Lion Sands River Lodge
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Kruger National Park 1240 South Africa
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Room & Suite (321)
Dining (85)
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About
#4 of 40 in Sabi Sand Game Reserve
Location
4.9
Cleanliness
4.9
Service
4.9
Value
4.7
Travelers' Choice
Family owned since 1933, this international award winning private game reserve spans across the world famous Sabi Sand Game Reserve and Kruger National Park. Lion Sands has four lodges; Lion Sands Ivory Lodge & Lion Sands River Lodge (Sabi Sand) and Lion Sands Tinga Lodge & Lion Sands Narina Lodge (Kruger Park). Each has a unique style, but is a reflection of Lion Sands' five-star signature of sophisticated interiors, unique experiences and service excellence.
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Property amenities
Free parking
Free internet
Pool
Free breakfast
Entertainment staff
Pets Allowed ( Dog / Pet Friendly )
Free airport transportation
Spa
Parking
Wifi
Pool / beach towels
Pool with view
Outdoor pool
Bar / lounge
Restaurant
Breakfast available
Breakfast buffet
Complimentary tea
Special diet menus
Airport transportation
Full body massage
Massage
Concierge
Gift shop
Mosquito net
Non-smoking hotel
Outdoor fireplace
Shops
Butler service
Private check-in / check-out
Dry cleaning
Laundry service
Ironing service
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Room features
Bathrobes
Air conditioning
Private balcony
Room service
Safe
Bottled water
Minibar
Complimentary toiletries
Room types
Suites
Family rooms
Smoking rooms available
Good to know
HOTEL CLASS
HOTEL STYLE
River View
Charming
Languages Spoken
English, Afrikaans
Location
Full view
Contact
Kruger National Park 1240 South Africa
Getting there
Rental CarsSee all Sabi Sand Game Reserve rental cars
1056Reviews36Q+A100Room tips
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This trip was so incredible! The accomodations, lodging, food, staff, tracker, guide, spa...all of it was wonderful! I loved details like ponchos in the game vehicle when there might be a chance of rain, and blankets and hot water bottles for the early morning drives. I loved the drink and snack breaks. It was so nice to be on a private reserve. We went with friends and it would be my dream to go back again someday. We loved the weather and the time of year as well. Stayed one night in the treehouse which I highly recommend.
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: May 2022
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Helpful
Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 3 days ago
We are so glad that you had a wonderful stay and thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We are all about the details that will enhance your time with us. Isn't the treehouse experience just unforgettable! Hopefully, you will visit us again. Kind regards, Jopie van Rooyen, General Manager, Sabi Sand, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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Lion Sands River Lodge is exceptional. From the staff to the food to the exceptional rangers. The highlight for me though was staying in Chalkley Treehouse. You're left in the heart of the bush with a radio, sumptuous meal, whatever you're drinking plus a bottle of bubbly. With no ambient light the stars are incredible. It's wonderful to fall asleep to the night sounds and then wake up to the morning chorus of bird sound.This is a must-do in my opinion
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: May 2022
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Helpful
Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 1 week ago
Thank you Moira for your kind words. A night in one of our treehouses is truly memorable and we are so pleased that this enhanced your stay with us. There really is something magical about the stars. It reminds us of the quote by Vincent van Gogh, "I know nothing with any certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream." Whenever you feel the need to dream, you know where we are. Kind regards, Jopie van Rooyen, General Manager, Sabi Sand, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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One of the most memorable weekends we've ever had. All members of the team spoiled us and made us feel so welcome. The treehouse is an absolute magical must have experience, the perfect couples getaway!
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: May 2022
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Helpful
Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 1 week ago
Your review is much appreciated Danelle. We always ensure our team knows of the kind words we receive here. Not sure there is anything quite like a treehouse stay. Having a bird's eye view of the wildlife is amazing and then the starry sky at night just tops it all off. Thank you, and come stay again. Kind regards, Jopie van Rooyen, General Manager, Sabi Sand, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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What a beautiful, beautiful place and location. Food was great…buffets the first night, then menus…..one noon a monkey swiped the top bun of my sandwich, then sat on a bench where we were all able to watch him eat it! Fun, fun memory….our chalet was very spacious, but so comfortable….our guide and tracker were great fun, and took us to great viewing places.
