Ulusaba Safari Lodge
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Sabi Sand, Kruger National Park 1242 South Africa
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Room & Suite (142)
Dining (45)
About
#1 of 2 Speciality lodging in Ulusaba Private Game Reserve
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Travellers' Choice
Safari Lodge is built along the banks of the dry Mabrak riverbed. The 11 rooms at Safari Lodge include a Treehouse Suite overlooking the nearby Xikwenga Dam as well as three other room types: Safari, Elephant and River Rooms, some of which have private plunge pools. Kids over the age of 12 are welcome to stay at Safari Lodge.
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Full view
Property amenities
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Pool
Fitness Centre with Gym / Workout Room
Bar / lounge
Tennis court
Airport transportation
Spa
Concierge
Wifi
Pool with view
Outdoor pool
Restaurant
Breakfast buffet
Massage
Gift shop
Mosquito net
Non-smoking hotel
Outdoor furniture
Laundry service
Ironing service
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Room features
Air conditioning
Room service
Safe
Minibar
Room types
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Family rooms
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
HOTEL STYLE
Great View
Luxury
Languages Spoken
Afrikaans
495Reviews47Q+A100Room tips
Reviews
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Popular mentions
My lovely wife and I returned to Ulusaba to celebrate our anniversary, having got married there 6 years ago. This time we spent 6 nights and were joined by friends for 3 of those nights. We were warmly welcomed and it was wonderful to meet up with several members of the team that were there 6 years ago. We again stayed at Safari Lodge which is built along the banks of the dry Mabrak riverbed and our room gave the feeling of being in the heart of the bush. The lodge is awesome, with rooms spread out either side of the central communal area and swimming pool. We visited the spa which gives the feeling of being out in the open bush. The shop has some great clothing and we left with full bags! The staff are friendly, so very helpful and highly efficient. They went out of their way to fulfil our every need and delivered above and beyond! Special thanks to our hosts Sandra, Janine, Anel and Sam. We were fortunate to have dinner in various locations - a private dinner in the wine cellar, at the private Safari suite, next to a fire in the TV lounge, in the Boma and out on the deck. Breakfast was held on the breakfast deck after returning from the morning game drive. Lunch was also served there, but we could simply not eat so much! The food was excellent and we regularly sent our compliments to the chefs. Under the current promotions, all alcohol other than French Champagnes are included, and we were able to let out hair down. Stuart was our guide for the duration of our stay, ably supported by Respect as our tracker. What an awesome team and we were spoiled with some amazing sightings and they made every effort to get us in position for photography too. We have visited several game lodges in the past few months and Ulusaba has the best and most consistent covid procedures in place. Hand sanitisers everywhere, staff were masks at all times, guests in communal areas. Even your coffee and drinks stop snacks are separately packed for each couple. Our only frustration was with the perspex covid screens erected behind the guide as they take away a bit of the legroom and mist up early mornings. However, we understand their need in the current conditions. Luckily, as we were only 4 guests on our vehicle for most of our stay, we simply avoided that row of seats. We could go on and on raving about Ulusaba and the memories made during our stay. We will most definitely be back and would highly recommend Ulusaba.…
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Date of stay: April 2021
Cleanliness
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Helpful
Response from General Manager, Other at Ulusaba Safari Lodge
Responded 2 days ago
Dear Les P, Wow what a wonderful review! Thank you so much for taking the time to share it with us. Safe to say it was an absolute honour to welcome you and your wife back to Ulusaba to celebrate your anniversary after such a special wedding six years ago. There’s nothing we love more than a celebration so it was pure magic to be a part of such a special trip for you both and your friends – who we loved meeting by the way! The team were truly touched to hear your kind words, none more so than Sandra, Janine, Anel, Sam and Stuart who were all thrilled to be personally mentioned! It was lovely to hear how you were able to capture your sightings and hope the photographs you have will be wonderful memories of your time with us, until you can visit again. As such seasoned travellers, it meant such a great deal to hear your comments about some of the additional measures we have put in place at Ulusaba; making sure our guests have complete peace of mind whilst still being able to enjoy the magic of a safari is our top priority. There’s no greater compliment to us than hearing that our guests would recommend us, so we really can’t thank you enough and we are already looking forward to seeing you again…. We’ll put some bubbly on ice! Until then… Have a magic day, Karl Langdon General Manager karl@ulusaba.virgin.com
