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4.0
#2 of 19 lodges in Maun
Location
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Value
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Thamalakane River Lodge is ideally located an easy 20-minute drive from Maun Airport en route to the famous Moremi Game Reserve. It is a secluded haven of tranquility nestled in a grove of mature riverine trees on the bank of the Thamalakane River. The rambling lodge has an idyllic setting and is committed to service excellence. It is a delightful place to come home to after a day spent exploring.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
First the positives, the service from the staff was top notch, the friendliest check in/out, a lovely bar/restaurant manager, all round great. Plus the family rooms are ideal, a double room and adjoining room with 3 single beds, sharing a bathroom. The rooms are old style brick and thatch and therefore very dark inside, but the furnishing are nice with those spacious mosquito nets that allow you to walk around the bed. Dinner in the evening (since you're pretty far our of town) was fine, pizzas, steak, the usual. The grounds are beautiful. There were no complaints but the real downside is the price, it is a huge step up from other guesthouses and I can't see what you get for your money. Yes it is on the river, and that is nice, but there are other places where that is possible. Breakfast was also a bit disappointing given the price range, a tiny buffet (2 cereals and fruit) and only full English of varying sizes as cooked options. I wouldn't stay again because there are much better value places, but then again there isn't anything I'm complaining about. If money is no option, then this is an easy, safe, pretty and reliable option.
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Date of stay: July 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:The family villas have a great view and you can drive up to them
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I spend 11 nights in this lodge for business purposes and I left having the feeling I m part of the Thamalakane lodge family ! We were the only guests at this time due to covid and we got really spoiled by Marlies and Hein, the owners of the place. The food is amazing, we could even choose what we wanted to have for dinner and the price of the menu is really affordable. I met amazing people there, I highly recommend this place, even tho I m a flight attendant and I m used to travel the world. The rooms are confortables, they are cleaned every day, the personal is always polite and helpful and there is A/C. Even the wifi is really good ! You won’t miss an amazing sunset on the river just next to the lodge ... you have the possibility to do many activities like horse riding safari, baby elephant orphanage and scenic flights ! Thanks Marlies and Hein, I miss you already !
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Date of stay: February 2021Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Leana Ries, Owner at Thamalakane River Lodge
Responded Apr 12, 2021
Good day. Thank you so much for the kind words. We are happy that you had a good stay in Botswana. We know that wifi is important when staying with us so we make sure there is good wifi in all parts of the lodge. The activities makes the stay even better and the river offers boat cruises mokoro trips and sunset cruises. We do hope to welcome you back in the future.
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We were fortunate to stay at Thamalakane RL on 2 different occations and will def go back there again. It is great value for money, a stunning, tranquil setting with a beautiful view, loveley and friendly staff, immaculate challets with comfy beds, mozzie nets and ceiling fans (with a generator in case of power cuts). We enjoyed the yummiest pizzas for dinner and scrumprious breakfast, all superbly prepared and presented in a stunning setting. Thank you for going out of your way to make our stay(s) first class, Marlize and Hein and staff, we can't recommend your lodge enough! Love, The Scholtz family
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Date of stay: January 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Leana Ries, Owner at Thamalakane River Lodge
Responded Feb 3, 2021
Dear Scholtz family We appreciate the kind words and feedback. We are so happy that you had a good stay and appreciated our lovely setting on the river. During these difficult times the staff are always happy to see friendly and appreciative guests. We look forward to welcoming you back soon and we will share your review with the team.
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We had a great time at Thamakalane River Lodge. From our arrival at the airport, we were treated like proverbial royalty. The staff were extremely helpful and courteous. We were fortunate to catch some Tiger fish in the Delta and the price for the boat, staff and equipment was reasonable. Great menu and service. The setting is on the Thamakalane river and we saw elephants and hippo.(frogs and hippos were lovely to hear at night) We stayed in the Babbler units and were impressed with the neatness, airconditioning and layout. Unfortunately we ran out of time as we still wanted to try the Spa. Great place, we will be back soon!
