10/10
Reviewed Aug 12, 2025Do you want to see the big five while being treated as a royalty? Book the Elephant Plains Game Lodge. Their facility is excellent, location is great, and the level of service is awesome. They will be waiting for you when you arrive because they know that you’re coming and they will pamper you on every step of the way: from the room personalized for your visit to the dining options tailored to your diet to sundowners and welcome back drinks. They make you feel like a family and you would not want to leave. Ever.
10/10
Reviewed May 13, 2025This was our 5th visit to Elephant Plains. It's the most affordable option in the Sabi Sands and an excellent place to stay. Since our 2022 visit, they have updated the rondovels. They're super comfortable with everything you need. Staff were great. They seem to have simplified the food options (an improvement) and the quality is great.
You go to the Sabi Sands for the exceptional leopard sightings and amazing safaris. This place does not dissapoint - in one drive we had 2 leopard cub sightings, a female on a kill, close elephant encounters and lions. It's worth every cent!
For self-drivers (at May 2025), the roads to Gowrie Gate are horrendous and haven't improved much in 10 years. Map out your journey before hand. We used both Google Maps and the maps provided by EP. Gowrie Gate entry was R510 (cash or card) and the conservation fee added to your bill at EP was R620 so factor that in too.
Elephant Plains is a must do!
10/10
Reviewed Apr 27, 2025From the welcome to the farewell, everything was exceptional. Nell was a knowledgeable and engaging guide and we saw all the animals we wanted to see and more - amazing sightings of elephants, rhinos, leopards and lions to name a few. The rooms were comfortable and meals were delicious. The staff went the extra mile to cater to our needs - a special shout out to Carmen who ensured that everything we required was arranged with a smile. I would recommend Elephant Plains to anyone visiting South Africa.
10/10
Reviewed Apr 25, 2025My fiancé and I stayed for 2 nights at Elephant Plains and loved every minute. As I have never loved nature, I was skeptical and restricted the stay to 2 nights, but have left with khaki fever thanks to the safari guide (Matt) and tracker (Dumi).
We went to Kruger National Park afterwards and realised how we were spoiled by Elephant Plains. Elephant Plains offers quality intimate close viewings that will give you the experience of a lifetime.
At the lodge, the staff were extremely helpful, ensuring that the only thing we needed to think about were the unforgettable game drives.
Our only regret with the stay is that we didn’t stay for longer. My fiancé and I have discussed since and we would happily return for a longer trip when we honeymoon.
10/10
Reviewed Apr 14, 2025Foi maravilhosa!!
10/10
Reviewed Dec 8, 2024Our stay at Elephant Plains Game Lodge was unforgettable. From the warm welcome to the seamless rooming experience, everything was handled with care and professionalism.
The highlight of our trip was the remarkable safari adventures (game drives), where we had the chance to see elephants, giraffes, lions, rhinos, leopards, and more up close—a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. The delicious meals, tailored to accommodate vegetarian preferences, were excellent.
The staff also went above and beyond, assisting with retrieving our luggage from Johannesburg and providing thoughtful support with laundry and toiletries. Their hospitality and attention to detail made our stay exceptional.
We are truly grateful for this amazing experience and will gladly recommend Elephant Plains to anyone visiting the area. We can’t wait to return!
10/10
Reviewed Dec 2, 2024An incredible stay and experience.
10/10
Reviewed Nov 16, 2024Awesome people, outstanding location, very knowledgeable safari guides & spotters. Highly recommended in EVERY way. Can‘t wait to come back !!!
10/10
Reviewed Oct 18, 2024Das absolute Highlight unseres Südafrika Urlaubs! Tolle Safaris bei denen wir nicht nur die Big 5 sahen sondern von unserem Führer viele Informationen erhielten. Da die Rezeptionistin erfahren hatte das wir Hochzeitstag haben, bekamen wir die Honeymoon Suite. Ein Traum! Besonders erwähnen möchte ich noch die absolute Freundlichkeit wirklich ALLER Mitarbeiter und Mitarbeiterinnen! Das ist gelebter Kundenservice! Wir kommen auf alle Fälle wieder 😀! Eine absolute Empfehlung von mir!
10/10
Reviewed Jul 10, 2024We had an incredible stay at Elephant Plains. Shuna was an amazing and fun host, and Darren and Colbert were outstanding guides. Thanks to their efforts, we saw the Big Five within the two short nights we were there. The food by Tilly was fantastic! It was probably the perfect safari experience for us, and we would definitely come back.
