Tshukudu Bush Lodge

Sun City, South Africa

Luxury Chalet
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Dining Room and Lounge
Main Deck
Luxury Chalet
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Tshukudu Suite
Dining Room and Lounge
Main Deck

The hotel

You’ll feel like you have Pilanesberg National Park all to yourself when you stay at Tshukudu Bush Lodge. The only lodge in the reserve, it has just ten chalets and suites, and sits secluded at the foot of the Pilanesberg mountains, letting you gaze down over vast plains and a wildlife-enticing waterhole. The "Big Five" aren’t the only ones with a water feature here – your room has a private plunge pool and the lodge features a stunning rock pool. Adding a unique personal touch, the lodge’s Field Guides don’t just take you on game-drives, they also share local legends as you dine together at a boma out in the African bush.

Amenities

  • Bar
  • Safari
  • Swimming Pool
  • Honeymoon
  • Restaurant

Where is it

Situated on a hill slope, in the malaria free Pilanesberg National Park, only a 2 hour 30 minute drive from Johannesburg.

Hotel information

6 luxury chalets and 4 luxury suites, all individually decorated. Luxury Chalets offer a private balcony overlooking the savannah/waterhole, open plan lounge and bedroom with 1 queen-size bed, sleeping maximum 2 adults. Chalets also have a fully-stocked mini-bar, tea/coffee-making facilities and safe, there are no radios, telephones or TVs.

All Inclusive includes: all meals including high tea. Twice daily game-drives.

Spacious Tshukudu Suites offer a lounge area that leads to a deck with a private plunge pool. Suites also have crystal chandeliers, separate indoor and outdoor shower,

Dining Room & Lounge where breakfast is served and a 5-course dinner menu. Bush boma dinners. Rock plunge pool with bar service. The Deck with 80 degree views of the Pilanesberg. Spa treatments*. Twice daily game-drives. Bush walk. Bird watching.

* Denotes local charge.

Please note: children under 11 years are not permitted at Tshukudu Bush Lodge.

Please note: there are 132 steps to the lodge.

Rating summary

  • Location Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Sleep Quality Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Rooms Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Service Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Value Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Cleanliness Image of the Tripadvisor rating

Traveller rating

  • Excellent (258)
  • Very good (19)
  • Average (9)
  • Poor (2)
  • Terrible (2)
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Great location and game view but not what expected

Dec 16, 2020 scragadu Rustenburg

As a local and keen gameviewer I looked forward to booking at this lodge. The reviews were good and even the certificate of excellence convinced me to book. Excited to finally get a booking we looked forward tk our stay. At reception we were greatly surprised to learn we have been upgraded. Great was the disappointment when we found out that the… Read more
As a local and keen gameviewer I looked forward to booking at this lodge. The reviews were good and even the certificate of excellence convinced me to book. Excited to finally get a booking we looked forward tk our stay. At reception we were greatly surprised to learn we have been upgraded. Great was the disappointment when we found out that the "upgrade" was to a unit with a resident very active mouse. Needless to say we did not enjoy our sleep. We also learned that previous occupant complained about the mouse and was moved to room initially allocated to us. This is really not acceptable and exploitation of customer trust and good will. The lodge boasts that they cater mostly for international guests but it would be a real disappointment to have any guests stay in room 17. The pieces of the grass of the roof were falling all over the place and on our luggage and should be fixed! For a 5* lodge this was really disappointing. The staff appeared efficient and well trained. The dinner in the room was good. The special birthday cake from the chef was special. The breakfast was nothing out of the ordinary though. As a South African I have had much better lodge experiences in other 5* and lower star lodges. The waiters were helpful and professional. The facilities are good but need to be maintained better. We thoroughly enjoyed our game drives. Our guide Jacques was well trained and really made our trip worth the while. In my opinion the overall rating this lodge is overrated. Although the facilities are good and the stay was not bad the mouse in da house is in bad taste and I notice that a previous guest also complained about the mouse and poor sleep. This is also a health hazard!Lodge management should act on it as this is not acceptable even in the Bush! This really made our overall lodge experience rather average if not below average. When I mentioned it to the waiter serving us in the room, he simply shrugged and said its experienced in all rooms? Really? Why did not all patrons complain about lack of sleep due to an overactive mouse. This type of experience at these extreme prices really brings our country's local and international Tourism in disrepute. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Disappointing........for what we paid

