Elephants Safari Lodge - Bellevue Forest Reserve
Nature lodge in Eastern Cape
Reasons to book
Guests love it hereGuests give this property a top rating
Free cancellationFull refund if you change your mind
Top-tier experienceOne of the higher cost properties in the area
About this nature lodge rental
Elephants Lodge is located within the malaria-free Bellevue Forest Reserve, home to wildlife such as lion and buffalo. The lodge features natural gardens, patio’s and a lookout lounge overlooking the vast open plains of the Eastern Cape.
Amenities
Kitchen or Kitchenette
Internet / Wifi
Fireplace
Smoking allowed
Parking
Laundry
Balcony or Patio
Wheelchair accessible
Garden
Family friendly
Map of Eastern Cape
Available Rooms
1 Queen or 2 Single • 269 ft²
Sleeps 2
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
1 Queen • 430 ft²
Sleeps 4
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
2 Single • 269 ft²
Sleeps 2
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
$$$$
Reviews
100% verified reviews
9.0
Tutto perfetto, dalla location al cibo, veramente super
In inverno le camere sono un po’ freddine
8.0
Die Sundowner Fahrt und der Giraffengang waren toll. Die Mitarbeiter super freundlich.
Elefanten Giraffen Büffel usw gesehen
Bei unserem Zelt ging die Tür nicht und der Stromausfall war ca 10 Stunden. Der Pool war dreckig
9.0
Het was een prachtige locatie, wij keken onze ogen uit. Personeel was ontzettend vriendelijk, waardoor we ons meteen welkom voelde. De service was goed, tent was schoon en het bed lag heerlijk. In de avond aten we met alle gasten in een lodge met haardvuur. Het eten was heerlijk en het was gezellig om de andere gasten te spreken! Ook het ontbijt was perfect, met uitzicht vanaf het terras op het terrein. Wij zijn één dag zelf met de auto naar Addo gereden en de dag erna hebben we nog een excursie via Bellevue Forest Reserve geboekt. Perfect voor beide dus!
9.0
Very nice little resort, great views, very good food, excellent tours. Giraffe Walk highly recommended.
Rather small rooms, but sufficient. No Aircon. Close to N10, thus you hear the trucks.
9.0
Der Giraffenspaziergang war definitiv unser Highlight - absolute Empfehlung. Das ganze Gelände der Unterkunft war sehr gepflegt und schön angelegt. Die Zimmer waren modern und sauber. Frühstück war an einer tollen Location und hat uns gut geschmeckt. Der Sternenhimmel nachts war wunderschön. Abendessen war in Ordnung. Wir würden wieder kommen.
4.0
Staff & Rangers are friendly and knowledgeable. Breakfast and dinners were fair.
Booked a room got given a tent on arrival. Brian quickly blamed the central reservations. However compensated us with the Giraffe walk which was below par. Saw only one Giraffe from a distant. I believe the marketing is misleading. Tents not equipped for hot summer days in the bush especially for my pregnant wife. She was really uncomfortable. Not insect friendly. Insects crawling over your face at night. Tent located to close to main road. Constant highway noise. Water pressure extremely low not comfortable to take a shower.
4.0
Staff were friendly, some of the views were nice
From start to finish their was problems
1. On entrance the gate did not work we was waiting 10 minutes to get in ( I had just driven 10 hours so a was a little tired)
2. The electric fan and lights on the sealing didn’t work
3. Hardly no water for the shower could barley take a shower
4. Whilst having breakfast we came back and the room had been stripped, we hadn’t even checked out
It was uncomfortable from getting in to leaving,
4.0
The Breakfast and staff at breakfast
We booked with the thought that it was a luxury lodge. Upon arrival we found that our room was so badly cracked it felt like a hazzard to us.
When we complained about it, we were told we booked on Bookings.com on black friday and its non refundable.
There was hardly any water, the first day we couldnt even rinse our hair, the owner came to us the next morning and tried to fix it which we appreciated but unfortunatly the problem was still not solved.
Take note that there is also a conservation fee that u have to pay when u book out.
3.0
Eigentlich gut, schöne Lage. Doch weder Heizung, noch Dusche funktionierten. Es dauerte Stunden bis etwas passierte. Es stellte sich heraus, dass die Lodge eine verlängerte Kreuzfahrtgesellschaft ist. 1-2 Busse mit neugierigen à 20 Gäste sind viel ertragbringender und wichtiger, als die 5-10 Gäste in den 6 Zimmern. Das sollte man digital auch offen auch bekannt machen.
