Rock Cottage, Bela-Bela

Great location and perfect getaway spot

Poorly maintained, none of the doors worked properly including the bathroom doors, everything seemed to be fixed or repaired at minimal effort. there wasn’t a dishwasher as listed on the amenities and a random dog kept hanging around especially when we had food around. Very unresponsive host as I am still waiting for a response on a game viewer and we left two days ago already. and the location on the listing is incorrect

Rock Cottage is neat and well maintained. No big issues.

The location on Booking.com is very poor. Location is shown on the R516, almost in the centre of Bela Bela. Actual location is about 40 km towards Mabalingwa, on a very bad dirt road. Once there, the place is secluded, but great. The booking instructions file should include key lock codes, and more instructions about the Mabalingwa Park. Its difficult to phone the contact every time you need to know something.

The property is secluded from town giving you a proper ‘bush experience’, the breakfast was delicious though I would suggest serving it a bit earlier as we had activities on the days and only ate it after, the hosts are friendly and responsive. It was a pleasant stay even with getting the damage deposit back.

The 40 minutes gravel road to the property, drivable with a small vehicle but can be uncomfortable. The upstairs room needs a fan as well it can get very hot up there during the night.

The cottage has everything that you need (from a TV to an airfryer). It is very peaceful and the views are lovely. We got a lovely loaf of fresh bread delivered to us on the Friday morning. There was a bottle of sparkling wine as a gift when we arrived.

The actual cottage is about 12km into the reserve. The last stretch of the road is extremely bad,my car actually got damaged. If you have a bakkie or 4x4,you should be fine. Otherwise, I do not recommend going there. We rented a game vehicle from them(as I refused to drive my car again until we had to leave), and the brakes on that vehicle were very bad,which considering the steepness of the roads was very dangerous. It took pretty long to get my deposit back (about 2 weeks) There are no towel rails,some of the electrical plugs (in the bedrooms) didn't work properly,there are no cupboards (except in the loft bedroom) so you have to leave you clothes in your suitcase.