Sondéla Nature Reserve Reviews

Beautiful and a fun place to get away in between the animals

Great nature reserve, friendly staff and great atmosphere. Makhato houses are the best

Really had a great time here. Very dry and very dusty, but the accommodation was clean. Amazing views!

We arrived at night, we found a snake in our chalet funniest moment. The chalets are clean, beautiful, what I loved more is the shower situated outside, walkin closets, comfortable beds and linen, spacious. Animals roaming around and the fire place outside, the braai area facilities.

Tranquility and peace. Amazing facilities and outings. Loved every minute of my stay. Will definiately be back.

Close to Pretoria, very private and the game is not afraid of humans.

Staff is friendly and amazingly organized helps you set up your tent and wash dishes really well organized

Very nice place, good facilities and friendly staff.

We stayed at Unit 1 Makhato, and we will never return. The unit is in really bad condition even though Sondela feel these are private lodges and are supposedly well equipped and maintained, this one wasn t. We did complain to Sondela and we were told that if we had a problem with the price and the conditions we should take it up with the owner as they set the price. If that is the case, why are the fees set on there website? We booked through Sondela and not through the owner and we paid Sondela and not the owner. They, being Sondela, handled the situation as badly as the condition of the house. We were considering trying the lodges again, however the way we were treated by Sondela directly has made us decide to rather go to other resorts in and around the area.

To Sondela management, if you don t care about your customers and their grievances, someone else will!

Just went for the nature reserve course open day so can't speak to the spa and accommodation, but looked really nice.

Nice and close to Pretoria for a quick getaway. The animals are great. There are mountain bike trails which are a really amazing way to see the animals. The riding is fairly flat but the thorns and sand can make things tough. Top up your tyres with sealant and it will be great. Sand can be tough if it's been dry for a while. Can also be muddy with grinding sand if there's rain. In between that it's great fun and it makes your day to spot wildebeest or giraffe from the bike

Klaas makes the money spent on Safari 100% worth it. Thank you very much Klaas your knowledge is staggering. Everything is out of the ordinary. Best ever.

This our favourite family getaway. We go at least once a year. Very flat with no animal predators the kids can ride their bicycles around, no issues. The resort has many heated and unheated pools that make this place great at any time of year. Over long weekends and holidays they have lots of activities for old and young alike that ensure that the kids are busy and the adults can REALLY relax. The Makhato chalets are highly recommended

Favorite getaway! Great management. Friendly staff. Peaceful atmosphere.

Enjoyable family resort.
If you like MTB this is a good resort to visit.
However; we miss the Fat Man s entertainment. The team work between Frikkie and the Fatman, that s not there anymore, left a big gap at the Farmyard.
Unfortunately small changes is also not as we know Sondela; maintenance can be picked up a notch.

Terrible business ethics. Incompetent and dishonest staff. They are a disgrace to the corporate world. Rendering services, first they tried to side-step me by proposing to my colleagues (the guys who went to service them) they receive direct payment for a more affordable rate, then I receive no payment for months. When I call, nobody knows who is working with the finances or the key persons aren't available. Lots of lies all the time, excuses... Phone put down in my ear couple of times, eventually drove there. The guy, Abrie Meyer, who gave the go ahead on the job, hides. He isn't man enough to face me. They throw a poor student into the fire. He stands there with big eyes, petrified. They eventually call security to remove me. I explained myself to him, and he laughed, stating that he understands my frustration completely, this isn't the first time. He turned around and headed back. On my way out, another service provider of Sondela, asked me to please take this further, giving me the owner's name, who lives in Italy, as they struggle with getting paid as well. It disgusts me, to see so many dishonest, unethical, incompetent people, under one roof. No management skills whatsoever. Stealing from the small business, that tries to make an honest living for themselves and their families. I say once again, you are disgusting and I will make sure, the local business community knows that.

Great for the kids and its just 60 min from Pretoria. Love the nature vibe.

We love Sondela! Love the friendly competent students!

Great spot if you have kids. We stayed at Tambuki private camp which was rustic but peaceful and very much recommended over busy weekends when the main camp site becomes a bit chaotic! Lovely mountain bike trails. Heated pools. Kiddies play area and face painting. Not a pristine wilderness by any stretch but close to JHB/PTA and wild enough to recharge your batteries. Warning! Order lunch early if it's busy to avoid a long wait. Recommended.

We experienced special times with special friendscat this awesome place and venue. Thank you

This was exactly what I needed, peaceful time out but not too secluded. Was not expecting wild life just outside my apartment! Every morning they would come looking for snack.

Lovely bush experience, fresh air and all you need chalets.

To the young professional woman that assisted me in keeping my Pre-safari "restaurant Order" bevarage safe and cold till after the 2hour amazing wildlife experience on a 34 degree heat day, you are amazing and deserve customer service experience rating 6 March 2021 ya'll are amazing I really like you guys any Afrikaners support the local tourism industry

Great nature reserve. There's nice warm pools and lots of wild life. There's also an animal rescue centre where you can visit the animals. There's activities such as cycling, quad biking and horse riding that can be done.

A family friendly, fun resort which is good value and is ideal for weekend getaways from Joburg.

