A Disastrous Christmas Experience at Mabula Lodge

Our stay at Mabula Lodge has been nothing short of a disaster. It’s Christmas Eve, and we’ve had to endure half a day without water followed by over 30 hours without power. This is completely unacceptable, especially during what’s supposed to be a festive and relaxing holiday.

The lack of communication from the management team has only made things worse. Whenever we ask for updates, we’re brushed off with a vague, “We are working on it.” Meanwhile, all our meat has gone off, and we’re left scrambling to figure out what to eat for the next three days (over R5 000 worth of meat purchased as we are a family of 8).

To add to our frustration, we were told complimentary coffee was available at the reception as compensation. But the reception is over 20 minutes away, and they didn’t even offer us flasks to bring hot water back. On top of that, there’s nowhere to sit and enjoy the coffee since we’re prohibited from accessing the main lodge.

Speaking of the main lodge—reserved for high-paying and mostly international guests—it’s fully equipped with solar and generator power. Yet, as timeshare guests (over 200 of us), we’ve been denied access to charge our devices, use the restaurant, or swim in the pool. This blatant disregard for timeshare guests feels rude and completely unaccommodating, especially given our high yearly fee.

We haven’t been able to shower due to the lack of hot water, and when we tried to buy ice to salvage our food, the on-site shop informed us they had none and didn’t know when they’d restock.

This experience has left us feeling abandoned and undervalued. Mabula Lodge needs to seriously rethink how they manage such situations and treat their guests, especially during peak holiday times. I cannot recommend this lodge to anyone based on the appalling service, lack of basic amenities, and the unacceptable way they’ve handled this situation.