Safari Hotel Beekse Bergen

This is an amazing place to stay. We stayed in a Savannah Lodge looking out over the ‘Serengeti Savannah’ and saw ostrich, camel and the odd rhinoceros from our lodge. The lodge was spacious and well equipped. The children loved it! The safari park and zoo are impressive. We did it by boat, car and foot and definitely saw the most on foot. The wider facilities are pleasant and modern. Only downsides are that the pool is quite small and restaurants are expensive. We ate in the lodge mostly after eating at the buffet restaurant at the Safari hotel and paying a large bill! The shop is quite small so you may want to stock up elsewhere is you’re staying more than a night or so. You can use the facilities at the Lake resort as well but it is a 30 min walk or 10 min drive so just factor that in if you plan to go! But we had a brilliant stay!

We saved up to stay two nights at Beekse Bergen as a family treat. The concept of staying in a beautiful lodge “in the heart of the savannah” with animals parading about in the back garden was so exciting. We loved receiving a welcome pack through the post before setting off from the UK, with stickers and info about the animals, that was a really nice touch. Sadly, it was a huge let down. The accomodation was absolutely filthy, stains all over the sofa, stains and marks all over the walls, bird poo that seemed to be on the inside of the window (?!), fingerprints all over the doors and windows, spiders and spiderwebs throughout, ants nests right by the door, other people's hairs on furniture and on the floor, a drip of blood down the wall (!)… A very friendly member of staff gave us free pizza and moved us to another (only mildly cleaner) lodge, however blamed the dirt and disrepair on other guests and said "people on holiday don't treat holiday homes like their own”. This second lodge didn’t have a hair dryer, bin or kettle but we were too tired to complain further. Unfortunately, although the concept of the resort is unbelievably special, the execution has a lot to be desired. To add, the provided information isn't ideal, and the app needs work. No option to book a vegetarian breakfast, and it’s so difficult to see how to order pizza on the app! It also wasn't clear what our reservation included; it said the attraction pass gave us unlimited access to a handful of attractions but still after leaving I'm not sure what or where they were, even after searching the website numerous times. No response via email even though I tried numerous times, and when asking at the hotel reception what they recommended we see, one staff member just shrugged and said “good question”. And, while I’m at it (!), is it just me thinking the buffet dinner is overpriced at €36.50 from age 12 up, and €20 from 3-11 years old? If you are a family with two young children (who barely eat anything), it’d be €113 without drinks - and you have to watch out, even the water is €6.50. Oof.

Fabulous Safari Park and Resort. The zoo element is wonderful. Extremely well set out. Great access to see the animals. The lack of ostensible cages and fences means that one feels close to all the creatures. They all look healthy and well cared for.

I'm not sure how I stumbled across Beekse Bergen but I looked to go in the summer time but the prices rose and I was left deflated at the thought of another expensive school holiday. A week before our February half term we found the lodges were reduced, so we chose Savannah Lodge 431 to be next to the facilities and overlooking the animals. We travelled in a family of 4 with an 18 month old and 5 year old. From our Lodge we saw ostriches, camels. Zudus, zebras and rhinos daily. The giraffes however were on the otherside so the picture of what animals you could see was a bit misleading in that respect. No complaints here though the lodge was stunning, underfloor heating so always a nice temperature, good facilities for the toddler with a high chair and cot already in place. We loved the sauna and used it daily. We were a 10 minute walk to the safari park and did the car, boat and walked safari. Car safari was great the giraffe are very friendly and we appreciated the english audio tour you can play on the app. The boat safari was a bit disappointing didn't see much and couldn't understand the lady speaking. We visited the etsi pool at the lake resort and facilities were great. Good system in thr changing rooms and something for both kids in the pool area to play with. We played bowling on the last night which I thought was a little overpriced, 25 euros for all of us. We sadly didn't have time to use the kids ranger activities so can't comment on that. Overall it felt really quiet (I think the kids half term is different to us brits) so we really enjoyed our experience. We've already scoped out what would be a better Lodge for us for next time!