It is 12.13 on Sat 23Feb 2019.Our chalet has still not been cleaned.I drove to receiption at10.30 and phoned but no joy.Seeing it s Midterm so Sondela knew for months that it will be very busy.
The heated pool is lovely but it has only 7 chairs round the huge pool.Most other place with a pool this size has 30 chairs/loungers round the pool.
The rest of Sondela is so lovely just a pity they can t get the pool problem fixed.I complained about it months ago.
They chalet service is shocking.Most timeshare places clean before 11.00.Surely on busy weekends they can get casual extra staff in.
Disappointed client.
Dr M Ackermann

Always a fun time at Sondela. Personele is always friendly, Great Land Cruiser Expo. The camping terrain clean, ablution facilities is well maintained and cleaned.

Staff at the reception could be more helpful and friendly. They seemed extemely irritated. Overall a wonderful nature reserve. Highly recommended and definately my favourite compared to the others in the area.

Amazing staff and resort they made the stay a memorable one. Will be back soon

Thank you sondela we had a relaxing time. Thank you for your friendly service. Tour guides for always being helpful and for all information we learned the weekend. The boys loved the swimming puddle bikes, quads. Zip line actually all activities they enjoyed. And might I say they are 16 and 17.

Great for outdoor activities and safe for young kids

As a day visitor I was not allowed to visit under current Covid regulations.

Nice and practical accommodation. A lot to offer for people with children however you need to have a lot of $$$$ since nothing is for free or cheap.

Ideal family vacation destination. Something for every age group. Easily accessible.

Most helpfull and enthusiastic people I have met in a long time

Sitting in the Mokhato lodge 69, receiving really bad service. Rates are over R3000 a night but no change of towels for 4 days... no house keeping, no dishwasher, no air con, no shelves in bathroom cupboards.Swings locked up. Definitely not luxury accommodation. Emergency fones never get picked up. And even if you get hold of them... you are given the run around and calls not returned. Will not recommend.

Close to the big cities with enough wildlife ... beautiful place

Iketla Guest House is DEFINITELY not a 5 star place !! Long list of things that are not right! Long and short is that you definitely do not have to book there, you pay for 5 star service and accommodation and get it INSURED !! Shocking to advertise it as a 5 star and it is not !!

Very relaxing getaway. Lovely to see animals so close

Our visit was at 15.30 on Sat 17 Feb. Sadly the spa did not match up to its 5 star rating. The receptionist seemed a bit surprised by our arrival and unsure of our booking. She asked us to wait and called us a few minutes later.
I asked for the form that we had to fill in. She said I should fill in one form for both my husband and myself. We don't have the same medical conditions so how can I complete 1 form? Do they even read the forms? She was unprofessional and unorganised. The massage by Anna and Mpho was good. I am used to being given water after a massage but we were not offered anything and the water canister was empty. A disappointing experience after travelling 91kms for a spa treatment.

Such a lovely place to relax and the animals is so tame they come right up to and then you can feed them.

Great place for families with young kids (age 3 - 12). The kids enjoyed it a lot. If you are camping, just make sure you take comfortable shoes for your kids, unfortunately there are a lot of paper thorns growing in the campsite.

Great staff, good facilities, nice game viewing and lovely Spa!

Happy staff. Friendly Nyalas. Luxury accommodation with everything you need.

Best MTB race ever!! I really enjoyed the trails, thank you so much! The staff working at the water points was very friendly and offered a great opportunity to regain our energy. We finished strong with sideline motivation from staff and guests! It was fun and a wonderful experience! I will definitely be at the next race and would highly recommend it for a families with Mountain bikes!! It's a must do! Thanks Sondela Family friendly! Food is amazing! Swimming area clean, bathrooms also very clean!

Had a blast there with my friends this December. It was a epic experience and activities are fun. The lodges are nice and roomy. Would definitely recommend.

Sondela is the best place ever. I love there rehab centre. Its amazing. And all the work what i did there was so nice. would love to do that again. Mis Sondela alot. Stef

Unfortunately went to this place when there was a mountain bike event on and the staff seemed to be overwhelmed at the time. What is absolutely superb about this place is the Wildlife Center, here they take care of injured animals that would have otherwise would have died. They look after animals that are going to be released back into the wild post rehabilitation. These are animals that were harmed or injured due to human interference in the wild. They also do onsite equal oppertunity hospitality and field guide training, preparing the next generation for wildlife conservation. Guests may visit the wildlife centre for a small conservation fee.

For a day visit, it's okay. The guides at the Wildlife Centre are knowledgeable and professional but the variety of animals is not too exciting compared to other places I've been to.

5 star Iketla was stunning! Loved the gardens and the pool, service outstanding!

We spent a most enjoyable weeks holiday at Sondela Nature Reserve in May. Our chalet was very comfortable, clean and well equipped. All the staff members we came I to contact with were efficient, polite and helpful. The nights were cold and the days were very pleasant in the Winter sun. We would like to return to Sondela in the future.

Decent, but with room for improvements.. Students are uses throughout and lack experience in dealing with guests. Kids activities highly reduced outside of week ends and outside of government schod holidays. However in general it is pleasant.

I'm sure this is a great place but we couldn't even get in as day visitors because they were apparently full

Sondela Nature Reserve is awesome, it is so peaceful and the staff are very helpful and friendly. the resorts has lots to offer as well. I will be back.