I liked the setting of Woodbury Lodge, and the service was very good. We had a knowledgeable guide – he spent some time as a guide at Mala Mala.
As there were only two families at the lodge, we had our own private landrover and guide. This enabled us to take our 3 year old along on the game drive – however we could not go to the part of the reserve where the lions are. We had lovely sightings of the group of young giraffes and we came very close to the herd of elephant coming out of the bushes and moving out into the open plains. We also had a close encounter with a teenage elephant bull putting his trunk on the roof of our vehicle. This was very thrilling for the kids.
My initial feeling about the room was that it is not very four-star. Nothing wrong with the room but nothing special either. This might be a case of personal taste. After turn-down the evening the room looked more like a four-star safari lodge to me. On the other hand one has to take into account that the pricing is competitive for a game lodge.
Food was also very good. They had special kiddies meals prepared when we arrived, which was great. Unfortunately kids do not have a separate mealtime at Woodbury, so they had dinner with all the guests – not a good idea, as I felt like I had to keep them on their best behaviour all the time (so we just left the dinner table very early!)
I feel that Woodbury would be better suited for families with older children (at least 10 and up) who can easily join the normal game drives and meals and who can keep themselves occupied.