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Date of stay: October 2021Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:Book in advance as they are busy. We were fortunate that another family cancelled at the last...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I can say a lot here. Let’s start with the meet and greet that happened at the airport with no water and being whisked away without a bathroom break after our flight from the delta in the searing heat. This was followed by a rude reception and insinuation that we should be carrying our bags to our room without someone even showing us which way to the rooms. I had to ask someone to help us with our bags! After entering the room there were holes in the sheets and foot prints on the wall. The sink had a hole in it and there were cob webs all over the ceiling. I complained to my agent and we were approached by the owner during lunch who said he has a new manager and he will straighten it out. Ok fine. Off we go to the pool that was filthy cloudy green and all around it had bird droppings so there was no where to even sit. We passed on the pool.
The poor employees worked to actually clean the room while we sat outside. They made the beds very nicely and were very polite. I’m sure they cleaned to the best of their ability but during our evening shower we were attacked by mosquitoes that were living in the shower drain. The shower drain didn’t work and we were standing in dirty water the whole time. There was no fresh water and we were charged 5 USD for water despite their water from tap being non-potable. the “coffee” for the room didn’t have any creamers or sugar and we were told to heat up the tap water for coffee!!!
I attempted to tip our waiter for lunch and was bluntly told not to bother putting the 5 dollars on the gratuity line because the hotel owner will take the money and not give it to him! I would think this may be just a ploy but we found out after we left from locals that the owner doesn’t even feed the employees or give them drinks for their shifts and require them to find their own rides there and back.
At dinner we were served a slab of beef that was undercooked and bloody. I couldn’t bear to eat one bite due to texture and being wholly undercooked in my opinion. We tried to politely say we were full but the waitress embarrassed us and said we need to eat. This was the the 3rd time we were approached at our table by either the manager, owner or waitress. Very very rude to discuss that in front of other patrons.
Off to bed and we had to cover the drain in the shower to prevent the mosquitoes from getting out. Despite that I woke up to multiple mosquito bites and killed one on my pillow. That was it. We left.
We were never offered a fresh room, a refund or any type of compensation for our circumstance. I was appalled.
My agent said this hotel has clearly gone down hill since covid. If you ask us it’s in poor shape, dated, and in disrepair. The owner threw the “nee manager” under the bus instead of taking responsibility for his own business!
Do NOT recommend and we ended up staying at the waterfront Maun which was fresh, clean, new rooms with lovely gardens and a clear blue pool we could enjoy. Patrick is the owner and we recommend them without reservation.
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Date of stay: October 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My family and I stayed here two nights and were warmly greeted on our first night when we arrived around 8 pm. The lodge is generally nice, but it is a little tired and the villas are not updated. It is about 25 minutes from the main center of Maun, so if you want to do a lot of things in Maun, this may not be the best location, but it wasn't an issue for us. The villa we stayed in was ok, but was probably the least nice room during our trip and considering the price for other places, remained in the bottom tier for us. We had some hot water issues, but the lodge allowed us to go the next villa over to take a shower.
If you are on your way to Moremi, this is in the right direction, as you continue to take the road east and north. I believe the website states that all of the rooms have river views, but I found that there are many that have heavily obstructed views and there is a large swath of rooms that are further away from the river, making it even less of a view than the website suggests. When we were showed our villa, we noticed it was far away from the river and there were the front row of villas blocking most of the view. They agreed to switch our villa after dinner, so that was nice, but the room still had an obstructed view from the trees. There are a couple of villas that do not have an obstruction, so I would asked to reserve those villas upon booking if you want a nice view. The dinner on the first night was very good, the second night's dinner was ok.
