Protea Hotel Kruger Gate – Lodge near Skukuza Rest Camp

The 4-star Protea Hotel Kruger Gate is just outside Kruger National Park on the banks of the Sabie River. This luxury hotel offers guests safari walks and game drives and even has its own private nature reserve. Parts of the hotel are set up in the trees and elevated walkways link the different sections together. Imagine what sights you could see from up there!

Protea Hotels are one of the largest hotel chains in South Africa. You can expect their hotels to always be of a good standard.

The Protea Kruger Gate Hotel has en-suite rooms as well as some self-catering chalets on offer.

If you’re planning to travel from the hotel into Kruger National Park yourself, be wary of the park’s quota system. If you don’t have accommodation in the park, you may not be able to enter it if too many day visitors have already gone in before you. The hotel itself should offer game drives into the park and in this case, you won’t need to worry about the quotas.

KuduIf you are going into the park under your own steam, you can book ahead to reserve entrance by using SANParks’ reservation contact details. If you don’t, there’s a good chance you’ll have to be up very early and at the park gates, even before they open, to get entry to the park. This is even more true during peak times, such as in summer and school holidays.

The nearest town to the Protea Kruger Gate lodge is Hazyview, 35km (22 miles) away to the west. The lodge itself is also only 100m (110 yards) from the Paul Kruger Gate (and hence the lodge’s name) to Kruger National Park. This means the hotel is in a malaria area you’re at risk. Take the right precautions!

Activities

If you want to take part in the extra activities on offer, the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate concierge can book a whole lot of them for you, including:

  • Game drives into Kruger National Park as well as a private game reserve adjoining the park
  • Game walks
  • Cultural tours
  • Day tours to nearby places of interest
  • Hot air balloon rides
  • Transfers
  • Tours to Swaziland and Mozambique

On top of these, the hotel has its own:

  • 100ha private game reserve
  • Bird hides – places to watch birds from where you’re hidden so you won’t disturb the birds’ natural activity
  • Buffet and a la carte restaurants
  • Conference facilities that can cater for large groups
  • Game viewing deck
  • Live entertainment in the way of singing and dancing
  • Mini golf
  • Playground
  • Spa
  • Swimming pool
  • Table Tennis
  • Tennis
  • Volleyball

Some people also find that the Protea Hotel is a convenient place to stay at if they want to have a round or two on the Kruger National Park golf course. The course is between Paul Kruger Gate and Skukuza Rest Camp, at a distance of 12km (7.5 miles) from the lodge.