Name: Zimbali Resort - Acacia
Address: Corkwood Drive Zimali, Zimbali, Zimbali, Zimbali, 4399, South Africa
Rating: 7

Smoking areas

Garden

General

Barbecue grill(s)

Billiards

Barbeque

Recreation

Free parking nearby

Parking

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the resort

King Shaka International Airport

Zimbali Resort - Acacia

Zimbali

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

20-beds

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22-beds

23-beds

24-beds

25-beds

26-beds

27-beds

28-beds

29-beds

3-beds

30-beds

31-beds

32-beds

33-beds

34-beds

35-beds

36-beds

37-beds

38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

When I got to this place the same apartment was rented out to someone else, after I have paid for it I was left stranded with my friends worst experience ever, I did not know that booking.com scams people. 

Worse day of my life 

This hotel may have been 5 star 30 years ago but, not in this day and age. It looks tired and has seen better days. Lots of wooden interior beams styled not unlike a hotel you may see inThailand. Externally the brown wood is in dire need of repair and cleaning anf a few coats of varnish. Public areas need new carpets and the breakfast was just a badly presented low quality buffet. We had to change rooms because ours was dark and set low in the jungle foliage. We were movef to a top floor with see view which was much better. 
The room was spacious but again old style and tired. Floors were grey painted concrete showing damage and scrapes. The use of carpets was very limited. I guess the hotel only retains its 5 star status because of where it is and the facilities it has eg. Spa, pool etc.  I would not go back again unless the hotel was totally reformed and upgraded.

Seen better days

Probably once a good hotel and some of the rooms were considerably smarter than others even in the same block,
Ours was dark and rather cluttered, everything you needed but lacking in style or thought, just a jumble.
Next door had been given a make over and was much nicer and less gloomy but none have a view except of close up tree trunks.
The actual center of the hotel was understaffed except at breakfast which was good, lunch at the pool bar took over an hour and half - only salads or sandwiches.   Very empty with no atmosphere.    Getting in or out was a nightmare, I forgot my personalised piece of paper and they just refused to do anything but just stood there, until I borrowed one from the car behind - friends - wrong name , wrong car - not bothered and let us out!   So why they couldn’t have accepted my car licence and checked with reception!
Minutes after we had paid on our arrival we noticed a mistake in the number of nights we were staying but they couldn’t refund us as we had to see a manager who never appeared during out stay.
Could have been lovely but sadly missed on every level, with the exception of some of the staff who tried hard to make it less dreary.

A tired hotel

I didn't stay specifically at the lodge as I lived in the estate, I did however spend many a day around the pool in summer. The vibe is chilled and food is great. The team that work there are super amazing and always happy to accommodate anything you may need. The pool is clean and warm in summer with great views across the estate to the VOP. If in the estate and you want something less commercial (like the Capital) then head here for good service, quality engagements and a relaxing time

A chilled hangout for all

The resort facilities are beautiful and its cleanliness highly impressive. The units are comfortable and well equipped with all that you would need. Lovely touches with bath robes and bedroom slippers and really divine coffee. The breakfast area is well ventilated and the breakfast spread is varied and delicious.
My only complaint would be the lack of black out curtains in the units as the sun peeps in very early and disturbs your sleep which is not conducive for a restful and relaxed stay.
 We also found the security guards at the main gate to be quite aggressive and impatient with us as visitors. The resort needs to inform their visitors that data or a roaming phone is needed in order to access the premises due to the gate codes you receive on check in. None of this was made clear to us and so the process to access the property was challenging and quite an unpleasant experience.
I would also advise visitors to be careful in the parking and the walkways between units during wet days as the floors are extremely slippery when you walk.

Hits and misses for a 5 star resort

Been here 10 years ago, when it was managed by Fairmont resorts. Now  on my return, I noticed sadly how a great location experience can be destroyed by incompetent management. People here at resort are very kind andocation still amazing, with roaring sea in front of tropical forest, and personnel are very kind, and trying to make up for continuous inconvenience created by rules designed probably by a drunk weasel. Examples: 1. Place has nice restaurant, BUT you cannot charge on the room. Even for a coffee (70 rands, or 5 euros) we were asked to settle immsdiately, and had to go back to room (300m away) to fetch my credit card. 2. On arrival, we were stopped by security at the gate, who asked a 'code' to enter (they did not accept copy of reservation) which was never provided because (as we were explained later) they cannot send to international mobile numbers. Result: after travelling 7 hours we had to wait I. Front of the gate 20 minutes. 3. They provide towels upon excha ge with bracelets (typical of low-end all-inclusive big resorts), but only at reception, and you can use only at the small pool there. If you go to the beach or beach pool, (20 mins walk away from reception) they will not provide, although they have facilities there. 4. At the beach, internet con e tion is non existant. On the positive side, room was very nice. Probably the new management team did not focus on this, yet😊

How to ruin a great legacy-instructions

Third time staying at the lodge over a few years and it's views and setting remain special. However the rooms and blocks are in need of a refurb as starting to look grubby in parts. One of the staff mentioned work has started- block by block so hopefully this takes pace. 
Breakfast was of good quality though with limited options. 
Good menu at the restaurant and bar however service can be slow at times.
If in the Dolphin Coast and you have not been here would recommend a night or two due to the unique setting. 
Also no slippers or gowns which was disappointing for a hotel marketed as 'luxury'.