We booked an all-day river cruise through the lodge, which was nice because the scenery and animal life is wonderful, but we had an old uncomfortable boat that was not able to get to plane, so anytime it went about 7-10 knots, it would bounce terribly and the driver would have to slow down. Many boats passed us to and from the Delta. The guide was very nice, but because he was the driver and the guide (and may have had some hearing and vision issues), he didn't seem to capture all of the wildlife, with my wife and I doing most of the guiding. You can book through other vendors boat a boat cruise, so you may want to do that or insist that lodge secures a good boat for you to use. The lodge's boat appeared very nice, with comfortable seats for everyone. Ours had a small bench that could not fit my family.
At checkout, we waited about an hour because the power was down and the backup generator wasn't working, so they couldn't process our invoice to leave. I believe this was an irregular occurrence, so we were just a little unlucky.
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Date of stay: July 2021
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:There are only a couple of unobstructed villas, so you will need to specifically request such a...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We visited Thamalakane for an overnight stay while working in Maun. We first stayed there in 2014, returning in 2017 and now in 2020.
We spent our first weekend together at Thamalakane in 2014 and it has stayed close to our hearts and remained a special place for us ever since.
All the staff over years, including our most recent stay, have always been extremely friendly and always available to assist in any way. It really makes a difference in one's stay when you get greeted and treated with the utmost friendliness and respect for the duration of your stay.
The food is so incredible, we just wanted to order everything on the menu.
We relaxed and enjoyed our stay by hanging out at the swimming pool with a bottle of wine on ice. It was a short but lovely and special stay.
The rooms are beautiful and you feel like you are some kind of royalty when in your room and when walking around the lodge, as the friendliness of the staff is everywhere, no matter what their position is....you are always treated well.
We will return over and over again.
Highly recommend this place.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent 6 nights at the lodge, and after being disappointed both with the absence of the promised pool and the location and quality of the room (nr 16), we were allowed to move to nr 5 which faces the river unobstructed which made all the difference. In the end we very much enjoyed our peaceful time at the lodge, sitting on the deck of our hut, lingering after meals looking out over the river, and chatting with the staff. I particularly want to thank the staff, they worked hard, always with a smile and a joke, to give us the best experience possible. Many thanks, and we hope to come back!
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Date of stay: September 2022
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:choose a room facing the river, ie nr 1 thru 10, although nr 5 is the best.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thamalakane River Lodge is beautifully decorated and has an excellent location by the river. The hosts were very welcoming and organised individual Tours for us such as a wonderful Mokoro day and a visit to an elephant orphanage. They also assisted us with the Corona Test in Maun which we really appreciated. We enjoyed the days at the Pool, dinners with excellent Service by the river (the Restaurant at Thamalakane is one of the best in town) and the slept in one of their beautiful Babbler rooms. We‘ll be back for sure!
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: December 2020
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Leana Ries, Owner at Thamalakane River Lodge
Responded Jan 2, 2021
Dear Sir Thank you so much for the feedback. It makes the whole team so happy to hear the great words. We will continue to strive to be the best in Maun. We hope to welcome you back in the future.
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We really enjoyed our stay in this lodge. Beautiful cottages with comfortable beds. Stunning river views. Countless colorful birds create a special atmosphere. Delicious food and friendly staff. But the most important thing was the perfect organization of our mobile safari. Thanks to the high water level in the Delta, we were able to depart directly from the lodge by boat. It was a magical 4.5 hours Delta ride! We saw dozens of different birds and animals! We weren't bored for a minute. Our island tent was wonderful. It had everything we needed. We spent 2 unforgettable nights full of African bush sounds. Every trip to the Delta gave us new experiences, and every evening we had a delicious three course dinner organized. Our guide Polusso was incredibly professional, taught us a lot and always put our safety first! We would like to thank Leana, Cornell and all members of their team for this unforgettable life experience!
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I do not work at the lodge and as far as I know, they do. My advice would be for you to contact the management at the Lodge. They will best answer your question as to how they can meet your needs. They are very helpful and professional.
There are more places to choose from in the Maun area.
PRICE RANGE
₱16,159 - ₱18,026 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
BotswanaNorth-West DistrictNgamiland EastMaun
NUMBER OF ROOMS
32
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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