**Very disappointing experience – misleading listing and poor handling by owner**
Our stay at this lodge was unfortunately a very negative experience from start to finish.
Firstly, on the way to the lodge we got messaged and asked if we wanted lunch, which we did and said yes. The reply we got back was quite shocking as the admin lady had told us that she wouldn’t recommend having lunch at the lodge as it’s not great and limited options and should rather go somewhere else. But at that point we had already driven past any lunch options, and said it would be okay and would still want lunch there.
when we arrived, the staff could not find our booking. We spent a long time waiting while they tried to locate it, and we were only eventually settled into our rooms around 6pm. Later, the owner suggested that the issue was somehow my fault, claiming that I had given the wrong name when checking in. Which was inaccurate as I had shown my ID and written my full and correct name on the check in form. And we didn’t get any lunch as we had earlier requested.
One of the main reasons we booked this lodge was because the Booking.com listing suggested that game drives were available on site and we should arrange on arrival. However, this was not the case at all. We were told that we needed to drive roughly 30min on dirt road to ANEW hotel to meet our game ranger and he would then drive us to the lodge. However, the game ranger ended up messaging us saying to meet him at the petrol station nearby and then told us to follow him. Which ended up being another 30min on terrible roads that’s were unsafe. And later the owner had said to us that we were supposed to organise game drives in Advance, even though on their listing it suggested otherwise. We had received no emails prior to our booking to confirm whether we wanted any game drives or meals.
This was particularly difficult because we were in a rental car that was very low to the ground, which is not at all suitable for the rough roads required to reach the game drive location. This made what should have been an exciting activity unnecessarily stressful and inconvenient.
Even if we we’re picked up at ANEW hotel this still wouldn’t have been a reliable option for us, as morning game drives started very early while it was still dark and evening game drives would end late therefore also being in the dark. This felt super unsafe as we would have to drive on quite dirt roads in the dark, and the staff had let us know that if we had a problem along these roads they would be unable to help us if we were stuck.
Before dinner, I phoned the owner to raise these concerns and explained that the Booking.com listing was very misleading about the game drives being on site. He told me we could discuss it at dinner. However, during dinner he spent a lot of time reprimanding staff in front of us and hovering around our table, which made the atmosphere extremely uncomfortable while we were trying to eat.
When I again explained that the listing was misleading and that the logistics of getting to the game drive were very difficult, the owner became defensive and somewhat passive-aggressive. I asked if we could receive a refund for the second night since the experience was not what had been advertised. He told me to take it up with Booking.com, but he would did not provide any written confirmation supporting a refund. I had messaged him once we left the next morning to confirm the refund however we got no response.
To make matters worse, the Booking.com listing now appears to have been removed, which makes it even more difficult for us to resolve the issue through Booking.com.
Overall, the experience felt very poorly managed, the listing was misleading, and the way the concerns were handled left us extremely disappointed.
