Namibia Hotel Tips by smirnofforiginal

Okaukeujo Resort: inside Etosha & with a floodlit waterhole

It was NOT at all easy to get booked into this resort and EVERY website and agency had a different price... not to mention they ALL wanted to offer me premium rooms which, looking at the price maed me say OUCH!

Obviously it is most convenient to stay inside the park - you only have the entry (paymentand form completions) once and with a lovely waterhole for night viewing you really get the maximum out of your visit.

The room was clean and comfortable. We had a family room and whilst on the map of the resort it looked to be as far from the waterhole as they could put us, it really was just a stones throw. There is a swimming pool which I sniggered at - like I was going to sit by a pool when there were lions and elephnats and kudu to look at... but being very tired on day 3 o Etosha with 2 restless children in the back of the car, the pool actually was a nice restbite for a while and certainly made the kids happy again.

The waterhole here is great and the viewing area is big enough to accommodate plenty of people so there is no mass panic to be the first person there. It was a most active waterhole and somebody told me it is the best waterhole of all of the resorts. As this was my only experience I cannot say if that is true but certainly I would go back to this one and most definitely I would recommend it!

Opinion - for the night waterhole experience I think you would have to go a long way to beat it.
But I was happy with one night at the waterhole - I was treated to so much there.
I stayed at other accommodation just outside the gate which (after one waterhole experience) I preferred and would return to (and was cheaper on the old wallet too!)

For a family room here, including breakfast I paid N$1916.67 (July 2009). I shopped around and did not book direct. This was a good price.

My only complaint - as you can park right outside the sleeping cabins, there was a lot of noisy coming and going. Why people have to TALK AT THE TOPS OF THEIR VOICES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WILL NEVER KNOW but, this particular group of travellers left their Land Rover lights on so I felt rather vindicated as we snuck off quietly!

Unique Qualities: inside the park and with a glorious floodlit waterhole.

Theme: Hotel

A Little Sossus Lodge: Sesriem's finest (I think)

Nestled away from the road, peaceful & tranquil is The Little Sossus Lodge.
A wonderfully warm welcome and and a wonderfully welcome, ice, cool drink upon arrival. Our hosts and all staff were simply charming and very friendly.
The "rooms" are individual and very stylish cabins with such attention to detail - from the draped mosquito nets over the four poster beds to the rolled, white towels, fastened with natural string and threaded through a stark, red chili... perfect but not at all pompous.
Breakfast is included in the price and, for those, like us, headed at a ridiculously early time for Sossusvlei a packed breakfast is provided - and so huge is the breakfast we only collected 2 of our 4, never believing we had one enormous box each! The total cost for our huge family room was N$2200 which seemed average for this area and this standard.
Dinner is paid for seperately. It was a little too formal for my liking and the children had to wait between each of the 4 or 5 courses but the food was delicious and it would have been thoroughly enjoyable had we not been completely exhausted.
The lodge has stables and we took a Sundowner ride which lasted 1.5 hours but who was time watching - certainly our guides were not. They were loving the fire red sky as much as we! The Sundowner ride was N450 each but there are day rides for N$150 per person.

Address: on junction C19 & D854 SE of Sesriem

Comparison: about average

Theme: Hotel

Taleni Etosha Village: as close to Etosha as one can get

WONDERFUL!
Cool, tastey and much appreciated welcome drinks on arrival. Very friendly, helpful staff who showed us around the "site"
Incredibly child friendly.

Superbly laid out - very aesthetically pleasing with brilliantly thought out luxury tents, complete with shower, toilet, heater, lights, electricity point, fridge... Very clean and very comfortable. One of the best places we stayed at in our entire Namibian adventure.

The only downfall - we visited in Namibian winter. Gloriously hot days but the night and early morning were FREEZING and there was only so much the heater was going to do. Going outside in the night or first thing in the morning to use the toilet was for the brave hearted only... or until you could really hold on no longer!

The outdoor shower was soooooo lovely. I loved this place.

We paid N$915.65 for a family room, self catering - there are restaurants within the village.

