and eager to see were pleased. Minor blemishes, evening meals disappointing and minibar items used were not replaced. Amakhala highly recommended for inclusion on South African tour.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2019
Response from The Bukela Team on 7 Nov 2019
Dear Michael, Thank you so much for your review received. It was great meeting you and we are so pleased that you chose Bukela as your safari destination. If you are ever in our area again, please do pop in. Warm Regards, The Bukela Team

10/10 Excellent

Lauren

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Brilliant Bukhela
Brilliant service, amazing setting, loved it! Highly recommended
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019
Response from The Bukela Team on 3 Oct 2019
Dear Lauren, Thank you for your kind review received. It was such a pleasure meeting you and we look forward to seeing you back on safari real soon. Warm Regards, The Bukela Team

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The perfect stay for a luxurious safari!
Bukela Game Lodge is the perfect stay for a short safari. We stayed 2 days at the lodge and never experienced such a luxury. The staff makes sure everything is perfectly arranged. Bukela is the only lodge that is not fenced in the area which makes it possible to wake up and have wild animals outside your front door. Would definitely recommend Bukela!
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2019
Response from The Bukela Team on 25 Sept 2019
Hi there, Thank you kindly for your review received. It was great meeting you and hosting you for a couple of nights. We appreciate your recommendation and we look forward to seeing you again real soon. Warm Regards, The Bukela Team

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2017
Response from Carlos on 10 Nov 2017
Hi there, thank you for the kind review! We're glad you enjoyed your stay with us and hope to see you again soon. All the best, The Bukela team

10/10 Excellent

Mary-Laure

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Allez-y
Séjour parfait, staff sympathique, bonne nourriture, très bon guide
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2022

6/10 Okay

Mingyuet

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Bukela is a beautiful stay, facilities are great, friendly staff and our ranger (Sim) was very knowledgeable. Foodwise is really below average, just not good especially for a 5* resort. It felt like diner was prepared during the day and heated up in the evening, just not fresh. Breakfast was really poor. Only meal that was good was the lunch. No snacks during the day. Due to this matter i will not likely to visit Bukela again nor reconmend to anyone which is regretful as the staff and facilities were great. For the price you pay I would have expected high quality meals.

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
die Lage ist wunderbar, das Wasserloch lockt viele Tiere an, bei uns kamen 2x über 25 Elefanten, die beiden Pools sind klein aber sehr angenehm und schön gemacht, die Hütten könnten sauberer sein, das Essen könnte besser sein, das Servicepersonal war sehr langsam und manchmal einwenig unwissend, die Einführung am Anfang war trocken und kurz.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020
Response from The Bukela Team on 23 Mar 2020
Hi there, Thank you kindly for your review received. We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your feedback and we will take all your comments mentioned into consideration. We look forward to hopefully welcoming you to Bukela in the near future so that we can better your experience with us. Warm Regards, The Bukela Team

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Großartige Anlage mit liebenswertem Personal
Liebe zum Detail, wunderschöne Chalets mit Ofen und Blick in den Giebel. Die Ranger gaben sich jede Mühe, die Big 5 aufzuspüren.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019
Response from The Bukela Team on 2 Aug 2019
Hi there, Thank you so much for your kind review. It was great meeting and hosting you and we look forward to your return visit - hopefully very soon. Warm Regards, The Bukela Team

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lodge mit hervorragendem Preis-Leistungsverhältnis
Eine großartige Lodge, die sich durch liebevolle Details und persönliche und herzliche Atmosphäre auszeichnet. In den reetgedeckten Häusern hat man einen freien Blick in den Dachgiebel.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019
Response from The Bukela Team on 31 Jul 2019
Hi there, Thank you so much for your wonderful review. It was so great meeting and hosting you and we look forward to seeing you again real soon. Warm Regards, The Bukela Team

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveller

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hinweis für Expedia: Die Lodge war überbucht !
Wir mussten in die Hlosi Lodge ausweichen und sind nach einem Tag voller Ärger abgereist. Das Management hat uns zugesagt, Expedia zu informieren und uns den kompletten Buchungsbetrag zu erstatten.

4/10 Poor

Edgar

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service
Für uns kein Luxusresort und schon gar keine *****
Leider konnten wir bei unserem Aufenthalt die vorangegangenen Bewertungen so gar nicht nachvollziehen. Entweder hatten wir einfach Pech... oder aber die Qualität in "fast" allen Bereichen hat extremst nachgelassen. Wir haben 2 Nächte dort verbracht. Wir wurden weder nach unserem Game Drive am 1. Abend besonders in Empfang genommen, noch wurde der Abend besonders gemütlich zelebriert (es war auch kein Manager vor Ort) und bei meiner Nachfrage nach dem Abendessen, nach einem Amarula wurde ich vom Personal schräg angeschaut, noch wurde generell nach Getränkewünschen gefragt. Man musste jeder Flasche Wasser hinter herlaufen. Am 2. Abend war es dann sehr viel gemütlicher eingedeckt (die Managerin war diesmal vor Ort) dafür waren leider beide Gerichte eine völlige Katastrophe. Das Lamm war so durch, dass man es weder schneiden noch kauen konnte und der Fisch "roch", dass alle Gäste ihn zurück gehen liessen. So etwas darf doch nicht passieren. Am 2. Morgen mussten wir nach der Rückkehr des morgendlichen, dreistündigen Game Drives über 1 Stunde auf Kaffee und Frühstück warten (dabei ist doch bekannt, wann man zurückkommt... und die Managerin war vor Ort) Leider war auch unserer Fahrer bei den ersten Fahrten sehr unmotiviert, was sich dann erst auf der letzten Fahrt gebessert hat. Zum Glück haben wir aber trotzdem einige Tiere zu sehen bekommen. Alles in allem (unsere Klimaanlage in der Hütte war auch noch defekt) waren wir leider ziemlich enttäuscht von der gesamten Entwicklung!

10/10 Excellent

klaus schön, rhein main gebiet

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Service, Hotel, Ranger, Tiere....alles perfekt....
Einfach super.......super.....super......super....super......was soll ich noch schreiben...
Response from Shane on 8 Apr 2016
Thank you so much. We are glad you enjoyed yourself so much.