Emhosheni River Lodge

We had a fantastic experience. The service was on another level and the food was delicious. We also really enjoyed the view on the river. The lodge is very stylish and the host really made us feel-at-home.

This place and our vacation at Park Kruger surpassed anything we could have hoped for. The lodge has big game all around and is just outside of Park Kruger proper so going into the park was easy. The lodge itself is a little tropical paradise, and the staff put all their effort and attention into making your experience perfect. The manager knows all the fun activities to do in the surrounding areas and organizes everything for you to fit your schedule. I'm recommending this place to anyone who will listen.

Truly amazing service! Thank you to Karen for ensuring that we had everything we needed. A HUGE shout out and thank you to Mme Paulina - what a sweetheart! She's absolutely amazing. Had a great game drive with Paul & really learnt a lot. Highly recommended and will definitely be back.It's best to have a 4x4 when going there or expect a long bumpy drive navigating from the gate to the lodge.

We loved our stay at Emhosheni. The staff welcomed us with a drink and cold towels. Throughout our whole stay everybody was going out of their way to make our stay a truly exceptional one. The safari was spectacular but actually you could also just sit at the pool and observe the hippos in the river - how amazing is that? The accommodations were beautifully designed with an eye on details, absolutely clean and welcoming - just the right combination of modern and authentic African style.I enjoyed in particular the amazing food. We were spoiled with absolute delicious food and excellent wines. What else do you need to call your holidays PERFECT?!

Emhosheni River Lodge takes first place when measured up to all the other resorts, hotels, and lodges I have stayed at throughout my decades of traveling. My family’s treasured visit to South Africa and Kruger Park would not have been the same had we stayed elsewhere. Emhoshini is a rare gem, offering top-quality services, hospitality, housing, views, outings, and gaming.The staff is highly professional, kind, and preemptively attentive to your needs. Mareycke did an incredible job at customizing our visit and day trips to our desired schedule and encapsulating what we had envisioned for our dream safari. Our ranger, Adele, is highly qualified and recognized by others in the community for her knowledge and familiarity with the African bush. She is an absolute pleasure to have on the outings, taught us plenty, and never made us feel silly with our endless questions. Our server, Eric, and head chef, Lucia, did an exceptional job at making every meal a magical experience all the while attending to two restrictive diets in the family. From the daily changes in décor for our table, to the artistically plated dishes, we felt like royalty dining at a Michelin-star restaurant. On our last night, which also happened to be SA’s National Heritage Day, the staff treated us to a tasty braai and performance sharing their traditional garb, dance, and song – a memory that will always be cherished.We stayed in Chalet 2, which met our every need but also provided us the breathtaking view of the Olifants River. Every moment of downtime was spent with binoculars and a camera on the viewing deck or lounge chairs, observing the various animals congregating at the river’s edge and the watering hole. From the comfort of the secured grounds, we were able to see lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, baboons, kudu, impala, vultures, and many more. The property is well maintained and manicured, whilst preserving the charm and beauty of the native environment. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of wildlife in the more hilly landscape of the Balule Nature Reserve. This is also a great location if you happen to be bird nerds like us.My family participated in all the activities Emhosheni had to offer, including the vehicle game outings, the walking game outings, full-day visits to Kruger National Park, full-day visits to the numerous surrounding waterfalls and canyons, quadding in the Balule National Reserve, and a tour at the well-regarded Moholoholo Rehabilitation Center. Each outing was its own beautiful adventure, and I highly recommend taking-up on some of Emhosheni’ s additional excursions.Thank you Mareycke and to all of the Emhosheni staff for the most memorable and precious vacation of our lives! If I could provide you more than 10 stars, know that we would. As discussed, you will be seeing us again soon & possibly for one of our honeymoon!

Great experience!My family including 2 teenagers stayed for 8 nights in October 2021. It was indeed a great experience:- small, exclusive lodge with only 3 lodges all with direct view to Elephant river from your private terrace/patio- the manager Mareycke including the staff are very attentive and accommodating- nice clean swimming pool- clean and newly renovated lodge- very nice food - 3 cours dinner every night where the chéf is very good- good game-drives directly from the lodge- we saw elephants, warthogs, monkeys, giraffes, hippos and vultures at the river few meters from our terrasse.Highly recommended.

I was excited for my stay at Emhosheni River Lodge prior to being there after reading all the raving reviews. Though I was skeptical of whether it would live up to the hype, it certainly met the high bar of expectations and beyond.I stayed at Emhosheni River Lodge at the end of December 2022 with my partner and had the most special 3 nights of my trip to South Africa. In fact, I would venture to say that my time at Emhosheni tops all the hospitality experiences I've had to date from my travels.From the time we arrived, every detail of our stay was taken care of down to the smallest of details. The lodge itself overlooks the Olifants River, and we were greeted by a couple of hippos going down the river upon arrival. The property also had a number of spaces like lounge chairs, the pool and seating on the deck to enjoy when we aren't busy with game drives and excursions. We stayed in chalet 3, which was private, comfortable, clean, and had a private patio with a good view of the river. The room was well appointed with a beautiful tub, comfortable bed, A/C, comfortable chairs and a lovely outdoor shower.Mareycke, the manager, was friendly and meticulous, arranging for all our excursions flawlessly. She had a wealth of knowledge about the reserve and surrounding areas, and was so warm that it truly felt like we were staying with a friend. Every breakfast and 3-course dinner was delicious..we were even packed breakfast for the days when we had an early start for the Kruger National Park and Blyde River Canyon excursions. Eric (our server), Lucia (the chef) and Mama Paulina all contributed to making the experience both personal and totally unforgettable. On the last night, we were treated to a braai (traditional South African BB!) and it truly was the perfect cap off to an amazing experience.We also went on game drives organized by the lodge, led by Keagan (Emhosheni's ranger). He was a wealth of knowledge and truly passionate to his work. We learned so much on the drives, and got to see many animals - including the rare black rhino! It was truly an immersive and eye-opening experience, especially for a city person like myself.We cannot say enough great things about Emhosheni River Lodge. Our only regret is that we couldn't stay for longer, but I would absolutely come back in the future and would highly recommend it. It was worth every dollar and we miss it so much already!

What a beautiful place! The warm welcome that I received from the kind staff members, thank you to Karen for ensuring that we get the best experience. Thank you to Mama Paulina who made the place feel like home, she is an amazing person.

I was recently fortuante enough to spend three nights at Emhosheni River Lodge. All of the staff where wonderful. In particular our hospitality host Eric and guides Keegan and David. Eric greeted us with a smile after every game drive and at at every meal, a big thank you for the wine reccomendations! As to our guides Keegan and David - they are both absolute assets to Emhosheni. Incredibly knowlegeble on the local flora and fauna, they made our game drives very special. Thanks guys! Hopefully we can come back before too long.