This was a pleasent enough place to stay, but it is quite out of the way. They do not serve an evening meal, so you have to go into George - getting taxis isn't the easiest thing to do! There seem to be no staff around when you need them either!

The rooms have amazing views but they are small and set up for older couples.

All in all an OK place with great views, but not easily accessible and probably for the older traveller.

We spent six nights here on our honeymoon. It is a bit hard to write a review of Hilltop Lodge as our experience was a bit ambivalent. First the positives: the location is out of this world. Jaw droppingly beautiful. The house is secluded, perched on a cliff above Victoria bay. You can see the rolling Atlantic breakers from your bed, watch the sun set on the mountains, admire the beatuiful gardens during a delicious breakfast on the terrace... and generally the quality of the rooms and fittings is very high (though noise insulation was a problem - noisy pipes). We received champagne on arrival to celebrate our honeymoon too. The Garden route activities are all within easy reach and Wilderness is full of lovely restaurants.

On the downside, we just felt that compared to other similar priced lodges in the area, the level of service was pretty poor. There was never anyone on reception and when you called for service, either there was nobody there or made to feel the owner/manager was doing you a big favour. Given that there are no phones in the rooms and the place is pretty out of the way, you need assistance to book taxis, activities and restuarants (which must be pre-booked). You are left to your own devices! We also asked to leave a night early to break up our journey back to Capetown as it is quite long. This request was met by inflexibility (technically this was within the owner's rights, but other hotels are generally flexible in non-peak times) and we had to pay all nights. In the end we stayed all six nights, but it did leave us with a bit of an awkward feeling towards the place.

Overall, I would think twice about booking this place again given the other options in the area - I'd consider staying right in Victoria Bay or in one of the new boutique hotels in Wilderness. I'm sad to say that, as I loved the location and I think Hilltop could be absolutely amazing if only the owner and staff really knew how to provide the kind of personalised service that such a stunning location deserves.

We stayed here for two nights on a garden route tour. The views as you walked out from the lounge and looked over the fantastic gardens was breathtaking. Hennie, our host, was very hospitable and advised us on restaurants and booked them for us. As far as I can see there is nothing average about this place. The attention to detail everywhere is outstanding, even down to providing a cloth to wipe the balcony tables and chairs if they got wet, plus a fly swatter in the room - a leather one at that. Pool towels are provided and the breakfast was wonderful and beautifully presented. The only downside of this place is that there is no restaurant on site, but they allow full use of the dining room facilities, complete with a microwave. We even had a decanter with sherry for a late night drink (free!). I would certainly recommend this place.

We stayed for a few nights at Hilltop and agree that it has the most stunning view of the beach and mountains - just glorious especially as we first saw it at sunset.

The host, Hennie, was very hospitable and the breakfasts served were incredibly filling: fresh fruit and everything you would find in a continental breakfast plus a hot meal.

The property has a nice pool with surrounding deck and a braii (BBQ) you can use. We took advantage of this during our stay and had a lot of fun; they prepare all the tools for you (save for the food itself) and made it easy on us.

The guesthouse has a DVD collection and a laptop always available for internet access, as well as an honor bar.

The George mall is maybe a 10 minute drive from Hilltop and has just about everything you might need and there are a number of great hiking trails not too far away, as well as the beach at Victoria Bay.