You will be so happy if you choose to stay at Blue Cottages Country House - I promise! I was very hesitant to book here after reading one of these reviews, but I am so glad that I did book. I went on the advice of i-escape.com, one of my favorite travel websites (check it out!). Please take note of the date of reviews that you are reading; the Blue Cottages has new management now, and you don't want to rely on an outdated review from 3 years ago. This place was immaculate and we had a fantastic time.
-We are a family of 4 and stayed in the Weaver Suite (check out the i-escape website for a detailed description of all the room choices as well as a slew of other useful info on the place. Most of the rooms are in traditional rondavels). This is in the main house, and we had basically a 3 room apartment with a double canopy bed for us, a separate room with twin beds for the kids, enormous bathroom with bathtub, patio, etc.
-Breakfast is included and very tasty. We had the "health" breakfast - lovely fruit, yoghurt, museli, honey, toast, jam, coffee. They also have full eggs & sausage if you want that. At night (for an extra fee of course) we had fabulous dinners by lamplight in the garden - fresh whole trout, cheesy pasta, steamed veggies, chicken cordon bleu, bread pudding, wine, etc. They have a full bar as well.
-The owners are so welcoming and kind. They were a joy with my children, gave us great sightseeing recommendations, chatted however much we wanted, etc. I think this is the kind of place that if you want to keep to yourself, no one will bother you, but if you want to be friendly they are delighted to chat with you. They are bird lovers and if you are interested you can see and feed the birds.
-There is a wonderful cafe and crafts gallery onsite. So you can get all your great African souvenirs - woven baskets, masks, carvings, jewelry, hats, ornaments, wines, etc.
-Gorgeously landscaped - lovely garden and lawn, huge trees, flowers everywhere, fresh breezes blowing. You will be so relaxed here.
-You are 15-20 minutes away from the Blyde Canyon visitor center where you can take a boat ride on the lake or do any number of activities. Also, if you have kids, check out Jessica the Hippo. It's a great location. I didn't think it was hard to find at all, we just punched it into the GPS and then arrived at the front door.
You will love it here!

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Accommodation and food were great. We also very much enjoyed our conversations with our hosts. Gardens are full of birds! New management eager to ensure you have a great visit.

We stayed here one night on our way from Pafuri Camp to Hazyview.

The directions were completely wrong - so we spent 2 hours looking for the place in the dark - not helped by the phone number on the itinerary being wrong. This was probably the travel agents fault rather than the B&B.

When we arrived the owners had given up on us but gave us dinner (expensive and no choice). They were charming but suggested we get up for breakfast at 8am as they were going to church at 8:30 - fair enough.

When we looked closely at the room - a converted workers matchbox cottage - the bathroom wasnt clean, the toilet was 1970s pink, cracked, with a nasty stain and something floating in it (not the obvious). But it was late by then and we needed to sleep.

We arose at 7:20 in the morning and no hot water. The owners had already gone to church and the housekeeper didnt know how to fix the hot water. She took us to one of the rondavels and we used the bathroom there which was better, but not very convenient.

The breakfast wasnt particularly hearty and we had to ask for fruit juice. The owners were to have given us guidance about a canyon in the morning but that didnt happen as they'd gone to church, so we then got rather lost, wasting more time.

Perhaps if the directions had been right, if we had a different room, if it wasn't a Sunday it might have been better - but to us it was an bad experience.

I have to say that the Blue Cottages web site does not do the place justice: I was expecting a quaint little inn--and it is that--but it is also situated in some of the most stunning country I have ever seen.

Minutes after leaving Eastgate Airport in Hoedspruit, I knew there was magic in the air. Owners Maria and her husband (who's name I unfortunately forget) came to pick me up and we weren't driving for 10 minutes before we saw a herd of buffalo staring out from behind a fence. Without me even having to ask, they stopped the car for me, reversed it, and I had a chance to get out and snap a picture. The owners are very enthusiastic about where they live, and about their Afrikaneer heritage, and are full of information about the sights, history, and people of the region. They made me realize that I was coming into a special place.

The guesthouse itself is also beautiful, full of flowering gardens and a farmhouse that was built in the 1800s. Down a dirt road is a huge citrus farm; at the end of that road you can see the Klein Drakensberg Mountains. Spectacular.

I believe there is a self-catering option, but I stayed in a rondavel, which was charming and great value for money (about $35 including breakfast). The three-course dinner that night, which included grilled trout, was delicious. Eating by candlelight on the farmhouse's front porch made it memorable. There was a choice of breakfast the next day and the one I had, "health," was fresh fruit, yogurt, mueseli, and toast. Very nice.

I was only at Blue Cottages one night, but throughout my time there the owners did everything they could to make my stay comfortable. There was a brief problem with the hot water but it was fixed right away. I went on to work on a game reserve in the area and when I would see Maria and her husband in town, they would always stop and greet me. They are just great people who care about what they do, and it shows: they run a great inn.

One caveat: as the location is rather remote, I would say people staying at Blue Cottages should have a car. There is no public transportation to the nearby sights, Blyde River Canyon, Kruger, etc.