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We went back for our 6th visit this time to Safari lodge. And despite all the precautions, they did not interfere with our amazing visit. The staff are wonderful, all the precautions were managed very discreetly by them so we knew that we were safe, being elderly this was important for us. We brought friends on a first visit and they were blown away by the experience they can't wait to return. I do hope that many more South Africans will take the opportunity, with this special rate for us in SA, to visit particularly since we cannot as yet travel abroad. This is such a great opportunity to enjoy the best SA has to offer! We cannot wait to make our 7th visit much better value that going to the UK. Thank you all at Safari Lodge for making this trip so special as always, to Sandra, Janine, Corrine (for the amazing cuisine) and of course our rangers Tom and Sipho (spectacular game viewing) and not to forget Benjamin and other staff who served our great food and wines! lots of love to you all and keep well.…
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Date of stay: October 2020
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip: all rooms are equally luxurious as far as we could tell
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Helpful
Response from General Manager, Other at Ulusaba Safari Lodge
Responded 29 Oct 2020
Dear Sandra D, It is always such a joy welcoming you back to Ulusaba and so we were delighted to receive your wonderful review. We always strive to offer the best possible experience for our guests and what is more important than ever is that we continue to share the Ulusaba magic, but just in a slightly different way – making sure our guests’ safety and wellbeing is our number one priority and that everyone can feel comfortable. On behalf of the whole team we wanted to thank you for your kind words, and Sandra, Janine, Corrine, Tom, Sipho and Benjamin were positively beaming to receive personal mentions. It’s such a privilege for us to be able to welcome guests from around South Africa and help them discover the beauty that’s on their doorstep and share the safari experience with them. We are already looking forward to welcoming you back for trip number 7 and can’t wait to see you again. Until next time… Have a magic day, Karl & Llane Langdon General Managers karl@ulusaba.virgin.com
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What an experience! Sorry for the delay in reviewing. This is just perfect from start to finish - our team was just stunning with Jay our driver (now married I presume) providing an amazing experience. My wife was emotional the day we left such was the perfect experience delivered. Words are not adequate, this place is heaven on Earth in every respect. Thank you 🙏
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Date of stay: October 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
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Response from General Manager, Other at Ulusaba Safari Lodge
Responded 6 Oct 2020
Dear craigwY6767KV, We were so delighted to read your lovely review and you needn’t apologise at all for any delay, we always love hearing from our guests at any time! It was such a pleasure to welcome you and your wife for your honeymoon and we couldn’t be happier to hear how much you enjoyed your stay. We hope it won’t be too long until we can welcome you back to our little haven in the bush. Have a magic day, Karl & Llane Langdon General Managers karl@ulusaba.virgin.com
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+1
We stayed here at the end February this year, so has taken a while to write this review, which is in no way a reflection of our experience. Unfortunately like most of the tourism industry the hotel has had to temporarily close its doors and we wish all those associated with the hotel all the very best. We have been watching the Ulusaba Sofa Safari broadcasts every Monday and while they have been extremely entertaining and informative there’s nothing like being there for real. This was our 4th visit in 7yrs for what was going to be a once in a lifetime trip when we came in 2013 for our honeymoon, but we just keep being drawn back to this magical place. Despite this we always seem to come away with special memories from each trip. We flew into Ulusaba’s own airstrip from Johannesburg with Fedair which takes about 75minutes and is a great way to arrive. Upon arrival you complete the check in formalities at the airstrip while having a glass of sparkling wine or two. You are picked up by your Ranger (Kyle) and Tracker (Canny) with whom you will be with on all of your game drives. We were fortunate to stay in River Room 2 with its own plunge pool, having previously stayed in the Elephant and Safari rooms which are closer to the main lodge. All of the rooms are excellent and very in keeping with the surroundings. The River Rooms are accessed by rope bridge which can be quite entertaining late at night after what’s generally been a very social evening. You are escorted back to your room at night but in the mornings you are free to go from the room to the lodge unescorted. Breakfast will be with the other guests on your jeep, maximum of six though often less and you will be joined by your Ranger to chat about the mornings drive. Dinner is again communal but generally one big table for all the guests staying at the lodge, which makes for quite a social and interesting experience. Most don’t bother to change for dinner after the evening drive but just go straight to the bar, it’s not really a dressy affair. There’s also a few surprises along the way!!! The service levels here are incredible, managing to be both extremely relaxed but efficient at the same time. Nothing is too much trouble you only need to mention something in the passing then it magically appears even if if was