Bear Lodge - Glamping

I was a little bit skeptical before visiting, as I’d read a few reviews saying the bears were not visible at all and a few negative experiences of the accommodation. On those two points I’ll say this… 1) The bears have a massive enclosure (which is not a bad thing), there is a lot of overgrowth and dense bushes for them, the Bear Lodge viewing area only gives view of about 50-60% of the enclosure and, of course, animals are animals and will do whatever they like including hiding. However, that said, we saw the bears several times on a one night stay. We did not see them in the evening before bed time, but did hear them in the night and when I went out at 2am in the morning I could hear heavy breathing very close to the fence which must have been a bear. This seemed to cluster around when the Lions in the park were making noise - I wonder if the bears picked up on that. In the morning the bears were very active about 07:00 to 09:00, walking the perimeter a few times and even climbing up onto their scratching posts at one point. At the end of the day you could turn up for a short break and not see the bears at all, you could see them a lot. One guy in the tent next door didn’t see them all the times we did because he was not watching, so even two people staying at the same time right next to eachother had completely different experiences. 2) The tents/lodges are subtly different. The floor plans are identical (2 double beds, 2 bunk beds, living room/dining room/kitchenette, log burner and en suite) but the front row have been more recently renovated, have thicker insulation, new bathrooms with heated towel rails and unobstructed views over the Bear enclosure and the Romney Marsh with amazing views. Bear (no pun intended) this in mind when booking - if you’re on a budget and don’t mind no thrills then go for the back tents, it’s just a 30 second walk to the viewing area over the enclosure, but if you can afford the front row they are well worth it. The tent was very clean, very well equipped, perfect for 8 of us to stay. Staff friendly and helpful. The restaurants become fully booked in advance sometimes to either book early or have alternative plans ready. You can leave the lodge at any time - we drove to a nearby village pub for dinner.

Absolutely loved it! The lodge is spacious, cosy and convenient. We really had such a lovely time. The beds are more comfortable than some hotels. The access to the park is great and the surrounding areas of the lodge are wonderful too. With access to the squirrel monkeys. Our only negative was the fact we tried to book in some of the restaurants for dinner around 3 weeks before arrival and couldn’t get booked into anywhere so had to leave to go and get dinner to bring back to the lodge.

Booked for the Bear Lodge curry night at Port Lympne Wildlife Reserve - I understand it's every Friday during the winter months and open to anyone, even of you're not staying overnight - and it was fantastic! Food was authentic, delicious, and plentiful... Service was attentive yet unobtrusive and the whole restaurant team were friendly, knowledgeable, and professional! My friend and I plan a second visit soon...

Amazing place, however, we stayed in Bear Lodge and didn’t get any sleep due to noise. Such a shame. Completely ruined the whole experience.

We booked this fairly last minute and we’re very happy with the deal we got. We called at the smaller of the parks (about half an hour away) before checking in. The access to both parks is included in the cost. On arrival, we couldn’t enter the lodge as we had no code. I rang the number and they told us to check our code- we hadn’t been sent one. Anyway, we entered and all was fine. Check in was fairly prompt. We entered our tent. It was a great space with room to spread out. Layout was good. We were at the back (19) but still a nice position. Firewood was provided thankfully and a small bag of marshmallows which was a nice touch. There were evident established cobwebs on the flue for the fire and white marks on our cushions on our bed…! This is a glamping experience we understand, but we felt that the cleanliness could have been a bit more thorough. The bedding was clean however. We ate in the bear restaurant- this wasn’t cheap. £8.50 for a small glass of wine so I chose water! The food was ok, but £15 for a burger and chips. It was nice, but I’m not sure it was worth the cost. The dough balls were expensive too at over £1 per ball. The views are lovely. However, the view of the bear enclosure isn’t fantastic- it’s not as close as it makes out in the advert and we didn’t see any bears- not even slightly on either day. We also overheard others saying the same. Whilst we appreciate the owners can’t guarantee this, they could facilitate it by an enclosure nearer/closer or something we felt. We stayed in august and it was a warm day (going down to about 14 at night). We were cold and had the heater on, along with blankets and the fire until about midnight so bear (no pun intended) this in mind. We felt that the package offered good value for money in terms of the entrance to both parks and the accommodation. However, would we return? I’m not sure- possibly to another lodge where you are closer to the animals.

Had the most amazing one night stay here. Tent was fabulous and restaurant food was so good. Can’t fault it all just wish we could have stayed longer 🫶 My granddaughter made some nice little friends to play with and had great fun around the fire pit roasting marshmallows