Inside the Marataba Hotel in South Africa

Where: Marakele National Park, Waterberg, South Africa

November 19, 2008 at 4:09 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Every so often we feature a hotel review from one of our readers that we feel should be shared with the rest of you dear hotel guests. These reviews are highlighted because they are timely, about cool hotels in cool places and are relatively level-headed. Think you can submit one just like this? Send it in. Today we have a totally awesome review from a Friend of HotelChatter about one of those exotic safari hotels in South Africa. We also love our friend and her review because she gave us so many pretty pictures to look at. Enjoy.

We went on safari at the Marataba Hotel which I definitely recommend over the Krueger National Park hotels since it is a private game reserve and there are NO other groups or tours allowed on the property.

We could see elephants and giraffes from our room and warthogs hung out by the pool. At night, we had to be escorted to our tents so lions didn't attack us as the place is not fenced in.

The food is amazing, everything is scheduled perfectly and the staff is awesome.

When you arrive, they sit you down and welcome you personally with tea, while you look out over the horizon and soak up the scenery. Then they ask you personal questions about how they can make your stay as relaxing as possible. The questions range from small to big things like any food allergies, preferences, or just things you want in your room.

Here's an example of the schedule:

· 6:00 AM Game Drive
· 10:00 AM Breakfast
· 2:00 PM Lite Lunch
· 4:00 PM High Tea/Snack time (These are themed. On our days, it was by color so one day was all pink--Rose teas, strawberry shortcake, strawberries dipped in chocolate, etc.)
· 4:30 PM Your evening drive leaves
· 8:00 PM Return from your evening drive and go straight to dinner.

The safari also includes snacks on your game drives--a "Sunriser" in the morning and a "Sundowner" in the evening. For the "Sunriser", they stop in the middle of the bush and scope out the area for wild animals. Then they set up a little table with a white tablecloth and put out fresh coffee, biscuits and tea.

For the "Sundowner", they put out beers, wines, chips and jerky and you just hang out in the bush enjoying your refreshment.

Also when you arrive at the hotel, you are assigned a ranger and he is your guide for the whole trip. (Shout-out to our guide Philip!) The guide takes you out on the Land Cruiser Game Hunts and tells you everything you ever wanted to know and more about the wildlife that is roaming around. Also cool? Limpopo Province where this hotel is located is Malaria free.

Finally after "roughing it all day on the range, you come back to a fine-dining four-course extravaganza that is customized especially for you. It's amazing.

The next day, you get up and do it all over again. Except instead of relying on a wake-up call or an alarm clock, the hotel wakes you up by place some hot coffee and cocoa on the deck of your front patio by the bean bag seats. It was really the lap of luxury in the wild.

Rates at the Marataba begin at R3,300 which is about $313 USD. Rates do vary depending on the season with April through September being the off-season.

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