simply an observation and not actually a request. We mentioned that we hadn’t stopped any of the mornings for pancakes in the bush which had done on previous visits and the next morning they had a pancake station set up at breakfast. My wife had gone to the bar for a bottle of something bubbly to celebrate our arrival and enjoy in the plunge pool and had selected a particular bottle. This was duly noted and a bottle was in our breakfast picnic for my birthday out in the bush. Another bottle was there in an ice bucket when we arrived back in our room from the picnic.... We had laundry done a couple of times when there, and couldn’t believe how quickly it reappeared. Same day on one occasion. There are so many people in the background that you don’t come into contact with that make this place what it is, but a special thanks to Anel, Chaila, Jeanine, Kyle and Canny, and a shout out to Vickers and Chrisna at rock lodge when we were up for our spa treatments. We have been lucky to travel extensively over the years but no other hotel has ever come close to here, we look forward to it immensely and are never disappointed when we are there. The vibe that exists here is truly magical and we find it instantly relaxing from the moment we arrive until we depart. All we can say is that we have booked again to come back in February 21, hopefully things have gotten back to some normality by then.... Ps. Couldn’t have had a better birthday, was an unbelievable day and can’t express how much we appreciated the effort that went into it.…
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Cleanliness
Service
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from General Manager, Other at Ulusaba Safari Lodge
Responded 6 Oct 2020
Dear StuJen_13, We were so delighted to hear from you and to read your wonderful review. It was, and always is, such a pleasure to welcome you to Ulusaba and we couldn’t be happier to hear that you left us with more special memories in February. It’s these memories we have all held so dear during these strange times while we haven’t been able to travel as much as we once did, but absolutely will again! You’re so kind to share such lovely words about your stay, and the team were thrilled to hear your compliments about the service. We absolutely love a celebration and so it was a real joy to help you celebrate your birthday with some bubbles! Anel, Chaila, Jeanine, Kyle, Canny, Vickers and Chrisna were really touched to receive personal mentions, so thank you for making their day. It’s a real honour to hear that you think no other hotel compares to Ulusaba, and we are truly moved and so grateful that you feel that way. We are already looking forward to welcoming you both back in February, and can’t wait to catch up then. See you very soon! Have a magic day, Karl & Llane Langdon General Managers karl@ulusaba.virgin.com
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Set on a hill, with great views. This was our 3rd safari lodge on this trip. We found the staff and surrounding very corporate, in a luxury lodge. One member of staff a little too over friendly !!! and the ranger more interested in his own personal safari tour, than his customers experience. Good food and were able to help ourselves to drinks when needed. Dinners were eating all together, on one large table, which was fun meeting others. We enjoyed our 1st two lodges more, which were more rustic, set out in the bush, with the wild animals and the staff were genuinely friendly
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Date of stay: October 2019
2 Helpful votes
Helpful
Response from VirginLimitedEdition, General Manager at Ulusaba Safari Lodge
Responded 23 Mar 2020
Dear Parlour Cottage W, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your valued feedback. We’re very happy to hear that there were many elements to your stay that you enjoyed. We find the communal dining experience at dinner to be very popular and so we’re glad to hear that you had fun getting to know the other guests. We always strive to ensure our guests have the best possible experience whilst they’re with us and therefore only sorry that it didn’t quite live up to expectations for you. To help us fully understand your comments we would like the opportunity to speak with you about this in further detail directly, if you would be so kind to contact us at the email address below. Have a magic day, Karl & Llane Langdon General Managers karl@ulusaba.virgin.com
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ALSO KNOWN AS
ulusaba safari hotel ulusaba private game reserve
LOCATION
South AfricaKruger National ParkSabi Sand Game ReserveUlusaba Private Game Reserve
NUMBER OF ROOMS
11
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Claim Your Listing Frequently Asked Questions about Ulusaba Safari Lodge
What are some of the property amenities at Ulusaba Safari Lodge?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free wifi, a pool, and an on-site restaurant.
Which room amenities are available at Ulusaba Safari Lodge?
Top room amenities include a minibar, air conditioning, and a mosquito net.
What food & drink options are available at Ulusaba Safari Lodge?
Guests can enjoy an on-site restaurant and a lounge during their stay.
Are there opportunities to exercise at Ulusaba Safari Lodge?
Yes, guests have access to a pool and a fitness centre during their stay.
Does Ulusaba Safari Lodge have an airport shuttle?
Yes, Ulusaba Safari Lodge offers an airport shuttle for guests. We recommend calling ahead to confirm details.
Is Ulusaba Safari Lodge located near the city centre?
Yes, it is 0.4 miles away from the centre of Ulusaba Private Game Reserve.