The location is quite remote, and getting to the hotel can be challenging due to potholes. Additionally, there's limited flexibility in booking because it's so popular, and I believe they should allow for changes or cancellations rather than requiring bookings a year in advance. Despite these minor issues, our experience was unforgettable.
10/10
Reviewed May 19, 2023Amazing
10/10
Reviewed Mar 24, 2023We had a lovely stay at Elephant Plains! The lodge is a dream, the staff are wonderful, and the game drives exceeded all our expectations.
10/10
Reviewed Jan 23, 2023We had an amazing experience at Elephant Plains. It was our first legit safari and first safari lodge. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. The facilities are excellent and comfortable. You are in a beautiful location where you can see animals from the balconies. We saw elephants, antelope, waterbuck, and even a leopard from the pool balcony.
On our actual game drives we saw all of the big 5 several times (over our 3 day stay)! Couldn’t have hoped for anything better than what we got at elephant plains!
10/10
Reviewed Mar 21, 2022Schöne Unterkunft, sehr nettes und kompetentes Personal, gutes Essen. Gut organisierte und lohnenswerte Game Drives. Kaizer und Dumi waren tolles Guides und Tracker.
Aussicht von den Balkonen der Lodges könnte besser sein.
10/10
Reviewed Jan 3, 2021We went to Elephant Plains for New Years Eve. Wonderfull experience and best Leopard sightings ever
10/10
Reviewed Feb 23, 2020Perfekter Service, tolle Location, tolle Erlebnisse
10/10
Reviewed Jan 27, 2020Our family of 5 had an amazing experience with Elephant Plains. The staff went above and beyond to ensure that we had a great time, and that our little boy was taken care of. We loved the game drives, there was so much to see and explore, and many of the famous “big five” were roaming freely the the surrounding area. One of our highlight was the 6 or so giraffes that we saw walking along the main road on our way out to wave us off!!! Overall a fantastic experience and we hope to be back again!
10/10
Reviewed Jan 2, 2020Perfect Stay.
10/10
Reviewed Jan 1, 2020The best lodge we stayed at in Sabi.
Amazing service, delicious food, exciting game rides.
Highly recommended.
10/10
Reviewed Nov 29, 2019Fantastic location in Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Guides were incredibly knowledgeable and went out of their way to make our trip perfect. Up close to leopards, lions, rhino and buffalo. Food was excellent! Lovely quiet property with view over a waterhole. Two swimming pools with one close to our room was very convenient. Beautiful deck around the restaurant. Such a great experience that my partner proposed ❤️ Perfect in every way!
10/10
Reviewed Sep 2, 2019Top Tiersichtungen mit Leoparden an allen Tagen,Big Five innerhalb weniger Stunden,Tolles Team vom Guide ,,der Managerin ,der Köchin,sogar der Wagen wurde gewaschen.Tolles aufmerksames Team.
10/10
Reviewed Aug 11, 2019This place is in a simple word Amazing. It was a magical stay we bonded with the staff they made us feel very welcome and the place is just perfection. I will comeback and do another Safari in South Africa in the future and I will make sure to stay In the same lodge. Elephant Plains has excellent facilities, amazing food and a staff that just makes you feel welcome and like you are the only thing that matters to them. Thank you for making our stay so magical and a big thanks to Darryn, Max and Derek. Thanks to them we got to see the big five and much more. An experience we will never forget. Thank you!
8/10
Reviewed Jun 12, 2019It's a great place and provide great rides. Andrew, ranger, and Dion, tracker, were amazing. There is only one problem for this place-- condition of the road to get there. We drove by ourselves and deeply regretted it. It looks like an hour drive by google map, but it took up to 4 hours. The road supposed to be a paved road, but it had a million of potholes. We were nervous for the whole time if we were on the right track. I wished we would have been warned about it beforehand. But other than this, Elephant Plains is great. We saw a leopard and a cub for the first ride. We had great time staying there.
10/10
Reviewed May 21, 2019Hotel exceptionnel!
Les game drive sont de très bonne qualité, nous avons vu plusieurs fois des léopards et le service est impeccable
10/10
Reviewed Dec 26, 2018Excellent, well organized, food is great. Lodge is beautiful
10/10
Reviewed Dec 9, 2018Não há outra palavra para definir nossa estadia senão maravilhosa!! Tudo foi impecável, da recepção extremamente simpática, a qualidade de almoços e jantares, os safáris, tudo, tudo perfeito!
