Aquila Private Game Reserve & Spa

We stayed one night with our children ages 8 and 10. Our children thought Aquila was magical and thoroughly enjoyed the facilities and their time with the animals. Food was good with plenty of variety and very friendly waiting and serving staff. All in all a great experience however a few improvements can be made: 1) There were a lot of flies at the lunchtime buffet which were enjoying the uncovered cakes and puddings. Please cover the food to minimise this. 2) Blankets should be provided on the morning safaris. 3) Safari guests should be requested to turn off/disable bleeping/shutter noises on their camera and electronic equipment. There are lots of senses used to enjoy the African bush including listening to birds, animals communicating with one another and the sounds of elephants treading the earth. Electronic sounds completely ruin this! 4) The pool water is extremely cold! Any chance of getting some heating?

The hotel’s structure and overall concept are very good. We really liked the idea of full board and the safari being included in the daily rate, which adds great value to the experience. However, there are significant issues with maintenance and service. The food could definitely improve — especially the buffet, as what is served at lunch is basically reused for dinner, making the options repetitive. The hotel also receives non-staying guests for the safari, but there is no system to distinguish them from actual hotel guests. This creates confusion and overcrowding in the common areas, negatively impacting the experience of those who are staying at the hotel. During our stay, the pool bar was closed and there was no pool service available. The pool water was cloudy, and after a guest broke a glass on the deck area, the broken glass remained there until the next morning — which is concerning from a safety standpoint. We stayed in room 105, which is spacious. However, the air conditioning unit was old, noisy, and leaking water. Overall cleanliness needs improvement. It was not possible to walk barefoot in the room. There was a dead mosquito on the wall and food crumbs near the sofa. The “Stargazing & Marshmallow Roasting” event was another example of poor management. We expected it to be an integration moment for guests, with storytelling about Africa and the resort. Instead, it was simply a fire with marshmallows, without any meaningful organization or engagement.

The rooms are nothing as displayed on the website. The front desk staff are not transparent on their policies- we were not told that ATV rides were at a cost and only charged at checkout. For the prices they barely have any toiletries in the shower- not even and iron. The only reason reason I didn’t give them 1 star is cos the restaurant staff and the baggage personnel’s were nice and friendly. To the rooms, they are dirty you could literally see hair all over from the previous guests and rats running around the dining- MULTIPLE.

Such an amazing time wished we stayed an extra day. Staff was amazing, amenities were great room was clean and the game drive was incredible.

The most amazing 24 hours we Har spent anywhere. The safaris were incredible and our beautiful family room was the icing on the cake.