Having lived in Southern Namibia for many years, hanging around between the Orange River and Cape Town was never top on the list of urgent activities. Springbok became a salvage point for bathroom breaks, withdrawing Rands and ordering KFC before heading back over the border.
This June saw Mr John and I explore the greater area as we decided to break up our journey between Cape Town and the Canyon Lodge, via Naris Namakwa Retreat. It turned out to be one of the best decisions that we could have made, with the venue being one of the top locations on our Cape to Namibia tour.
Comprised of a number of accommodation units, including round mountain huts, self-catering accommodation and the farmhouse (where we stayed) Naries Namakwa Retreat’s piece de resistance is their sunset lounge: the Gemsbok Lapa. Offering spectacular sunsets across the ravine, Naries Namakwa Retreat FAR surpassed our expectations and we can’t wait to return!
6 C’s Review of Naries Namakwa Retreat
My 6 C review is centered around the comfort of a hotel room. Anyone can use Booking.com or Google to get the basic information. My 6 C’s shares how convenient the room was to stay in. Watch day 1 of our trip to Namibia or read on for my review:
Comfortable Bed
We slept very well in our bed at Naries. We are both tall and wide so we like to have our space. The bed also had enough pillows with Mr John was happy about (he has sleep apnea). There were enough blankets to keep very warm and the bedside lap and tables were useful for our phones. The bed actually faced the sunrise but the curtains blocked out the morning light sufficiently enough as to not to disturb our sleep too much.
Cleanliness
Nothing annoys me more than dirty tiled floors because I can’t stand anything sticking to my feet! From the linen to the sheets to the floors, our room was exceptionally clean – as were the bathroom taps, loo handle, shower floor, etc. Even the windows had been cleaned so when we looked out we had a beautiful, clear view across the garden.
Counter Space
The bathroom sink has been installed on top of a large bathroom cupboard. This offered sufficient space (and good lighting) for all my toiletries and makeup. The bathroom itself was also huge so if you wanted to bring more into the room, you could.
Connectivity
There was mobile reception at the main house that allowed us to Google things from our phones in bed. It’s wasn’t the fastest internet in the world, but it was the last consistent internet we had on the trip. I wouldn’t try to upload a video or stream Netflix, but social media uploads, google searches and Whatsapp all worked fine.
Charging Stations
There were two small desks in the room, both with plug points. This allowed both Mr John and I to charge our mobiles at the same time, which was handy during the night. We always bring along our own extension plug points and chargers, these are not included.
Conveniences
Naries Namakwa Retreat offers visitors a comfortable stay, incredible views, a large clean pool as well as breakfast in the morning (available even for the self-catering apartments if booked in). The breakfast has a fresh spread followed by a simple cooked menu. The dining room had a large fireplace to keep it warm at night with beautiful sunny views in the morning.
Final Impression
As initially mentioned, Naries Namakwa Retreat totally surpassed our expectations. I guess we had NO or LOW expectations of the venue considering it isn’t really on the way to anywhere, but we were totally wrong. It’s a fantastic venue and I highly recommend visiting.
Special mention also needs to be made of the food. Readers often think only gourmet food can impress bloggers and that’s incorrect. A little care and effort goes a LONG way and clearly the brigade at NNR care about their food.
For starters I had a tomato soup, which I didn’t really feel like. yet was delicious and I enjoyed it thoroughly. For mains I had the springbok stew. Again, I wasn’t really in the mood for it (think I was over tired) yet it was delicious. For dessert there was one; a hit and one; a miss. The creme brulee was a total bust with the texture being all wrong #ScrambledEggs. Yet the poached pear with tuille was literally one of the best I’d ever had.
If you’re considering eating at Naries, you will go to bed very satisfied. The service is attention, reserved yet welcoming.
Overall, if you really want to relax to the sound of tweeting birds, pet a happy dog, gaze over open mountainous views, then this is the venue for you.
Thank you very much for having us Naries – we look forward to returning one day!