10/10
Reviewed Dec 9, 2018Gerrie our assigned game ranger made it an unforgettable experience. All staff were friendly and helpful. Would thoroughly recommend elephant plains to anyone
10/10
Reviewed Dec 9, 2018Great place to stay! I’ll definitely recommend it. Room, service, and location were great. We saw elephants from our room and by the pool. I got to see the “magnificent seven” in the 3 days / 5 safaris I did.
10/10
Reviewed Oct 24, 2018Excelente! Tudo maravilhoso. Nada a reclamar.
10/10
Reviewed Sep 25, 2018Excelente hotel e serviço. Comida muito boa e game drives incríveis.
10/10
Reviewed Sep 23, 2018We had a lovely stay in the lodge.
The staff, from receptaion to rangers to the kitchen was amazing.
The food is beeing done specipicly for your Diet requirements and your likes and dislikes.
The safary rides were amazing and gert the ranger was a A real professional and made sure we will se the big five.
10/10
Reviewed Sep 17, 2018EP was an awesome lodge, out of the three we stayed at, our overall experience was the best here! Fantastic job by the entire staff making our stay the best! Special shout out to our guide/tracker team Gerhard and Derrick, awesome job!
10/10
Reviewed Sep 16, 2018Local maravilhoso, os animais ficam bem próximos ao quartos. A comida é simplismente perfeita. Vimos leopardos a menos de 1 metros de distância.
Girafas, elefantes, hipopótamos, rinocerontes....
A equipe epowrfeira e o clica durante as refeições e safáris foi perfeito.
O quarto é super confortável e lindo.
Super recomendo
10/10
Reviewed Sep 3, 2018Adoramos o hotel e todas as maravilhas que nos proporcionaram. Os game drives são sensacionais e o nosso Driver e o Ranger eram muito experientes, os BIG Five foram encontrados e fotografados. Todos os funcionários do hotel são competentes e gentis. As caminhadas à pé após o café da manhã também são uma experiência unica. Aconselho a, antes de ir para a reserva privada, pegar uns 2 ou 3 dias na reserva pública do Kruger Park e fazer sua própria experiencia de procurar os animais. É muito emocionante!
10/10
Reviewed Sep 3, 2018Simply everything perfect. The attention, the attention with the guests, the meals, the rooms. We were treated like kings. We saw fantastic things in game drivers. As soon as there is a chance, we hope to return again,
10/10
Reviewed Jun 24, 2018Excellent service and game viewing, I would recommend it.
10/10
Reviewed Apr 9, 2018We stayed for 3 nights in March 2018. The communication was great before the trip. The lodge is located 1.5h drive from HDS airport. We took the lodge-arranged transfer, which was pretty expensive (R5460 round trip for 3 people) but the drivers were punctual and pleasant.
The lodge is well maintained with 12 chalets. Staff were all polite and courteous. The only complaint is the food (not much variety). The fruit plate for breakfasts and lunches were not enough for everyone and never refilled.
However, the game drives were fantastic. Our Ranger Garrit and tracker Chris were determined to show us the big 5 and yes, we saw them multiple times. We even saw a group of elephants - Mom with little elephants including a tiny little one, probably just born a couple days ago. Garrit tried to drive closer, hit a stump and we ended up with a flat tire that had to be changed (while elephants were watching us) - another fun African experience!
Overall, highly recommended.
10/10
Reviewed Mar 6, 2018très bel hôtel en pleine nature, personnel très accueillant.
10/10
Reviewed Feb 18, 2018Der Name passt: Mittags kann man vom Pool aus Elefanten beobachten. Jeder gibt sich Mühe, jedem Gast einen besonderen, entspannenden Urlaub zu bieten. Und vor unserem Haus war sogar ein Kudu unterwegs.
10/10
Reviewed Dec 10, 20172 journées et 2 nuits inoubliables avec des game drive au top (avec le ranger Dawie). Lodge très agréable, chambre spacieuse et bien équipée.
10/10
Reviewed Nov 4, 2017Magnifique séjour à la rencontre des animaux.
La chambre est grande et très confortable, les repas excellents, le personnel très chaleureux et attentionné. Les safaris superbes.
8/10
Reviewed Oct 27, 2017Es gab direkt bei unserer Ankunft gesundheitliche Probleme. Darauf wurde schnell und professionell reagiert. Netter jederzeit zuvorkommender Service, super Essen. Tolle Game drives. Der Wehmutstroffen ist das Zimmer, obwohl schon ein Luxury Room gebucht wurde. Zur Tierbeobachtung ein sehr schöner Blick von der Terasse auf ein Wasserloch, Liegeflächen der Liegen aber leider kaputt, ebenso die Holzterasse in sehr schlechtem Zustand .