Dec 14, 2020 773amandap1

First of all, I find many reviewers talking about this place get carried away with their overall holiday/safari experience, so can cloud the true feelings on the accommodation and food, which is essentially why you are here, to read about the accommodation, not how lovely someone's holiday went - Right? So once I get the game drive aside, we can… Read more
First of all, I find many reviewers talking about this place get carried away with their overall holiday/safari experience, so can cloud the true feelings on the accommodation and food, which is essentially why you are here, to read about the accommodation, not how lovely someone's holiday went - Right? So once I get the game drive aside, we can talk about the actual accommodation offering. Firstly, lets say that the game drives were fine, we got to see the animals and did the morning and evening drives, but once you have done one or two, I feel more 4hr drives are too long. They were informative, and great scenery, drinks and snacks were nice too. But 2-3hrs max, is enough Back to the accommodation. We paid over £2000 for 3 nights here, thats R15,000 a night £750/$900 a night for what we thought would be luxury. Lets be clear here, this is NOT a luxury experience. Its good, and its not bad at all, but it is not a £750 a day experience. Our lodge was number 17, and seemed tired inside. It had a balcony, with a small plunge pool on the decking but it just didn't feel very luxurious. The trees are overgrown and block your view of the watering hole, and hard to get much sunlight to sunbathe. The decking was worn, the outside shower was missing a tap on one of the hot/cold taps. There were many paint splatters around where there had been painting in the past. The shower inside was caked in limescale with tired tiles/grouting , and every night we had 2 or 3 'visitors' being what looked like mice with bushy squirrel like tails. Harmless but my wife couldn't sleep knowing these guys were loose in our room. Not a luxury experience. Yes, you're out in the bush and blah, nature, blah, blah but its not the experience you pay for Food was also disappointing. Breakfast was the usual bacon/eggs offering with fruit and cereals. There is no lunch but a high tea which was the same everyday, the same fruit platter you get at breakfast, the same cake day in day out and some cold meats. Dinner is described as 5 courses, but the first two courses are just small starters. Course 1 was a small bowl of soup. 2. was ONE asparagus spear, cut in half and wrapped in bacon, two bites, and it was gone. 3. was a choice of Kingklip (undercooked) and my wife chose the steak (overcooked) 4. Pear and ice cream, 5. cheese platter (all look and taste the same). The second night we were offered lamb rack as one of our choices and what we got was two small lamb chops (not a rack) My wife asked for hers to be rare but was told "All the food is pre-cooked and reheated so cant give you it rare" Nice.....reheated food for R15,000 a night! The food was only lukewarm and tasted ok. It wasn't bad at all, just not what you expect for such a price. Another couple we spoke to were paying R3000 a night and were horrified at what we paid and as they said, it should be gourmet dining for the money. Yes, I felt it should be a 5 star hotel experience in the bush. When we checked out we were taken 20mins to the main reception being I believe Bakubung Bush Lodge. We had to wait there 4 hours to be taken to the airport. It was superb, a proper restaurant with dining area, bar, lounge, outside seating and superb views, a gift shop, a spa, and tennis courts. We were gutted that for a third of the price we could have stayed there! Food was amazing. Overall the accommodation is fine, its not bad at all, but for the money it really should have been sooooo much better. The food is okay, just okay, in its own right but again, not okay considering what we paid. Had we paid about R3000 a night, then I could give this review 4/5 stars but for almost R15,000 a night, it left a bitter taste. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Wow! Wow! Wow!

Nov 2, 2020 Melissa_Tipp Melbourne, Australia

An absolutely amazing lodge inside Pilanesberg National Park. Breathtaking views due to the suites being set high atop the hill where we watched elephant, zebra, giraffe and many other animals from our deck as well as from our bathtub! All guides are extremely knowledgeable and did their very best to locate the animals we hoped to see. We even… Read more
An absolutely amazing lodge inside Pilanesberg National Park. Breathtaking views due to the suites being set high atop the hill where we watched elephant, zebra, giraffe and many other animals from our deck as well as from our bathtub! All guides are extremely knowledgeable and did their very best to locate the animals we hoped to see. We even had a Big 5 game drive!!! Unbelievable. One highlight is a fantastic 5 course dinner each evening. This was served at a communal table, so you are able to dine and get to know the other guests. To say we had an absolute ball with the truly wonderful people we met, would be an understatement! This was our first trip outside of Johannesburg in more than 150 days due to Covid lockdown/travel bans, and we all really let our hair down! On our last evening, we were the only guests in the lodge and we were treated to a very special in room dining experience. It was heaven. All of the staff at Tshukudu Bush Lodge are nothing short of brilliant! Nothing is too much trouble and everyone from housekeeping to restaurant to bar to guides does their very best to ensure your stay is perfect. Will we go back to Tshukudu Bush Lodge? You bet your bottom dollar we will!!! See you soon, Tshukudu! Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating What a way to spend a birthday!

Oct 11, 2020 Katprangley

I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate a birthday And the lodge made it so special with a private dinner The setting is amazing, so elevated The team are brilliant and attentive Food was super Game viewing a real treat Thank you for a wonderful weekend!
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Wonderful escape from the city

Oct 5, 2020 ThisNativeWanderer Johannesburg, South Africa

Tshukudu is the only lodge located inside the Pilanesberg park - the location is stunning. There are no fences and one can sit and view game amble across the plains in front of the lodge. In all, we were able to see elephant, rhino, hippo, lion, giraffe, warthogs, wildebeest, zebra, antelope, jackal, hyena and kudu. Our room was beautiful,… Read more
Tshukudu is the only lodge located inside the Pilanesberg park - the location is stunning. There are no fences and one can sit and view game amble across the plains in front of the lodge. In all, we were able to see elephant, rhino, hippo, lion, giraffe, warthogs, wildebeest, zebra, antelope, jackal, hyena and kudu. Our room was beautiful, comfortable and clean. The highlights were the bath with views over the plains and a balcony with the same. Due to the isolated location, we were able to enjoy the natural sounds with no disturbance from outside noise. The food was delicious and fresh and, in fact, more plentiful than one can eat in 24 hours! The chef was accommodating of our dietary requirements. There was a good selection of drinks at the bar as well as South African wines. The staff were lovely and always available should one be in need of something. In particular, our game ranger - Mari - was enthusiastic, warm and knowledgeable. And it was reassuring that the manager - Stacey - greeted us warmly upon arrival and at dinner. It was also a pleasure to deal with Portia throughout the enquiry and bookings process. Overall, an experience I absolutely recommend. Read less