The only downside... I paid for the room in advance (credit card). When we checked out after one night my husband went to the reception to settle our bill (we had had dinner and breakfast there). The receptionist told him the room had not been paid for, my husband accepted this and handed over the creidt card... the credit card machine for some reason would not work on ANY of my husbands cards (he assumed because this is Africa and everything can be "temperamental) and so he parted with cash. Laster when he told me I was very angry and phone Taleni Village - they were very upset and investigated but with no receipt and no proof there was nothing we or they could do.... the receptionist had clearly made himself a nice bit of cash... VERY annoying but our lack up 4am communication about money/payment... and we paid the price!
I would go back here though.

Unique Qualities: beautiful... ideal
wonderful location

Address: 4.3km from Anderson Gate, Etosha

Theme: Campground

Website: http://www.etosha-village.com

Ojitotongwe Cheetah Reserve: Grrrrrrrrrrr meow

Arriving at the "farmhouse" where there is a sign ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK ... and quite right too... they have a couple of "domesticated" cheetahs prowling about their personal land... not to mention (when we were there in July 2009) a cheetah cub full of teeth, claws and mischief!

We followed Mr CheetahMan in our car to our cabin - lovely - away from anybody else and... right besides an enormous enclosed area which had a mummy cheetah and all her cubs - and they happened to like it down by us.
Our accommodation was not why we were staying here - we were here for cheetahs. It was however clean but it was basic and perhaps our timing was out of keeping with a possible solar system(?) but at no point did we discover any water that was so much as luk warm... and we were here in winter so the idea of showering in the freezing night or morning, in cold water was far from appealing! The pros of this place certainly outweighed this one con!

There is a bar... and a very well stocked bar at that too.

The dinner was absolutely scrummy. Some of the best foodwe had in our entrie time in Africa.

Mrs CheetahLady was so friendly and so child friendly with free gifts for the boys (one of whom was having his 8th birthday) - a nice touch.

Outside our accommodation was an UBER FIRE and we sat out until very late, under the beautiful Namibian (night) moon. Was a very special night.

N$600 per adult & N$300 per child including breakfast.

Unique Qualities: Master CheetahMan (Mr CheetahMan's son - one of two) came to collect us in the back of his pick up truck and together with 3 French campers and an enormous bucket (which we would later discover contained donkey legs) took us up to the house where we had the delight of meeting the "domestic" cheetahs. Amazing. Simply amazing and awesome (and very pampered pussy cats) BUT nowhere near as amazing as going out and having a dinner rendezvous with the wild cheetahs they had rescued.... enter the donkey legs.
Really the wild cheetahs were really the most incredible encounter. I was absolutely entraced by them and could have cried when our chetah time was all over.
If you can then DO IT! You will NOT regret it. Amazing creatures and an amazing place.

Directions: 25km before Kemanjab

Theme: Bed and Breakfast

Website: http://www.cheetahparknamibia.com/contact-english.htm

Canon Village: Shhhh! it's all so quiet....

A small, windy, quiet, dirt track wiggles its way down to Canon Village; a semi cleared area of bush with tastefully erected cabins, placed non-obtrusively apart from one another, naturally fitting their natural setting.

The main building contains reception, the restuarant and a shop (with over priced African cd's, metal decorated gecko ornments, postacrds etc... stamps and mailing facility also here).
There is also an ice cold swimming pool set back so that it cannot be seen.

Cars may be driven to the cabins in order that you may unpack but must thenbe returned to the front of the "village" so as not to upset the aesthetics of the place.

This is not a contained area so do no be surprised to find the remains of small animals, porcupine quills etc...

As a family of 4, we had to have 2 adjoined cabins, which was wonderful but did bumped the price up considerably. Al the hotels/lodges around the canyon have a prime audience - there is no choice but to stay in one of them and to eat in them too. We paid N$2200 with breakfast included. Credit cards are accepted.

It is an idealic setting. It is clean. It was comfortable.

Unique Qualities: The setting

Directions: On the C37 about 12km south of the turn off to Hobas and the main viewpoint - from here another 2km east.

Theme: Hotel