Phinda Vlei Lodge

Phinda Vlei Lodge was the highlight of my trip. The rooms were beautiful, the staff were fantastic and they really made an effort to make it a memorable experience. It was a very personal experience and I would definitely go back there and recommend to friends.

Phinda Vlei Lodge blew me away, it was perfect. I loved everything about the lodge! The highlight was experiencing a massive herd of elephants drinking from our plunge pool.

Phinda vlei was amazing. Our guide and tracker, Martin and Abel were incredible. They truly went the extra mile to find whatever we were asking to see. And we saw some incredible things! The rooms were very nice as was food but felt the food at leadwood was much better. Lucas the manager at vlei was very good but Nicola at leadwood was amazing. Our guides at leadwood were very good but the guide and tracker at vlei went above and beyond to satisfy whatever we wanted. Leadwood beautiful. Nicola made our stay so special, eating in a different place each night, music and braai one night. The cook went out of his way for the group of us there as nick was allergic to nuts, I can’t do seafood and ended up eating vegetarian and the other couple, one was gluten free! The chef had his hands full but all of us felt we ate the most amazing food. Happiness the cook at vlei made me some wonderful vegetarian things also. The cooking staff at vlei interacted with us more but food better at leadwood. Game drives were great in both places. I am being picky as both were amazing but after talking to everyone those are the differences we felt! Would we go back to either? Most certainly! One night I wasn’t feeling well so Nicola came to our room with toast, jam and ginger ale for me! She was such an asset to leadwood!

I was very impressed by the acting Manager Luke who was fantastic throughout our stay. Happiness the chef is a delight in every way, the food was excellent and her friendly manner is a delight. We were very well looked after by a variety of waiters who are all lovely.Our ranger was Martin and Tracker was Musi ( I had met Musi on my last trip and it was good to see him again ) I enjoyed Martin's company, insight into his home in Zimbabwe, and the way he pointed out many of the smaller things, particularly butterflies, many of which I had not noticed before.

Vlei was Pam’s personal favorite. The accommodations were amazing and super comfortable. The staff was very professional. The meals were exceptional, everything you would expect from a five star lodge. Claire, the manager went above and beyond to make us feel special with candles and a bubble bath. We loved having the animals and especially the elephant personally visit our room.

Phinda was truly a once in a lifetime experience – the vlei and rock lodges were both 5 star in our book! The service from the staff was beyond anything we could have expected and the game drives were spectacular. Our guides were excellent and we saw every animal imaginable – the highlights were the male lions, cheetah and 2 lioness with their 2-3 month old cubs!

The accommodation at the Phinda Vlei Lodge was also excellent and their staff worked very hard to please all of us. The highlight of our Safari at Phinda was an Elephant strolling across the Vlei aiming straight for our gorgeous hut to quench his thirst in our Lap Pool. We also came across some Black Rhinoceroses and Cheetahs.

Truly unbelievable. Saw all the big 5 game and much more. The room (with its own private infinity plunge pool which game come to drink from! – nice surprise) were absolutely exquisite and the service was ++5*. Every day they surprise you with something (bush breakfast, group dinner, private dinner etc etc) and very friendly and relaxed.

We had the most unbelievable stay! Phinda Vlei Lodge was completely out of this world and we truly felt we were ‘Out of Africa’ on an amazing adventure. We met some wonderful people and the staff were fantastic.