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Date of stay: April 2022
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Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 1 week ago
Hi Carol, thanks for the review. You made us laugh with your title. Yes, even the wildlife know we have an amazing lodge and serve great food. We truly appreciate your feedback. Thank you for choosing to spend your holiday with us. Kind regards, Jopie van Rooyen, General Manager, Sabi Sand, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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They found the coolest Lions, leopards, giraffes and other animals. They are great trackers. They pointed out the constellations and stars at night. The rest of the staff are very helpful, polite and pleasant. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are great. Ask for an evening with dinner prepared in the bush. The rooms (really houses) are excellent. It’s a wonderful and beautiful place. Rector has a great heritage but he won’t bring it up. It’s an awesome place. Go visit.
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled
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Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 1 week ago
Thank you Paul for your kind words. Rector and Lucia are so pleased that they were able to share amazing nature moments with you. When the weather plays along those dinners in the bush really are amazing. Kind regards, Jopie van Rooyen, General Manager, Sabi Sand, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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+1
We had an absolutely incredible stay at Lion Sands River Lodge. The lodge is a luxurious and modern-chic enclave directly on the Sabie River. The staff is beyond exceptional, and the game drives are otherworldly. We stayed at both River Lodge and Narina, and preferred the vibe at River Lodge to Narina, which is more classic and private. Each morning started with a 530am wake up call, followed by a quick and delicious light bite (fruit, yogurt parfait, warm muffins, and coffee). We had the fortune of having Mitch as our Guide and Rector as our tracker. Mitch is the most fun, affable, and caring guide we’ve had on the 3 safaris we’ve done. He made our time at River Lodge all the more memorable, and Rector’s knowledge will ensure that your game drives are filled with sightings. The game drives were straight out of a National Geographic documentary. Even during rainy days, we saw countless packs of lions - from the Styx pride to males roaming their way over to Sabi from Kruger, and females with cubs; we saw packs of wild dogs, including a pack killing an impala and then being approached by hyenas. We saw multiple leopards and were able to get within a few feet of them. Plenty of giraffes, hippos, elephants, Cape buffalo and antelope. Cruising around in the comfortable, open-air vehicles was tranquil, yet exciting - we constantly had our eyes peeled. The morning drive was followed by a delicious breakfast, before having a good 5-6 hours to relax by the pool, read, bird watch, or catch the hippos fighting each other in the river. A quick lunch or snack then we were off to the evening game drive from 330-7 where you’ll enjoy sundowners and more sightings. Note that on safari, you’re in the car the entire time - no need for hiking boots or hiking clothes! The Sabi is a private reserve, and you’ll barely see any other vehicles which means that your sightings will be private (with no more than 1 other vehicle). Inside the Sabi is the 4000+ acre More family property, making your drives quiet and exclusive. When you return from your drive you can head straight to dinner or freshen up. Dinner is exquisite - and the wine selection is impressive and well-priced (if you choose to go for bottles that aren’t included as part of your rate, those that are included are also delicious). The bathrooms, beds and linens are of 5 star quality, and we enjoyed a restful sleep each night. A huge thanks to the incredible staff: Mitch, Rector, our amazing butler Philly, Fortune (your smile brightens the room!), Billy and Nadia. We can’t wait to return!…
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Traveled
Room Tip: Bring comfortable clothing, and a warm layer as it can get chilly on the drives.
