Shangri-La Country Hotel

The rooms and scenery were lovely, and the people made the stay especially enjoyable. Andrew was a delightful host who stayed on top of every request. I’d happily return just to spend time with him and Pop-up Piet. We enjoyed every minute.

We use the Shangri-La as a convenient stop when doing business in Botswana and the SADEC countries. Having stayed and entertained there before, we expected that experience when we booked for the night of 18 December 2025. Check-in at reception went smoothly, but in the dark and intermittent rain, the two people sent to show us our rooms didn’t know where they were. We wandered from room to room before finding ours. The air conditioner wouldn’t work. I found its isolating switch and turned it back on, but within minutes the electricity in the whole room tripped. Maintenance must have known the air conditioner was off, yet when called, they denied knowing about the issue. That felt like a blatant lie. Reception offered to move my son and me into separate rooms with working facilities, which we declined. Later, we tried to make tea and found there was no creamer, so we had to go back to reception again and received many apologies. Before booking, I should have checked the earlier reviews. Maybe I’d have decided differently about where to spend our hard-earned cash. Management can defend itself as it sees fit, as it has before, but the facts remain. Offering another room is an easy way out. I hope future guests take note of this and the previous reviews.

The setting is beautiful, with breathtaking views, lovely rooms and an exquisite restaurant. They make the best breakfast. Some staff, though, were unfriendly and unprofessional, making guests uncomfortable. Management also seemed poor and not customer friendly.

Our room door was difficult to lock, and the shower had no door, so water spread across the floor. There wasn’t a mop or even an old towel to clean it up. The gravel road to the lodge also gets rough, especially after rain.