10/10
Reviewed Sep 23, 2017We stayed for 4 nights at this game lodge.
we were so taken back by the friendly and helpful staff, they carried our luggage to our suite and took time to show and tell us how everything worked in our room and also around the property.
The food was also impressive, very healthy and tasty, never scrimping on anything. Sitting around the boma and a fire while having dinner was relaxing after a game drive not to mention romantic. Our suite was beautifully appointed, thick bath robes and slippers, turn down every night with a cute story of animals and chocolates on your pillow. Lovely view of a watering hole from our deck. Two mornings we woke up to a family of elephants bathing in the water.
The game drives left us both speechless!
our ranger and tracker worked so effectively together to find the big five for us. We saw the big 5 more than a few times and also a lot of other animals too! In the first hour of our first game drive we came upon a female leopard, she was so close to our vehicle, my husband and I held our breath as she passed by. We were not scared just did not want to scare her off. The highlight for me was the pride of lion's we encountered, an Lioness with 5 cubs in tow. I cant thank our Ranger and Tracker enough for their hard work and concern for our safety and enjoyment. Thank you Davie and Life for a unforgettable trip of a life time. Our only regret is that we didn't stay longer.
Jennifer and William W.
10/10
Reviewed Aug 31, 2017とても快適で素敵なホテルでした。スタッフもフレンドリーで親切です！食事は美味しかったです。夕食のメインは二種類から選べます。特に朝食のレンジャーのお薦めが美味しかったです。
３泊してビックファイブをすべて見れました。ひょうが木の上でインパラを食べているシーンも見れました。
10/10
Reviewed Aug 4, 2017An absolutely outstanding stay. All of the staff were extremely friendly, the guides were knowledgeable, the game drives were an experience of a lifetime, and the food was absolutely delicious at every meal. Couldn't've been happier with our stay, and hope to return in the future!
10/10
Reviewed Jun 19, 2017Wow, exceeded all my expectations. Great staff, game drives, food, room, etc. All fives.
10/10
Reviewed May 22, 2017We stayed in a luxury suite for 4 nights - our first safari! The room is huge, more space than the 2 of us really needed. From the moment I booked, the EP staff were extremely helpful with assistance in arranging a car transfer and answering questions regarding dietary restrictions. All the vegetarian meals they prepared for us were wonderful. Alcoholic beverages are not included in the reservation but they have a fully stocked bar and the prices are very reasonable. The entire stay was so much more than I expected. From the balcony of our room we saw impalas fighting, a bull elephant walking around, and lots of vervet monkeys playing in the trees. We were able to see and learn so much on every game drive/bush walk. The trackers and rangers have such a deep understanding of the flora and fauna of Sabi Sands, which makes for an incredible experience. We will definitely be returning to Elephant Plains!
10/10
Reviewed May 14, 2017Was short stay, only one night enough to have a great experience
Very clean and friendly staff all the time
10/10
Reviewed Apr 19, 2017We went for a family vacation, my parents and my 3 young children. We had such a great experience and could not fault Elephant Plains. The only tiny complaint would be that you have to pay for wifi. Great Stay and great game sightings!
10/10
Reviewed Apr 3, 2017Wonderful game viewing, attentive and friendly service, delicious food. The luxury room was gorgeous, stylish and very comfortable. A fantastic experience all around, we did not want to leave!
10/10
Reviewed Feb 28, 2017My girlfriend and I had been recommended this place by two of my friends who have been going there for years. It lived up to all expectations and more. We saw a large range of animals over the 4 game drives we did. Our ranger Dawie assisted by tracker justice were superb. Going to great lengths to track lions for us which was amazing. Their knowledge and passion made it such an engaging and thrilling experience. I would recommend doing the bush walks aswell. The facilities were excellent, our rondavel (no.5) was clean and beautifully presented with a great private viewing veranda. The staff were friendly and obliging and the food was great. I would have no hesitation in returning to Elephant Plains... in fact I have only got home today and looking into it next year!
10/10
Reviewed Jan 22, 2017The rooms are very clean and spacious. The service is highly personalized. The administrative staff was always there when you needed something. Morné was our ranger and Dion our tracker for the 3 days we where there. They made sure we saw everything we could beyond the big 5 even delivering on the African hunting dogs the last day. All of this at a much better price than neighboring lodges. I was worried additional costs like drinks and laundry were going to by high because we were "captive", but it was the opposite. Really refreshing to see.