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Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 2 weeks ago
Dear Arthur and Lindsay, It was so wonderful to have you with us. The banter was truly so much fun. I don’t think anyone would be able to forget the excitement about the wild dog kill that day. Thank you for your fantastic feedback and we will be sure to share it with the team. We cannot wait to welcome you back to your home away from home. Kind regards, Nadia Pent, River Lodge Manager, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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Lion Sands River Lodge not only met but greatly exceed our expectations – which were already high enough from the photos on the website and all the glowing reviews we'd read prior to arrival! The design of the lodge and the individual rooms was just beautiful – understated luxury, really harmonious with the surroundings. We loved the openness, the views and the natural materials used in construction and decoration; really appreciated the eco credentials, too – no plastic to be seen anywhere (even lids on takeaway cups for morning safari drinks were compostable). Also the lighting in the evening was perfect – it was always a pleasure to return to a candlelit welcome at the end of our evening drives. The food was, as everyone says, incredible. Different menus for each meal, every day, including enough options to choose from without being overwhelming. Everything was delicious and beautifully presented, using interesting ingredients. (Only thing I would change would be to include more African dishes.) Our family of five all have different preferences for breakfast so sampled a wide range of dishes, and we appreciated that the lunch menu catered for both lighter appetites and more – two of our children preferred to eat at lunchtime and then just have starters in the evening. I should also give a special mention to the amazing chilli sauce! The absolute highlight of our stay, and what made it so memorable, was the staff, who were without exception welcoming, cheerful and charming. We were so lucky to have Raymond as our guide and Juice as our tracker – they were a great team, and kept us thoroughly entertained. We particularly loved how Raymond didn't overload us with info at any one time, but told us more and more about each animal and bird we saw over the course of our 4 days – this made it easier to remember, and kept it interesting. Not that we were in any danger of losing interest! We saw the 'big five' several times over, but actually some of our favourite spots were the pack of wild dogs that we were lucky enough to see 4 times, including once after a recent kill when they were all in hyper-playful mood. We also loved the warthogs! And the hippos. It was the opportunity to observe animal behaviour and interactions that we appreciated most of all. We never felt rushed, and Raymond seemed to time our encounters perfectly – so much so that at one point we joked that they had someone in a van driving ahead and releasing animals on request! We were particularly in awe of Juice's tracking skills when he spotted a chameleon in a bush, in the dark – not once, but twice. Jeffrey in the restaurant was also a legend, and taught us a few phrases in Shangaan – we kept trying to learn more via Google in the hope of impressing him too. Inkomu swinene, Jeffrey, for looking after us so well. It was unfortunate that it rained for 3 of our 4 days – but actually this brought some of the animals from the bush to the roadside, and since we weren't allowed to go off-road while the ground was wet this gave us sightings that we otherwise may have missed. Anyway, it's a good excuse to plan a return trip in the hope of better weather! We will definitely return one day. In the meantime we are enjoying our photos and our memories. Enormous, heartfelt thanks to Raymond, Juice, Jeffrey and everyone else who made our stay so very special. Finally... I just asked our 15yo daughter for comments, and she came up with the title of the review!…
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Date of stay: April 2022
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Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 3 weeks ago
Wow, thank you so much. We love the title! Thank you so much for noticing and appreciating our efforts towards sustainability. The MORE Family Collection is committed to regenerative tourism practices. We passed on your compliments to the team and everyone's smiles are just that much broader today. We do hope to have you join us in the future. Inkomu swinene. Kind regards Jopie van Rooyen, General Manager, Sabi Sand, Lion Sands Game Reserve
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Everything about this place is INSANE!! The BEST service we have ever received anywhere in the world! Everyone in the team was exceptional!! I can not rate this place highly enough - you simply HAVE to go!!
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Review collected in partnership with this hotel
Date of stay: March 2022
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Helpful
Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded 4 weeks ago
Dear Jason & Lydia, We sincerely appreciate your wonderful comment. We hope you take away wonderful memories such as that of wild dogs chasing a leopard up a tree, and of course your special treehouse moment. We hope the rest of your stay in Cape Town was just as great. Our team hopes to welcome you back to your home away from home again soon. Kind regards, Nadia Pent, River Lodge Manager
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We had an amazing experience at The Lions Sands Game Reserve! We were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary which we had been anticipating for 2 years due to COVID! Lions Sands River Lodge did not disappoint! We saw all of the Big 5 several times plus giraffes, wild dogs, birds and many more! The staff go out of their way to be warm, genuine and friendly. Rooms are all immaculate, and very comfortable! Food was outstanding! Our guide, Riaan and tracker, Abraham gave us memories to last a lifetime! Highly, highly recommend!
