23/05/2026
Sondela Country Hotel and Spa (22-24 May). This is our fourth stay here and I don't think we'll be back. It is a lovely place but the food we were served at supper last night was terrible and you pay extra for it as dinner is no longer included in the rate. We had butternut ravioli for starters - the ravioli was way undercooked, crunchy in places and the sauce was so over-salted that it was unpalatable. The chicken skin was burnt on the mains served with couscous but no gravy or sauce and the vegetables were barely cooked. The milktart bruleé dessert was not a bruleé (no crunchie top) but a thin layer of milky dessert with a thick, hard biscuit base served with a chocolate that was too hard to eat. We ate the rest of our meals, other than breakfast which was included, at the Picinini Restaurant next door.
One of the bedside lights in our room didn't work and we switched out the bulb with another light in our room so that we could read in bed and found that no one had cleaned behind the bedside tables for some time. The big bath, which comfortably fits two, is cracked which could result in a cut if you slip.
I can't recommend staying at the Country House anymore, it is not worth the price but the rest of the resort and game reserve is lovely.
On a positive note, the massage at the spa was lovely, so relaxing and the heated pools were so welcome on a chilly day.
We saw so many animals when we drove around the reserve: nyalas, warthogs, impala, giraffe, zebra, kudu cows and a wildebeest.
