Mhondoro Safari Lodge

Style

Sofa safari

Setting

Where white rhino roam

All-inclusive Mhondoro Safari Lodge & Villa is in wildlife-rich Welgevonden game reserve, where rare white rhino roam. This all-stilted-suites lodge — dressed with African artifacts and modern furnishings — is a hive of animal activity with daily game drives and bushwalks. But it’s equally set up for ‘sofa safari’: the restaurant and pool overlook a busy watering hole. The pièce de résistance is an underground tunnel that runs to a custom-built hide, where you can watch bull elephants take their morning drink.

Facilities

Habitaciones

10, including six suites.

Checkout

11am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 2pm.

Más detalles

Rates are all-inclusive. At breakfast, you can expect a buffet with fresh pastries, muesli, fruit and cold cuts; Continental and American dishes; and classics like a hearty full English made with locally sourced meat.

Also

Unfortunately, the stony paths and layout of the lodge make Mhondoro Safari Lodge unsuitable if you use a wheelchair.

Gimnasio

Acceso gratis a internet

Lavandería

Piscina

Restaurante en el hotel

Servicio de habitaciones

Spa

At the Hotel

Waterhole hide; star-gazing deck; massage suite with an outdoor soaking tub; curio shop; free WiFi throughout; laundry. In rooms: minibar; Nespresso coffee machine; tea kit; free bottled water; Rain Africa bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

With just five suites and a villa, there are no dud rooms here. They’ve all got stylish, earthy interiors, grand bathrooms and views that stretch to the distant bushland. But if we’re forced to pick favourites, the Honeymoon Suite would come out on top. It’s furthest from the main lodge, making it seem as if you’ve got the place to yourself when you’re in the valley-facing plunge pool or gazing at the stars from the daybed.

Poolside

The outdoor pool curves along the sundeck outside the lounge, giving swimmers an elevated view of the watering hole and untamed bushland beyond. The safari doesn’t all happen in the distance, however – elephants don’t just visit the watering hole, they come to drink from the pool almost every day, making this the perfect spot to see them up close.

Spa

The lodge has a dedicated massage suite with a pitched timber roof, a wood-burning stove, pretreatment lounge chairs and space for two beds – though you can also choose to have your treatment on the deck, where the smell of the earth and sound of the birds only adds to the pacifying rituals. The menu includes deep tissue and hot stone massages, aromatherapy treatments, facials and pedicures, all of which use products by Rain Africa, who use indigenous plants and products that have been used by African healers since antiquity. There’s also a soaking tub out on the deck, which is filled with milky, herb-infused water and surrounded with flickering lanterns.

Packing Tips

A Leica M and plenty of film, for capturing the wildlife in razor-sharp black and white.

Also

Boost the soothing effect of safari by booking onto one of the hotel’s five-night wellness programs, which combines the safari experience with guided yoga, mindfulness and meditations sessions; a three-day juice diet; spa treatments; massages and more.

Niños

All ages are very welcome, and there’s a four-person family suite and villa for those travelling with children. There’s plenty to keep little Smiths occupied, too, including indoor and outdoor play areas, archery, insect walks and kids’ bumble drives.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

There are only a few to choose from and each is as good as the next.

Código de vestimenta

You’re out in the wild here, so your safari gear will do fine.

Hotel Restaurant

The restaurant is in the main lodge building, letting you watch animals at the waterhole as you eat. The concise menu and constantly changing – there’s usually two starters and three mains for each meal, with meat, fish and vegetarian option each time. The dishes range across modern African and European cuisines, representing South Africa’s diverse heritage and culinary traditions – over the course of a meal, you can expect dishes like ostrich tartare, lobster paella and duck confit. The chefs keep the restaurant as self-sustainable as possible, using produce grown in the lodge greenhouse whenever they can. All the snacks taken on game drives are homemade, too.

Hotel Bar

The bar is at the end of the lounge, giving it the same views as the restaurant. Guests often mingle over drinks at the end of game drives, proving particularly partial to the house take on the gin and tonic. South African Woodstock gin is poured over thick blocks of ice and left to chill for five minutes, then topped with pickled ginger and Fitch and Leedes tonic. House wines (served by the glass) are free, but if you’re after something really special, the lodge has its own wine cellar stocked with some of South Africa’s best vintages.

Last Orders

The lodge restaurant is open from 7am to 10pm. Breakfast is usually from 7am to 10am, but late breakfasts can be arranged on request.

Room Service

The full menu is available during restaurant hours.

Planes

OR Tambo International Airport is closest, and can can be reached directly from London Heathrow and most European hubs. The drive from the airport to the lodge takes around three hours; the hotel can organise private transfers. If you’re looking to shave some time off your transfer (and get bird’s eye views while you’re at it), charter a plane to Welgevonden Western Airstrip, a 15-minute drive from the lodge.

Automobiles

You won’t need a car once you’re on the reserve, as you’ll do all your game drives in custom vehicles with an experienced ranger at the wheel. If you want to hire at the airport and drive to the reserve yourself, the Smith24 team can arrange it.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

With over 34,000 hectares of the Welgevonden reserve to play with, the main attraction is the wildlife. Most guests go on two game drives a day: the first starts early in the morning when the animals are on the hunt for food; the second usually departs around 4pm, once the midday heat has passed. Alongside the big five, you’ll have a chance of seeing cheetah, giraffe, crocodile, hippo and rhino – Welgevonden is famous for having the largest number of white rhino of any privately owned reserve in the world. Alongside the drives, guided bush walks allow you to leave the road to get closer to the animals (in the company of expert rangers, of course). if you’re looking for something really special, book a white rhino tracking walk – your chances of seeing a whole ‘crash’ of these incredibly rare mammals is much higher than most other reserves. Back at the lodge, the underground waterhole hide lets you get eye to eye with thirsty animals, and the lodge and pool also command uninterrupted views of the action. Before dinner, you’ll have time to squeeze in a limbering hot stone massage or soak in the open-air tub, where you can watch the sun setting over the bushland. Once dusk has fallen, stop by the star deck, which has a computer-enhanced telescope that lights up the constellations in all their glory.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .