I am going to break my ROAR review into parts. I hope others will add their views and experiences to these sections.
• Accommodations
• Activities and tours
• Cities
• Experiences

Accomodations:

Capetown/Bishop’s Court: We chose this property as a result of Ngaire’s recommendation and the fact is was much cheaper than Cape Grace. We entered a rustic feeling lodge. The main living space is very large with seats for relaxing and several dining tables. There are two bedrooms off this living area and I wonder if it gets noisy for these folks if they turn in early? There are three bedrooms on the lower level. Our room, the Oak Room, was enormous. It opened up to a superior patio view opening onto the garden and pool and a view of Table Mountain. The bathroom had both a separate bath and shower and bathroom toilet even had rose petals in it. Bishop’s Court is an exclusive area of Capetown and their was a very upscale feel to our accommodation. There is an open bar and service was delightful. The breakfast was offered on the veranda and was both continental and full English, made to order. The only negative aspect is that it is not walking distance to any attractions and you must rely on transport to leave the property. There is a computer with internet, but it is slow. A safe was provided in the room.


Capetown/Cape Grace: We did not upgrade to loft room and were happy with our decision. The basic loft room offered a balcony, but that ate into the size of the room. The more expensive loft room had a large balcony and a room larger than ours. Nevertheless, our room was a very good size, had French doors that opened to a lovely, unobstructed view of the water and Table mountain (the other side from our Bishop’s Court view. We were on the first floor and found this very convenient (Room 135). I often opt to upgrade and felt no remorse as the room and location was absolutely fine. We never spent much time in the room, the weather was cold, so we never felt the need for a terrace. It was much like the Diamond…the rooms are same, just with and without the balcony and the balcony takes away from the room size. The room had a gigantic walk in closet and vanity and had an adapter in the room. I was glad I brought my own hair dryer as the hair dryer provided was attached in the vanity drawer. The food at the hotel was fine and the library, with the free port and sherry, was a pleasant respite every evening. The internet connection was fast and there were four computers available. The hotel is on the water and is walking distance to a mall with many stores and restaurants, which was a convenience. TV was provided and had an extensive satellite network, including BBC prime. The room is classically decorated, with oriental carpets and comfortable chairs for relaxing. Hotels are very expensive in Capetown. We stayed at the Amstel Intercontinental in Amsterdam in an executive suite for less money. The quality was comparable. Breakfast began in the dining room only at 7am. It was a very nice spread. What was irritating, though, was having to wait for the check and sign for gratuities, even though it was included. A safe was provided in the room.


Rovos Rail: The rail service was trying to be as elegant as a hotel. The train is very long and you were often either very far away from the observation lounge or the restaurant car. The rooms were comfortable. Here, again, for the money, the larger suites were not that much larger than the standard rooms and not worth double the price. The bathrooms were larger and had a tub. The room was nicely furnished with wood walls and a large comfortable queen size bed. There was a toiletry kit with all necessary items, razor, shaving cream, shampoo, conditioner, and one condom. A built in hair dryer was available – one of those with the snake. Adapters were available in the room. A safe was in the room as well. There was a closet and storage for your suitcases on a ledge on the wall. There were two chairs and a table, refrigerator with soft drinks and fruit was provided. Breakfast was either room service or in the dining car and ran from 7-10. Liquor was included and meals were very good. Walking the corridors was a cold affair, with temperatures dipping in the 30’s or 40s and no heat in the corridors. The room temperatures were easy to adjust and were comfortable. Heated blankets were provided as well. Cell service was available, internet connection was supposed to be available in your room if you had your own computer, but we didn’t and could not speak for that. The dining car was set up in tables of four or two only, so it enabled you to have an intimate dinner with one other person or another couple. The observation car was no smoking, had a number of chairs, couches and a bar and this was where many spent their time: drinking, talking, playing games, reading or taking pictures. There was a small outside area as well, which was too cold to use most of the time. Service was very good. Nuts, jerkey, chips were put out and replenished. There was a small smoking area in the next car.


Sabi Sands/Singita Boulders: Incredible accommodations. When we arrived, it was early afternoon. We were led down a path over a stream and fish pond and into a large open reception area. This was elegant, with interesting wood and leather furnishings. This area had optimum seating areas, two bathrooms and a bar area. It overlooked a river and a savannah, where we could see zebra grazing in the fields. This reception area was attached to a closed library area with internet (slow)..one computer only and to an enclosed, lovely dining room. It also opened out to an outdoor dining area. We took our pre-safari snacks in the reception area and ate our breakfasts and lunches in the open area. Dinners were served in the enclosed dining room, but the last night, we ate on the outdoor veranda and one night we ate in an outdoor boma area at Singita Ebony. You could also opt for room service. The food was wonderful and plentiful. The service was over the top, but never stuffy. There is a pool off of this area, but there were no lounge chairs around the pool. I thought the Ebony pool area was much nicer.

They served a wonderful fresh lemonade with passion fruit mixed in and a peach iced tea, which was wonderful. There were unlimited fine wines, liquor and liqueurs available for your pleasure. Muffins, homemade breakfast bars, juices, teas and coffee were available pre-safari am and tea and hors d’hoevres were available pre-safari pm. From this central area two rooms were to one side, across from the spa. The other six rooms were to the other side of the reception area, done a woodsy raised wooden path. Two rooms (8 and 9) were off the right of the path and were on a watering hole, one room, 7 was directly in front of us, and 3, 4, 5, 6 were on the left. Many of the villas were very much alike. Entry ways, living room ceilings, views and deck sizes and configurations varied. Villas 6, 7, 8, 9 all had cathedral ceilings throughout and were quite similar. I think Villas 1-5 only had cathedral ceilings in the bedroom. Villa 7 did not have a water view, but was the most private.