Der Besitzer war am Ende noch unfreundlich. Heizung müsste man vorher anmelden, als ob wir ahnen können wie kalt es werden kann.
10.0
Super luxuriöses Zelt. Ein Traum - perfekt!
8.0
L’ambiance générale.
La réserve au sein de laquelle le lodge est installé
Les petits déjeuners
Le changement de chambres par rapport à la réservation .. au lieu des 4 chambres de la réservation nous avons eu 3 chambres et une tente sans aucune information préalable..
Le filet d’eau crachotant de la douche pour un établissement de ce standing .
8.0
Food was very good, staff very attentive and helpful, the excursions were very good and interactive
Didn't see any lions
10.0
Einfach alles, die Lage, die Freundlichkeit des Personals und die tolle Organisation der Game Drive.
9.0
Sehr nettes Personal und eine unglaublich schöne Giraffentour (angenehmer Guide mit viel Wissen). Die Lodge hat einen herrlichen Blick ins Tal bzw. dem eigenen Reservat und bietet einen guten Ausgangspunkt zum Addo NP. Je nach Wetter sitzt man zum Dinner entweder an einem großen Esstisch (ca 10 Pers.) oder auf der schönen Außenterasse. Man kommt dadurch sehr gut mit anderen Gästen ins Gespräch. Die Zimmer sind modern und sauber. Das Betthupferl war eine nette Überraschung.
Man hört leider je nach Wind die Autobahn/Schnellstraße recht deutlich wenn man auf der Aussichtsterrasse sitzt (im Zimmer nicht). Das Spa-Angebot (Massagen) wurde/ist derzeit eingestellt.
10.0
Das Personal war so unfassbar zuvorkommend und freundlich. Wir haben uns so aufgehoben gefühlt. Sehr schöne Unterkunft, leckeres Essen. Alles perfekt!
Die Zimmer sind recht hellhörig.
8.0
Staff were great, location was great.
The could have had some chairs for sitting inside.
10.0
Food and service delivery
8.0
The giraffe walk was memorable and our guide Steven was amazing and friendly. Incredible must do experience. Worth going at 7:15 in the morning!
Food was delicious.
Kind upgrade to a bigger room with a nice sunset view- thank you! Very powerful and nice hot shower. Hot water bottles given on first night but not second.
Viewing area was beautiful. Nice to sit and eat there.
Cosy main dining area.
Friendly staff.
Some clear communication lacking amongst staff. Small things were missing from our room or information about giraffe walk was confused- prepare to be flexible 😊
The dining area was silent which made it awkward at diner time when sharing a large cosy table with other guests. Music playing would have been nice.
We had staff enter our room unannounced without knocking on a few occasions. Keep key in door and locked when inside.
Hot tub never heated- believe faulty. If we’d paid for the room we would have been unhappy.
Drinks menus were never shared so were not aware of added price to evening diner set menu. We were told to ‘help ourself’. Luckily we didn’t take up their offer.
Room was cold but aircon had heating- would have been nice to have been shown as we didn’t know until the second night.
9.0
It was a great place to relax and unwind. The staff went put of their way to give more than we asked for.
Nothing.
7.0
The property was very warm and inviting. The set up is intimate and very nice for family outings.
The family room bathroom could do with an upgrade to be more modern as self catering units.
10.0
The housekeeping lady was so helpful and went out of her way to even organise a microwave for us.
Breakfast was amazing and the team even set up the deck for us overlooking the watering hole. Our daughter loved the tickle tub.
R380 for a three course meal felt quite steep and was way over priced in comparison to other fine dining restaurants in the city. The hairdryer's handle was sticky.
10.0
The location was perfect for sour needs. The staff made the experience memorable with their attentiveness, not over the top but just right nothing was too much trouble , The food was excellent. We would have liked to stay longer.
5.0
The staff was very friendly and food was yummy. Our tour guide for the giraffe was amazing. I enjoyed walking with the wild animals
Its too cold, the rooms are freezing with no electric blankets. When its load-shedding, AC goes off🥶
No reception a lost and had to drive up to ask them to open the gate.
We missed lunch because the location sent lost us but we still got charged and had to payed for it
The wooden tub never got warm enough as it was freezing outside.
10.0
I could not come because of sickness. Sorry! Is my prepaiment lost? If possible, reimburse the amount (some 3000 Rand) to me.