Stayed in January 22

Wow, we had an amazing stay at the Capital Zimbali. Always friendly, very helpful 
They did a lot of effort. There was a lot of things to do like hiking, bike riding, swimming, spa and walking on the beach.

The room was very spacious and clean. There was room service where they get the room ready for you to go to sleep.

We will definitely book a holiday with Capital Zimbali again

29th January - 5th February 2022

We stayed at Zimbali Lodge for 7 nights at R4200 per night in the 1st week in January 2022.

 If you're looking for a Tarzan type, old world, jungle vacation, this is the lodge to stay at. 

On Sunday afternoon after our 9 hour drive, we got to the Zimbali Coastal Resort (the estate Zimbali lodge is situated on) gates and the security guard asked us for our entry code which we hadn't received from the lodge (we were not even aware we needed this prior.) He told us to go pull off to the side and we then phoned the reception for our code. A moody gentleman answered and upon sighing, generated our code for us. 5 minutes later, we I received an sms with the code and in we drove.

At the reception, alas, we  we were greeted by same moody gentleman receptionist who then proceeded to read from a piece of paper what amenities were available in room and where the bar and restaurant is available. He warned us that we should never swim in the private beach as we will drown (How scary, we are not swimmers but would have loved to relax and watch the waves). We asked him how far the beach and Valley of Pools was and he told us it was a 25 min walk (nothing about how to get a shuttle there or how to enter the Valley of the Pools which we then found out the next morning is R100 shuttle return trip per day)

Terrence, our friendly porter took us to our room with the golf cart. We got to our block of rooms and the outside drain in front of our door was wet and full of debris from the leaves falling.

Upon entry of our room an intense, damp and moldy smell immediately hit our nostrils, after having COVID19 6 months back, mine and my husbands and 3 year old's lungs are very sensitive to stuffy areas and smells. The pictures on the websites the are deceiving, when I booked on Booking,com, the room i selected had a balcony view over looking the golf course but our room had a "garden view" which is basically tropical rainforest you cannot see through.

The bathroom was spacious, with bath and shower, however the toilet seat was loose and constantly moving if you sat on it. The 1st night we showered the shower head (looks like it was from 1985) was loose so the water splattered all over the bathroom floor. 

We called reception to make them aware of the smell and the shower and they sent the maintenance manager with a dehumidifier that didn't have any refill filters in so it was practically useless. It was unbearable to breath in that room so I went to the pharmacy the next day to purchase a room moisture absorber that didn't help either :( They replaced the shower head the next day too.

The occasional couch and the mats in the room smelled awful, also damp and moldy.

The next day we had breakfast (included in our package) which was lovely continental breakfast and any hot items we could order from the menu. The waiters were really friendly and helpful with our toddler, especially Sihle. We spent the day at the breathtaking infinity pool and had a memorable time and lunch as well. There is no in-room dining service and the restaurant kitchen closes at 8pm which was a real bummer even though curfew in SA in Jan 2022 was midnight..

The next day we booked at the Mangwanani Dream spa at the lodge. The spa receptionist told me we had to pay the full amount of R2500 before our treatments to secure our booking even though they weren't busy! My treatment was lovely, however during my massage, I could hear the staff chatting so loudly through the dry walling, I couldn't relax fully. My pedicure overlooking the jungle and water feature on the deck was serene, it got a bit chilly and the spa staff gave me a fluffy blanket to use during my treatment. 
My husbands 90 minute massage was the next so my toddler and I went to watch a movie. 60min later, my husband called to say they've given him a 60 minute hot stone massage when I'd initially booked a 90 minute aromatherapy massage for him. He came back to the room and I called the spa to enquire and they apologised for the miscommunication between them and offered him a 30 minute neck and back massage for the next day!

I met up with Vahini, the salesperson at the lodge who offered to give us a tour of the resort. She showed us all the pools and areas we could have went within the resort with our toddler that the front desk hadn't cared to share with us on arrival. We felt quite robbed 4 days in our stay as we could have enjoyed so much more of the resorts offerings! 

Our air conditioning unit is fixed in the wall so when we were getting dressed in the dressing area the air conditioner above us was leaking on us through the roof!

Over all we had an enjoyable stay at the resort besides our room! 
The Valley of the pools and restaurant was gorgeous over looking the private beach. We stood at the private beach and watched the waves just as we wished, we went to the bushbuck play area and pools with our toddler and even enjoyed a dinner treat the Fireroom restaurant at Capital Hotel Zimbali.

I would not stay at the Zimbali lodge again, as it needs serious revamping, however I would definitely visit again and rather spend my well earned money at the Capital Hotel Zimbali or hire out a private house/suite on the resort premises.

3 star lodge dressed as a 5 star hotel

What ever you do don’t book this place!!!! The rooms are old no adequate lighting and smelly. The breakfast is the biggest disappointment with very limited food and the bacon looked stale and had green patches. We couldn’t even eat. We even found a spider on the table. So disgusting 🤮. The bed very old and linen smelled dirty. We had booked 4 nights but only stayed for 1 night. The only thing that looks appealing is the pool. Otherwise they don’t even get a star from me. Close this damn place and revamp, it’s not even good for animals. Such disrespect to let people book under pretense that it’s a 4 star. Disgusting af!

Zimbali Resort - Acacia

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