Hard beds, shocking service in the restaurant. The game drive was late, so we arrived late for breakfast and they were already clearing up at 9:45am. And could not understand the guides on the game drives. Not sure I would go back again. I pay a lot of money and expect great service and good food.

This place was so much fun! We loved the hotel, all the facilities, which we made extensive use of, and, of course, the game drives. Hot tip, though: the game drives are a bit too much for very young children! After our first experience we took turns with the older ones, instead. The sunrise/sunset times of game drives, and the correspondingly late meals, also make them a little challenging for families with smaller children, but worth it. The food was delicious -- surprisingly good even for a family with special diets, and the chef was super knowledgeable and friendly. The staff are great - 100% expert and friendly - and they helped us exceedingly and very kindly when we had a medical emergency with one of the kids late at night. They also created a community feeling that encouraged us to get to know other guests a little bit. The one minor thing we did not love was that you have to pay for all drinks at dinner, including water. We would really have appreciated a tap-water option for our family-on-a-budget. (At breakfast, too, water would have been nice.) Our wonderful time at Kwa Maritane will make for lifelong memories, and we're very glad we came upon it!

RONNIE HERE WE OUT HERE KWA MARITANA GAME LODGE SITUATED IN PILANESBERG NATIONAL PARK SOUTH AFRICA WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY IT IS . The early morning game drive guys is out of this world. Guys the breakfast at the back of your chalet on those garden chairs viewing the bark roaming around it just make breakfast like is the first time u have breakfast, I LOVE THE PLACE .

Kwa Maritane has good and bad points, but game drive made up for it all. Staff at check in could not have been LESS interested in guests, same for the restaurant staff, but housekeeping staff were lovely! Room was clean and tidy, but clear signs of aging with mildew in the bathroom etc Meals were good, although some covers/fans to keep the flies off the food would be a good investment. My biggest issue was the promised activities that didn’t take place and lack of communication about it. Short version is there are posters around advertising activities but without days or times, none of them took place, constantly got ‘not enough for that’ and ‘that started at 10am and it’s 1005 so we already cancelled’ … Addressed my issues with our agent, and the manager came up with a good fix for the bush braai, that we really appreciated, but I would still warn anyone looking at staying to be aware that things like the bush braai or snake encounter will probably not happen. I would also strongly suggest taking your own pool towels. We were told to get them from the restaurant, asked there and were told to ask ‘the staff at the pool’, we asked 4!!! more staff, who all said they’d arrange them, we then gave up and used our room towels The game drive was amazing, and KK our guide was simply incredible with the way he loves the animals Overall, expensive, and average service, but I’d still recommend it for the game drive

If you want to have a quick easy getaway to the bush that is a very short, easy drive from Johannesburg then Kwa Maritane in the Pilanesberg is a very good option. We did not have time to go to the more regular places, we just needed a quick bush fix (2 nights) and Kwa Maritane ticked most of the boxes, there were good surprises but also some disappointments. Let's start with the good. Rooms are nice and have everything you need. Restaurant, bar and reception and ground staff are really, really great and the food was much better than expected, I would highly recommend the food, buffet style but great variety and all of it very tasty (both breakfast and dinner...don't miss the pancake bar outside the restaurant). The actual reserve is very, very pretty (even if you can see the lights of Sun City in the near distance reminding you that you are not really in deep, wild Africa). Malaria free so no expensive malaria tablets. Best part was the large herd of elephant that came to drink right Infront of the restaurant (on our arrival and also on our departure). The hide is a wonderful bonus. (they don't tell you but you can tune your tv on to a channel that shows the hide). The hotel is very good value. The downside was we were expecting to do a lot of self driving and the roads were really, really terrible. It was not possible to drive our little rental car on them (like we had 10 years ago on our last visit). In fact if you tried you would be so busy watching the road you would have no chance of being able to look for game as well. We spent both this past April and the April the year before in Kruger and we expected the roads to be as good as Kruger, they are not! So we were restricted as we had planned to do mostly self drive and had to take the game drives offered by the lodge. It's the luck of the draw who you get on your vehicle. We were put on a vehicle with a screaming baby, mother had no idea what to do, we asked to change and fortunately were allowed another vehicle. What a relief as I saw them passing nappies around a bit later on. The vehicles are very large with a lot of people, we are not used to this after spending time in so many private lodges in the past. The next disappointment was the ranger. You get the distinct impression he has learnt a page on each animal. He stops, regurgitates his parrot fashion learnt facts on each animal. I suppose this would suit a lot of people who have never been to the bush. When you spend more money you get better rangers. Rangers that know how to stop so that the light is just perfect for your photographs, rangers that stop for birds. You get the impression everyone there is just interested in the big game and not the little nuances of the bush. Sadly we got the same ranger on our second drive and it was literally word for word the same regurgitated facts as the fist drive, jokes were even the same. If you can only do one safari in Africa for not a lot of money you could do a lot better (you will have to travel a bit further). Also there were a few facts our ranger got wrong but we decided it was not worth arguing with him. We requested another ranger on our third drive, she was a bit better, but you still get the impression they have learnt their lines. Also, for some reason every single vehicle from every lodge rendezvous at the same place for their evening drink. I found it rather strange since the reserve is quite large I would have thought there would be nice places for each vehicle to stop where there is some quiet and solitude and you are not with everyone else in the park. Again being used to a private safari they would never group you with other people. I suppose it could be because its easier for the rangers and there were toilets there. Despite the above, if it fits your budget and you don't have time to go further away then do go, just take a vehicle that has a high clearance and you will be fine on the roads. It will be worth paying extra for this as most of the roads are not tarred. (even the tarred road was heavily pot holed, but they seemed to be trying to fix those whilst we were there. I would definitely go back but with a better car and I would go in winter when the grass is not so high.