Embraced by the awe-inspiring Namib – Naukluft Park, Dead Valley Lodge stands between Seriem and Elim Dune. On the iconic D826 road, it's the gateway to the world-renowned Dead Valley at Sossusvlei. As the raw beauty of the Namib Desert greets you, be prepared for an experience that combines luxury with the untamed wilderness. Our lodge boasts twenty free-standing, climate-controlled luxury tented chalets, each offering a panoramic view of this enchanting landscape. The blend of towering red sand dunes, rugged mountains, and vast desert savannahs promises a mesmerizing spectacle. At Dead Valley Lodge, your connection with nature is amplified by the silence, only occasionally broken by the desert winds or a far-off call of the wild. As the sun paints the landscape in shifting hues, and the stars unveil a celestial theater at night, you'll experience the profound beauty that arises from this sublime desolation. Dead Valley Lodge is where luxury meets wilderness, offering an unforgettable journey into the heart of Namibia's most iconic landscapes.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Romantic
Boutique
Languages Spoken
English, Afrikaans, German
Location
Road D826, Sesriem Namibia
Dead Valley Lodge
109 reviews
Getting there
Car recommended
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
I enjoyed my stay here and would recommend it. The grounds have Oryx roaming all over them. The stars at night were wonderful. The room was spacious, well furnished and comfortable. The bathroom was large with good water pressure but you had to go outside through a screened walkway to access it. My main complaint with the room was a complete lack of heating, which in winter is a factor, though they did provide lots of blankets. The food in the lodge was great tasting and plentiful with lots of variety. My guide Slyvester was excellent. He took me on two separate trips and knew all about the area and was fun to be with. The lodge is just inside the national park entrance. If you want to get any last minute items the gas station/general store just outside the park is your last chance.
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Date of stay: June 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled solo
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.
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A modern lodge in the middle of the Namib Desert. Beautifully large rooms with private separate bathroom and direct views of the desert. Each room has a refrigerator that can be loaded with your own drinks and a safe. Both breakfast and dinner left nothing to be desired. The chef is unique and greets all guests individually in the evening with singing and his drum. The whole team is super friendly and takes care of all matters. The transfair from the parking lot in front of the reception to the individual houses is done by golf cart and is therefore not strenuous. Enjoying the sunset at the bar was an incredible experience. We recommend this hotel especially to couples. You should definitely stay two nights.
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Date of stay: November 2024Trip 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.
Booked as part of a trip organised by Audley Travel. Flew into an airstrip about an hours drive over gravel roads from Sesreim. The welcome we received was warm and. Friendly, and although we were early our chalet was soon ready. The roof and walls are canvas with mesh windows with canvas covers on the outside and curtains inside. It was spacious and the king size+ bed was comfortable. When the wind didn’t blow it was very quiet, and when it did the sound against the canvas lulled me to sleep. The food was generous in portion size, and Chef PP was the life and soul of the party. The range on the menu wasn’t huge, with red meat predominating but it was well prepared and tasty. Lunches were simple affairs and the two nights we were there dinner was a buffet/bbq. Plenty of dishes to make up a starter and to accompany the bbq meat or fish and all very tasty.
The highlight of the trip for us were the guided tours Elim at sunset, the Sossusfrei Sunrise tour, with a climb up Dune 45 at 6:30am and the Sesreim gorge. On all three our guide was Richard. He was friendly and informative without lecturing us. He was mindful of our capabilities, to the extent of offering to carry chairs up the Elim dune so that we could sit in comfort to watch the sunset - we made him leave them behind, but he insisted on carrying up a cool box so that we had sundowners at sundown. Most importantly, in the gravel roads and river beds he was a careful driver, mindful of our safety and, as far as possible, our comfort, but some degree of “African Massage” is inevitable off road. He is a real credit to an excellent lodge.
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Date of stay: September 2023Trip 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.
The rooms (which are essentially luxury tents with a separate bathroom across a small private deck enclosed with a gate) were stylish, however it is an extremely odd design choice to have the bathrooms outside of the room, meaning that to go to the loo in the night you have to go outside in the cold, and that you had to lock your bedroom and bathroom doors separately.
The rooms had blinds that had to be opened from the outside, which did the job of keeping the sun out but made the tent very gloomy. There was a safe, a fridge, toiletries and tea and coffee - technically everything you needed, but ultimately the tent design was noisy at night in the wind and we didn't always feel the most secure.
Dinner was incredibly poorly lit, it was unclear what all the dishes were and there wasn't really anyone around to tell you what everything was. The quality of the food was overall below average - milk provided at the buffet was very off and had clearly been sitting there for a while.
On the plus side, the staff were friendly and helpful, both at check-in and in the restaurant. The main lodge area is beautifully designed with a stunning pool with views of the desert and oryx walking past, and a nice lounge and bar area.
The lodge is located right beside the inner gate (which opens an hour earlier than the outer gate), which is ideal for getting inside the park at the earliest possible time without queuing at the outer gate. This was definitely worth doing to see the dunes in morning light and climb before it got too hot.
Overall we felt that this lodge was extremely overpriced for what it is and ultimately you are paying for the location (inside the main gate) which may or may not be worth it to you. It is an attempt at a luxury lodge that unfortunately gets too many simple things wrong to justify the price.
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Date of stay: August 2023Trip 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 don’t want to oil around too much, so the pros and cons at a glance:
Pros: - Those who want to climb the “Big Daddy” have about an hour’s lead over those who don’t live in the park....and there are many coming! So for people who don't want to climb the dune with a hundred others a real unique selling point. - Lobby and dining area very tastefully decorated.
