Thamalakane River Lodge

We stayed in a Babbler Chalet with a view of the river. There were cattle across the river and one hippopotamus who wandered in and out of the river. Beautiful birds and frogs sang us to sleep and awake. Nice, comfortable bed. Food was fine. Staff was very friendly and helpful. This was a nice place to stay for visits to Maun and Elephant Havens. Our guide, Happy, made sure we had a great visit with the elephants.

We needed an overnight stay on our first day before heading to the Delta. The lodge was very comfortable with a great dinner buffet and good breakfast. It is a bit further from the airport, but our transport was waiting for us. The rest of the staff was very friendly and helpful. Even though we had a very early departure the next day, they still managed to serve us a full breakfast.

We had a lovely one night stay before our tour began. The staff were very welcoming and helpful. The rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable with the Wifi working well. The property is well looked after and was very peaceful. We did enjoy a dinner and breakfast which were very tasty and with large servings. Would recommended!

Very nice camp at the river bank of the -actually dry Thamalakane River. You have own wooden house, social center, restaurant, pool (water is icy cold as the nights are close to 0 °C. Foods are excellent. Breakfast is rich. Dinner could be from menu or buffet, depending on the number of the guests, but in both the cases we found wide variety of foods, in very good quality. If you are on a longer safari, foods and beverages incl. in the package. Mokoro station and Moremi Game Reserve as safari targets are recommended, the staff do manage the reservation with guides. We were very please with Poloso (Moremi Game Reserve) and Philippe (Mokoro boat tour).

Very friendly staff, all of them, no exception! Helpfull and professional attitude at the reception. Lodge is beautiful with a nice bed and little terrace at the front. The restaurant has a taart buffet and a beautiful view on the river(bed); also in the day season. A lot of animal noices during the evening and night and no music or television makes it a real African experience.

It is a wonderful venue to stay, very central to visit the bush. Be aware that a lot of tour groups visit the lodge. Therefor service at the restaurant can be slow for individual guest. We stayed for 4 nights and only saw the managing couple one evening, otherwise no managers? The staff are very friendly.

I would give the management, staff, rooms and the food a 10/out of 5! They do more and go above and beyond! Traveling with a group of 18 guests and for our 8th day on the road, fresh from Namibia, we arrived here and stayed for two nights. Best two nights of the trip so far! We will be back with our next groups!

Firstly this is a nice property. The chalets are pleasant if a little tight and dark. The staff (Kelly was a great host) were also great and very friendly. However the main issue is that it is very expensive for what you get. We had stayed in other lodges in Botswana and we realised that when compared with other properties and their offerings (including the extent of the breakfasts), this is an expensive stay. When we were there, the pool was also under refurbishment and we could not use it.

Upton arrival we were first informed the lodge was actually fully booked, despite us having the reservation confirmation from ***********. After few min we were told something would be arranged. We paid (for a double chalet) and went for a drink to wait for it to be ready. At nightfall we were brought to a room that looked nothing like advertised. Not on ***********, not on Tripadvisor and not on their website. Not a chalet, but a simple room in a cement building. Basic furniture, bare cement floor (very cold in this season). See pictures. Whilst the other chalets looked quite charming, this block of rooms was clearly added later and seemed to be also used for guides and staff. We however paid full price and were not informed prior to checking in. No apologies or explanation from the managers. They just told us to drop an email to the GM. Furthermore the food was just not what you would except in this price range. Buffet style, tasteless, overcooked. Finally, the lodge is on the river and they advertise sunset river cruises and mokoro trips; however it is apparently a seasonal river. It is now almost dry and those who had booked these activities were left empty handed. Seasonal rivers are actually quite common in this part of the world, however again this is NOT mentioned on the website of the hotel. For us, the whole experience was a good example of misleading advertising, and of some of the failings of these review system for places that tend to be booked by tour operators.