Kind regards!
Klaus Scholle
9.0
What an amazing place, beautiful setting and friendly staff.
Brian welcomed us on arrival and gave us a tour which showed off the the property. The gardens surrounding the property are well maintained and lovely for a gentle stroll. The beds were comfortable and the room well maintained with a coffee bar and some free cake snacks. The dinner room and bar was lovely and it was nice to share our dinner time with other guests at the large table. The breakfast was served on a beautiful lookout area with sweeping views. Very happy we booked this accommodation it was amazing.
The door to the room was a little tricky to lock. The barn door to the bathroom was a little smaller than the opening, which meant that some movement would turn on the sensor light.
8.0
The location and the accommodation was beautiful! Thank you to all the staff and to Tanya for being so accommodating and helpful with us planning our trip. Sorry we didn't get to do everything we had initially said we would.
Sadly we couldn't go on the walk with the giraffes at the earlier time we had planned to because it was pouring with rain but hopefully we can visit again and do that in the near future.
9.0
We were contacted in advance and offered activities. we chose to do the Giraffes walking tour and the sundown 4x4 safari both of which were great experiences. Breakfast was also very good.
10.0
Really loved our stay here. Wish it could have been longer.
Nothing not to like.
8.0
All staff were friendly and helpful. Quality of the bedrooms and communal areas was of a very high standard with comfortable furnishings and glorious views. Food, both dinner and breakfast, was outstanding.
Road noise was a minor factor (my wife didn’t notice it, but for me it’s there as background noise all the time). The game drives were limited in the animals you were able to see as at the moment the lodge has very limited stock. The guide explained that this was being addressed with a breeding programme for giraffe and lions as well as recruiting elephant but at the moment it’s buffalo, impala and springbok as well as the two giraffes.
9.0
The location to Addo Elephant Park was very good. We booked a giraffe morning walk through the accommodation, which we liked better than the elephant park itself. The staff was great and very helpful. The breakfast was very delicious.
2.0
The Bellevue Forest Reserve with it‘s Lodges is awesome. All the staff was very forthcoming and helped wherever they could. We also enjoyed the Game Drive a lot.
Unfortunately that same family runs or is involved in hunting safaris as well (Tootabi) Actually the biggest hunting safaris in South Africa.
We were constantly told how much the Buchners care about their animals and Africa‘s wildlife and conservation, but right next door they‘re hunting all those animals.
We were even shown that other part of the reserve but told that there is no tours allowed.
The worst part tho is their advertising the possibility to hunt the Big 5. Don‘t know how anyone can justify to hunt endangered species.
If there‘s nothing wrong with what you‘re doing, then i don‘t understand why you lie to your guests.
We are very disappointed and regret giving any money to this family.
10.0
spacious
no swimming pool
7.0
Breakfast was standard fare within nothing that distinguished it as a 4 star establishment.
All staff without exception were good
Evening meal was good and well prepared on first night (on our own) and therefore not difficult to mess up on a three stage meal with only two choices. Skipped second night. Thursday night joined by other 4 guests. They has steak and I had rolled pork belly. Obviously frozen from previous serving (at least 5 days back) and I had food poisoning with 5 hours! Did not eat last breakfast as was not capable of doing so as it just??????????
Choice of two dishes per course in 3 course dinner menu - not 4 star rating
No water two mornings out of three. Had to request employee to switch on pump (not a load shedding problem!)
No backup generator when generator failed - bed at 9pm because of load shedding
Distance from Addo Elephant Park should be in write-up as over 25kms
FAQs
How much does this nature lodge cost compared to others in Eastern Cape?
The average price for a rental in Eastern Cape is $107 per night. This rental is $302 above the average.
Is parking included with this nature lodge?
Yes, parking is listed as an amenity at Elephants Safari Lodge - Bellevue Forest Reserve. For more information, we encourage you to contact the property about where to park.
Is there a pool at this nature lodge?
We didn’t find pool listed as an amenity for this nature lodge. It may be worth double checking if a pool is important for your stay.
Is Elephants Safari Lodge - Bellevue Forest Reserve pet friendly?
Unfortunately, this nature lodge is not pet-friendly. Try searching again and filter for "Pets Allowed"
What amenities are available at Elephants Safari Lodge - Bellevue Forest Reserve?
We found 10 amenities for this rental. This includes kitchen or kitchenette, internet / wifi, fireplace, smoking allowed, and parking.
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