Gweta Lodge

Gweta Lodge is located just south of A3 road in the centre of Gweta village. The lodge offers double cabins, family rooms, and African-style rondavels. You find a lounge, restaurant & bar. Outfit and layout provide a slightly outdated safari atmosphere. The Gweta web site is over polished-up. Staff is friendly. Crossing the Ntwetwe Pan from Mopipi we reached Gweta and opted for a rondavel at the lodge. We had dinner at the restaurant. The food was simple and OK. Our isolated cabin had 2 singe beds with one large mosquito net, a table but no chair. The separate open-air bathroom had washbasin, shower (hot), toilet. All was clean. WiFi was OK. Gweta Lodge is a good place, and a practical choice for 1 or 2 nights. Recommended for visiting by 4x4 the Makgadikgadi National Park or the Sua, Ntwetwe or Nxai salt lakes.

After being in Namibia and Botswana for 3+ weeks this was by far the worst lodging we’ve had. Our group of 4 is confused by other ratings of 3+. The lodge is in significant disrepair and is clearly run down. There is no attention to small details that could make a big difference on appearance. We had to change rooms upon arrival due to an unacceptable number of mosquitos in the room (due to a window having been left open, bathroom window that did not seal shut, and room door that also did not seal shut). Plus only one of the beds had a mosquito net. Our second rooms were better and basically bug free, but in all rooms the lights did not all work. There was no soap available. Although our food ended up being fine, we were concerned about freshness and sanitary conditions of the kitchen. We tried to be understanding of the rural nature of Gweta, but there is an obvious lack of effort being put into maintaining the lodge.

We stayed one night here on our trip and it was a lovely little lodge. Simple, but very nice rooms. Some rooms have an outside shower. There is a bar with very nice couches to lay in. The breakfast buffet was very basic. Dinner on the other hand was incredible. There were ladies cooking on the braai and that was the best meat we had in the entire trip. There’s a nice pool area to cool off and wifi by the bar and pool area. My only complaint is the excursion to the salt pan and meerkats is very expensive for what you get. I enjoyed the excursion but think the price was very high.

We checked into GWETA lodge and asked for a Salt Pan tour from the reception. Lady at the reception said the tour was fully booked then we asked for a guide at a fee. She said no guides available but if we want we can follow their salt pan tour vehicle if we want as a self drive. We agreed and start following.Then the safari driver said in case on the drive if we come across Mere cats we need to pay him which we had to agree since we didn't know how to go back. Next day when we came to settle the bill we found out that the lodge charged 990 Pula per person same as full safari tour using their vehicle. She kept on asking for a full tour fee using their safari vehicle which we denied vehemently. Finally she said pay her 2000 Pula so she will change the invoice. I was lodging in room 23 and upon check in I was told the breakfast included even the chef who came to get our orders for the next day breakfast confirmed same for my surprise the same lady charged for the breakfast. I was so exhausted arguing for the tour didn't want to argue and I paid for the breakfast. Make sure you get everything in writing since the employees at Gweta lodge are irresponsible.

Gweta Lodge was our first stop on our trip through Botswana - and as other ratings show, it’s a mixed experience, at least for Europeans. There’s significant renovation taking place which will provide a much needed upgrade to the rooms. There’s a dedicated and friendly staff working hard to make your stay fine and to fix what’s to be fixed. There’s a pool and a nice bar area. There’s good food. So after all, for a small lodge in a remote place, it was a good stay.