Neutral: - The tented accommodations meet good Namibian standards
Cons: - Really dirty pool - Difficult care for people who need to eat gluten-free. - underground wifi - Food, especially the meat, not tasty.
But: We were the first and alone on the dune...that compensates for some. Also the location to Sesriem Canyon is great (but here you should not leave your car unguarded...the baboons dismantle everything from the car!)
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Date of stay: October 2024Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Früh zur Düne losfahren (5.45 Uhr)….es lohnt sich.
Achtung Paviane am Sesriem Canyon freuen sich...
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.
This place is beautiful, but also very expensive. Located inside the park means you get to stay longer than the regular opening hours, so it was perfect for us to get to Deadvlei before all the people showed up. The tents are extremely comfy and beautiful and the reception area as well. The pool is a bit small and the water is ICE cold. Vegan food could be improved, especially for paying close to 500 euros a night. This was a shame. The next day there was a sandstorm, so we couldnt enjoy the place as everything had to be closed down because of the sand.
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Date of stay: October 2024Trip 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.
We arrived at Dead Valley Lodge after having stayed at Kwessi Dines in the Namib-Rand. The staff were very welcoming and the “luxury” tents were very nicely done out and very spacious, with proper wardrobes, a refrigerator and a separate tented bathroom. We ended up in the back row of tents, which meant that if we wanted to pop to the bathroom, the people in the front row could see you if they were coming around the side of their tent to go out! Bit weird in terms of the set up. We had a sunrise tour of the dunes at Sossusvlei as part of our package and that was very good, with a breakfast picnic at the dunes after the sunrise, as well as a walk to Dead Vlei too. The real downer on the stay was the weather. It was freezing and blowing a gale, whipping the sides of the tent so much that the winds were coming into it. There was no heating inside the tent and the last night we were there, the management decided that, despite the chill temperatures and raging gale, they would have an outside buffet! All the guests were wrapped in blankets shivering, the buffet wasn’t lit so you couldn’t see the food and the chefs were struggling to run the BBQ without setting their hair on fire and it was an absolute disaster, to the extent we didn’t actually stay outside to eat. We complained at the time but the Assistant Manager wasn’t much help and even the following morning when we mentioned it again to one of the main managers, he blamed the staff! Nice in the summer I’m sure, but we won’t be visiting that lodge again
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Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Avoid going in winter when it will be very cold
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 was on a road trip with friends and I wanted to be at Dead Vlei for dawn. As there are only two camps that I know of inside the first gate at Sossusvlei, I booked us into Dead Valley Lodge in order to get an early start. We were all thrilled with the accommodation and the hotel. It was the perfect desert setting, yet comfortable and luxurious! The staff couldn't have been lovelier and the food was great fun. There was an opportunity to try lots of different local game meats. The chef welcomed everyone to dinner with a drumbeat and made sure everyone was happy and settled. We had a great guide who took us out to Dead Vlei very early and the hotel provided us with a packed breakfast. It was a wonderful experience.
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Date of stay: October 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:The pool is certainly crowded during the day but it is a very hot desert so the fact that there...
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.
Nice location, good food, is in the nature park but still in front of the desert gate which closes at 7:30 pm... sunset really nice and great tents that are probably much warmer in the Namibian summer - we got hot water bottles that were the salvation. In the morning, however, it was as cold inside the tent as outside... But all this did the super friendly and funny staff well!
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Date of stay: August 2024Trip 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.
On approach the Dead Valley Lodge rooms don’t look anything special. They look like fairly basic tents. However the rooms are in fact really nice and cosy with great views of the desert, nice balconies and separate, spacious, well-appointed bathrooms. You get the tent ‘feel’ with all the comforts of a proper luxury hotel room.
There was a ‘resident’ oryx which liked to visit the water trough outside the hotel restaurant when we visited and we spend some time watching it roam quite close to our room from our balcony.
The main reception, swimming pool and restaurant area are nicely appointed but it’s a little weird having the swimming pool right in front of the restaurant where if you are swimming you can end up only a few feet from diners.
The food was ‘okay’. Breakfast was a buffet with a limited menu to order from (mainly typical egg, bacon and sausage options). The lunch menu was the same both days we stayed, 4 different meat options all with the same salad. A little dull two days in a row. The evening meal was also similar both days, game meat bbq and buffet but the range of options were decent. The chef is quite a character and welcomes guests for lunch and dinner but one wonders whether he should spend a bit more time on the menu composition.
However, what let’s the lodge down is the service. The lunch and breakfast service was very very slow and the waiter staff are not efficient in how they operate. They were amiable and seemed to try hard but they clearly need proper management. Another couple complained about the breakfast service due to how slow it was. Also on check out we asked for the ‘golf buggy’ (you can’t drive your car up to the room) to come to help us with our luggage twice and both times we’re told ‘5 minutes’. 20 minutes later we carried our own bags to the car and saw the golf cart driving down whilst we were packing the boot.
I think the staff lack good management and probably they need more people. One waiter for breakfast and lunch is not sufficient and maybe they need someone permanently on the golf cart during peak check out time.
I’d recommend staying here for the room and location, just don’t expect the service to be the same standards.
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip 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.
The Dead Valley Lodge and Sesriem Oshana camp is located between the 2 gates. The main gate is the entry to Sesriem which opens at sunrise and close at sunset. The second entry into the park opens between 5:15 and 5:30am and close at 8:30pm which gives our guest more time to watch sundown before returning. Our guests inside the area has sometimes close a 1 hour more than those quests staying outside the main gate.
There are more places to choose from in the Sesriem area.
PRICE RANGE
$430 - $444 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
NamibiaHardap RegionSesriem
NUMBER OF ROOMS
20
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