Each villa had an entry way with a bar and refrigerator. There were the usual mini bar snacks…all free. Also off the entry, was a half bath. This entry opened up to a large living area with a couch, a chair and a table with several more chairs. The couch was built in against a stone wall, with integrated vases decorating the wall. The couch was leather with pillows of pony fur and other various fabrics. There was a large wooden cocktail table made from a tree on which magazines and animal books were placed, along with a large candle. The table area had a number of tea lights on it. This room had a large floor to ceiling window wall opening up to the deck. The room was “separated” from the bedroom area by a large two sided round stone fireplace that reached to the roof. In a couple of the rooms, the fireplace hearth inside rotated. The bedroom area was the size of a large hotel area and had a large four poster bed with mosquito netting. One each side was a nightstand and there was a long bench in front of the window opposite the bed. On this bench, there were knickknacks and a watercolor paint set.

There was a door to the bathroom area, which consisted of a large dressing area and a large bathroom. Off of the bathroom was a toilet and bidet in a separate room. The shower was large and open and glass walled on one side and made of stone. The bathtub was a large claw foot tub. The sink area was a double sink with lovely ceramic bowls. There was a separate dressing table. A high powered hair dryer was provided. Hair conditioner, shampoo, foam bath, a large bowl of bath salts, bug spray, flashlight, binoculars, etc. were all included. Clothes were cleaned for you as you put them in the wicker basket left out. Both laundry and pressing were available free of charge. One side of the villa was all windows. The villa had to be 1200 square feet at least.

The decks were a very nice size, covered with a bamboo top. There was an outside shower area and every villa offered total privacy. You could walk around naked. The plunge pool was cold and my only complaint is that is was not cleaned and had algae in it. The views from our villa, 6, were lovely and overlooked the river. We had an elephant that walked right up to our pool and the monkeys entertained us in the evening. You must, however, keep your glass doors closed at all times since the animals can get in, especially the rainbow lizards which were all over. There were no screens.

No home could have been nicer. It was lovely. I have never stayed anyplace as nice. You had to be escorted to and from your villa once it was dark and could not venture out alone. There was no TV or CD player, but they were not missed. Some music might have been nice to have. Every night, the fireplace was lighted (real wood) and it was cozy coming home to your place after dinner.

The shop and Ebony were close, but you were not allowed to walk on your own and had to be driven by jeep. This was a minor and took about 5 minutes. Nevertheless, the two resorts did not integrate very much at all during the day, if at all, and we did not see much of one another except for dinners.

You normally said hi to one another at your own lodge at 6 before your am drive, had breakfast together after the drive (9:30-10:30), met for lunch 1:30-2:30, lost touch with one another until 3:30 and then went out on your game drive until 6:30-7pm. You then went back to your room to freshen up for dinner and returned home 10ish and went to bed. Some folks took walks during the day, some took naps, some visited the spa, some went to the store or visited the other camp. There were only 4 days and our days were packed. We wished we had had a few more days there. My only regret is that we didn’t have enough time at this fantastic resort and there was not enough down time.

I understand that at Ebony, many did not show up for lunch. Food was wonderful and the service was impeccable.


Victoria Falls/Royal Livingstone: This room seemed tiny after our villa at Singita. It was rather small…had a king size bed, once chair and a decent sized bath with a separate shower and tub. The rooms were arranged two levels in separate buildings. I think there were about 6 buildings. Each room opened up to a viewed verandah over the Zambezi river and the falls spray. There was a lovely grassed area with Zebra and monkeys. You had to keep your doors closed and locked to ensure the monkeys did not get in. If you were outside, you had to be vigilant, as the monkeys knew how to open the doors and had a system to check out the doors. The grassy area had benches and hammocks and was nice and I often sat in the hammocks to read and relax. The pool area and service were lovely as well. The pool was salt and not heated, but was very nice. There was a very nice resort feel to the property. We liked the included breakfast and service. It was available starting 7am on their porch. There was an extensive buffet and you could order off the menu as well. We enjoyed dinner, but it service was slow and the waiters had B.O. You could eat inside a pretty dining room or on the veranda. Lunch was available in either the restaurant or the bar area and you could eat inside or outside. Food was good. I was not impressed with the concierge service at the hotel. There was a van to the other resort, Zambezi Sun, which was 3 star. While the accommodation at the Royal Livingstone was nice, it was equivalent to a Disney Property and I would not classify it as 5 star.

Johannesburg/Westcliff: This is a hotel set in the Westcliff area of J’burg about 30 minutes from the airport. It is a classy area set amongst estates on a cliff overlooking the zoo. The hotel is set up in separate detached sections up a cliff and there is van service, always available, to take you from reception to other facilities. Internet is available but is not included free of charge at the business center. Breakfast, which was very nice, is included. Dinner was excellent. There are several outdoor pools. Our room, room 415 in the same building as the restaurant, was not overly large, but was ample and had a nice bath and large verandah. It was nicely appointed. The concierge service was excellent. The room was decorated in French décor, with a canopy over the bed. The TV was in a cabinet, that could be raised or lowered from the wall next to the bed. I would recommend this hotel. It was nice and it was convenient to many sites and the airport.