Silonque Bush Estate & Spa

We spend 5 days om Silonque Bush & Spa estate. I had spent some time in this resort about 6 years ago and the magic of this place still exists, what a wonderful staff! We have done a riversafari, a jeepsafari, a social tour including the local community and visited a church. We also had excellent massages (and sauna!). For food you should try the breakfast with the poached egg (!) and the diner was amazing. If you have the chance, ask for the carrotcake, they'll be happy to make it especially for you. The pool has a great view of the Krugerpark!

Had an amazing on stay in the middle of the bush..The room was clean with good wifi connection and perfect self catering setup. The breakfast was sumptuous and the staff was very friendly..Got fortunate to spot an elephant close to my room in the evening.

The staff was friendly and always willing to assist when i needed anything from them. The property was very clean and neat. Peaceful for someone that is in a bad space. Very relaxing. The pool was very clean and depth of it is such an advantage for tall people like me. Spotted my favorite animal a elephant.

Yingwe is titled on Airbnb as "Luxury bush lodge with a hot tub". Yingwe is in Silonque. Silonque is advertised as a luxury bush estate with a spa, two restaurants, pools and a tennis court. I had communicated with the host of Yingwe to enquire regarding the tennis court. My sons train daily and we needed a tennis court. The host said that there exists a tennis court that cannot host a tournament but can be used to play socially. The tennis court is uneven and in a horrible state (see photo). People can fall and get injured. The two restaurants are closed. There is no reception area or spa or curio shop. Silonque Bush lodge is a deserted area infested with rodents. 1. On arrival at 'Yingwe Luxury Bush Lodge with a hot tub' the tv, dishwasher, hot tub and bathroom light were not working. I reported these issues to the host and requested a refund. I was told that if fixed within 24 hours then the refund policy doesn’t apply. a. I was told that the amenities probably broke with loadshedding. Had there been transparency in this regard, I would have cancelled my reservation. I would not have planned or taken this long trip. b. The cleaning service at Yingwe is R600 per day which is way too expensive. The advertised dishwasher did not work. There is very limited crockery and cutlery to use. When I informed the host, he explained that the previous visitors probably stole them. The host should have replaced them for us. This did not happen. c. The TV got fixed the next day (Wednesday, 4th January, 12h00). d. The dishwasher, hot tub and light did not get fixed. We were told a number of lies with regard to the temperature gauge on the hot tub. Then we were finally told that the pump doesn’t work. Why advertise a hot tub when it doesn’t exist? 3. Yingwe lodge is infested with rodents. On our first night, we discovered them in our food. We reported to our host and the lady who had checked us in. On our second night, the rodents were all over the kitchen and living room area. We couldn’t have supper in peace. They jumped on my 5-year-old while we were watching tv. The host had promised to close the holes and be rid of the rodents. On the 5 January, we went to the KNP. We had paid R600 for cleaning service for this day. The host had sent me a WhatsApp message stating: “Today, I received videos of the house with all the squirrels. I was flabbergasted! Please believe me that we stayed there in November without any of them. They have been busy all day taking them out and closing the holes. Of course, we have stayed there quite often and had some squirrels, but never so many. I apologize for this. Earlier this year, we had the roof wrapped with chicken wire to keep them out, so that is why I also did not expect this.” 4. We got back to Yingwe at 7 pm on Thursday 5 January. The place was flooded. Our bags, beds and everything were wet. I communicated with the host and he moved us to a guest house in Phalaborwa. We got there at 21h18 exhausted and hungry. 5

Silonque is UNIEK in zijn soort. Rust, luxe, wild life die vrij rond lopen, heerlijk huis met patio’s rondom om altijd ergens in de schaduw te zitten. Ontbijt met liefde gemaakt, afgestemd op jou wensen. Het ontbijt patio is sfeervol en gezellig. De medewerkers zijn vol passie voor hun werk en zijn altijd vrolijk en liedevol. Het zwembad is fris en schoon, ook deze wordt met liefde verzorgd. Bij het zwembad zijn heerlijke lig plekken om in de schaduw te liggen, lezen of vogels bekijken. De huizen zijn heerlijk, er is WiFi, comfortabele bedden met hemel klamboes. Muggen vrij slapen en ook nog eens romantisch. Vorige week hoorde wij takken breken in de avond toen we lekker zaten te braaien. Er waren twee olifanten op geen 10 meter afstand van ons. Wat een ervaring. Dit was voor mij het hoogtepunt van ons verblijf wat wild life ervaringen betreft. Op 20 minuten rijden kun je de Kruger park in. 8km rijden in het park kom je bij Sable Dam. Een grote Dam waar dieren komen drinken. Olifanten, buffels en alles wat dorst heeft komt daar drinken. Dus lekker gaan zitten en wachten totdat de dieren naar jou to komen. Hans Merensky golf course is ook op 20 min rijden. Golfen in de wild met giraffen, impala, struisvogels etc als je toeschouwer. Fantastisch. Qua boodschappen is in “town” een heerlijke grote checkers die echt een overvloed heeft aan Producten. Vlak voor de Kruger gate is een Spar als je nog iet wilt komen om te snacken of drinken voordat je erin gaat. Wil je feesten kies iets anders, wil je rust en in wild life verblijven twijfel niet. Deze plek heeft mijn hart volledig veroverd.

The house was situated with Bush surroundings, fully equiped and very clean, with a large terras and own BBQ. Walking distance to the infinity pool and restaurant. The staff is very friendly and helped us with our bookings to explore Kruger Park (only 30 minutes drive to the Gate, but you can see it already from your house), Elephant river, Village Tour and more. They serve a wonderfull breakfast and made special efforts to prepare vegatarian options. You can also communiate 24/7 with them through whatsapp which is very handy. Unfortynately the restaurant was closed because of Covid, but we made good use of the 'honesty bar', where you can get a great variaty drinks and write them down yourself to pay later. On the Estate there are many birds, squirrels, rabbits and Impala's. The last day we even had two Elephants close to the House which was an amazing experience. Wifi included!

Wij hebben hier 3weken van een geweldig huisje gebruik kunnen maken. Het personeel heeft ons een geweldig warm welkom geheten ten tijden van de covid ellende overal ter wereld. De rust en natuur hier op een meter van je deur is geweldig, het estate ligt midden in de bush en via de weg op nog geen half uur van de Phalaborwa gate naar het krugerpark. Wat dat betreft dus een fantastische uitvalsbasis voor vele prachtige trips naar diverse bestemmingen. Een aantal dingen die echt aan te raden zijn, zijn uiteraard een safari door het kruger met een gids, een riviersafari over de zeer nabij gelegen Olifanten river en een village tour door de townships van Phalaborwa (dit is echt een aanrader in mijn beleving). Qua accomodatie heb je ook niets te klagen met een prachtig uitzicht over de estate en de vele dieren die hier op bezoek komen, van impala's tot olifanten. De huizen zijn ruim van elkaar verwijderd zodat je je bijna alleen op de wereld voelt, de huisjes worden dagelijks schoon gemaakt wat natuurlijk erg fijn is. Ik zou nog wel even door kunnen gaan maar ga het zelf ervaren is mijn advies.