Review: Stockpoort Border Lodge

Stockpoort border lodge

Location:

Located about 500m from the quiet Stockpoort border post, nearest town is Lephalala on the South African side and about 70km from Mahalapye on dirt road once into Botswana. Both those towns are your closest shops and petrol, A new Shell Petrol station located about 10km from the border in Botswana however would not rely on the consistent supply fuel availability.

  

Getting there:

From Johannesburg it will take around 4hrs with fuel stop take the N1 north to Bela-Bela turning off onto the R33 to Modimolle. Staying on the R33 at Nylstroom all the way to Lephalale this is a much prettier and quicker drive.  Proceed about another hour along the R510.

Privacy:

Once inside the unit privacy is fine, but there is no external relaxing outside the units them selves, one would have to use the bar area with everyone else.

Unit:

Units are generally well maintained and seem to be recently renovated, our room had a double bed aircon tea and coffee facilities on suite bathroom with shower and toilet. All in all well kept and clean.

Kitchen:

There is no kitchen attached to the units and no braai facilities on site.

Bedroom, Beds:

Beds and linen were clean and good quality consisting of sheet, duvet and 4 pillows, 2 towels in the bathroom also provided.

Bathroom:

A small compact bathroom just enough for a shower and basic needs. Always clean however be careful  for spiders hiding amongst the warm towels shake then out before use. 

  

Parking:

No designated parking bays but plenty of space for multiple cars outside each unit.

Service:

Reception was very informal and takes some getting used to a very laid back typical African relaxed carefree vibe, it is located in the bar/dinning room area. A very laid back check in and out. We settled our account the night before and left the lodge early leaving the keys in the units which was no hassle at all.

Food/Restaurant:

A café type setting with the basic burger, pizza, toasted sami , chicken, and steaks on the menu. However when ordering it proved a lot of the items were out of stock which narrowed our selection down plenty, I suspect this is a common occurance. The bar area was part of the dining area and only stock the real basic beer, wine, cokes ETC.

Family Rating:

This gets a moderate family rating because it will accommodate children easly and they can run around freely and safely, the lodge has a pool which the bar overlooks. The down side is that’s all there is and there is a lot of bugs spiders, scorpians and snakes. So caution need to be taken.

Conclusion:

A very nice lodge for a one night stopover heading into Botswana, a very basic simple relaxed feel with all the necessities to give you a good night sleep.

TIPS:

Check in is relaxed and final payments even more relaxed mixed cellphone signal. Take bug an mosquito coils and leave one burning in your room while you go for dinner and drinks.