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Traveled
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Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded Apr 11, 2022
Dear Sue We appreciate your wonderful feedback. Having you return to your home away from home is truly appreciated. Riaan and Abraham are a formidable team in the bush and were happy to show you and Richard the incredible diversity of wildlife at Lion Sands. Our team felt privileged to be a part of your silver anniversary as well and we wish you many more happy years together. Kind regards, Jopie and the Lion Sands Family Jopie van Rooyen ,General Manger, SABI SAND Lion Sands Game Reserve
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This stay was supposed to be a warm up to our final destination stay at the Matetsi Lodge in Zimbabwe which we were really looking forward to. As it turns out our stay at Lion Sands River Lodge was MUCH more memorable and we wished we had reveresed the stays having River Lodge as our last destination! Our game drive staff were absolutley outstanding and we saw more animal activity in 3 days than we would have dared to hope for. Abraham our tracker was so cool and collected and super friendly and made excellent coffee and G&T. Our trainee guide Gino was a lovely young man and we hope he will do well in his chosen career. With Lucia our main guide we clicked immeadiatley and had an absolute ball. For someone so young she had so much knowledge and we took her to our hearts immeadiatley and we even said we wanted to adopt her :-) Last but not least was our waiter Elliot, or as we quickly dubbed him, the 'Wine Ninja' our glasses were never empty and we didnt even know he had been to the table. Our stay was for our delayed 10th wedding anniversary and without any prompting from me Elliot set up a private Boma dinner for myself and Sarah and only I knew about it meaning that my wife was super suprised. We love Elliot and hope he and his family will prosper. We are already planning on returning to SA and are looking at some of the other MORE properties now. What a fantastic holiday!…
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Date of stay: March 2022
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip: All of the rooms are fantastic but if you can afford it go for the suites with a private plunge pool
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Response from MORE Family Collection Lodges and Hotels, General Manager at Lion Sands River Lodge
Responded Apr 8, 2022
Dear Simon and Sarah Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback and I hope that your travels back home went smoothly. It was a great pleasure hosting you, and Lucia truly enjoyed showing the “Northener’s” our home. The sighting of the leopard that came so close to the vehicle is still one of my favourites (even after all my time in the bush) and I do still have the photograph should Sarah want to relive the moment! We have also passed on your kind words to Elliot who promises to keep the “Lunchtime bubbles” on ice for your next visit. Warm Regards, Jopie and the Lion Sands Family
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PRICE RANGE
$2,141 - $2,376 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
lion sands river hotel sabi sand game reserve
LOCATION
South AfricaKruger National ParkSabi Sand Game Reserve
NUMBER OF ROOMS
18
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Claim Your Listing Frequently Asked Questions about Lion Sands River Lodge
What are some of the property amenities at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Some of the more popular amenities offered include free breakfast, a pool, and an on-site restaurant.
Which room amenities are available at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Top room amenities include a minibar, air conditioning, and a mosquito net.
What food & drink options are available at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Guests can enjoy free breakfast, an on-site restaurant, and a lounge during their stay.
Is parking available at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Yes, free parking is available to guests.
Are there opportunities to exercise at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Yes, guests have access to a pool during their stay.
Does Lion Sands River Lodge have airport transportation?
Yes, Lion Sands River Lodge offers airport transportation for guests. We recommend calling ahead to confirm details.
Is Lion Sands River Lodge located near the city center?
Yes, it is 0.08 miles away from the center of Sabi Sand Game Reserve.
Are any cleaning services offered at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Yes, dry cleaning and laundry service are offered to guests.
Are pets allowed at Lion Sands River Lodge?
Yes, pets are typically allowed, but it's always best to call ahead to confirm.
Which languages are spoken by the staff at Lion Sands River Lodge?
The staff speaks multiple languages, including English and Afrikaans.
Does Lion Sands River Lodge have any great views?
Yes, guests often enjoy the river view available here.