Gmundner Lodge Namibia Review: A Luxury Safari Experience Like No Other

Looking for a thorough and honest Gmundner Lodge Namibia review? I’m here to give you all the details from our recent stay.

The truth is, if you’re traveling to Namibia and looking for the ultimate luxury safari lodge experience, then Gmundner Lodge should be #1 on your list.

I’ve stayed in hundreds and hundreds of hotels and this property quickly skyrocketed to my top five favorite hotels of all time—their incredible staff, focus on sustainability, and stunning ambiance at every turn made for a luxury hotel stay I will never forget.

One of the newer luxury lodges in Namibia, Gmundner Lodge is all-inclusive style and sits on 15,000 acres of land in the stunning Kalahari Desert with the Khomas mountain plateau to the west.

Being so close to Hosea Kutako International Airport (about 40 minutes drive), makes it an ideal first stop for your Namibia adventure as you’ll want to to rest after the long flight and allow your body clock to acclimate. However, you may also want to save the best for last—just saying!

We spent three blissful days here experiencing everything from the lodge’s fine dining offerings and spa to their epic game drives. Keep reading for my full detailed Gmundner Lodge Namibia review so you can decide if it’s the right choice to book for your own Namibia trip.

Gmundner Lodge Hotel Review

Why You’ll Love Gmundner Lodge

• With a large focus on sustainable luxury, this property has made many efforts to lower its environmental impact and cares about giving back to the community.
• Gmundner Lodge is great for couples as well as families (they offer double suites and family suites), and it’s a popular place for extended stays as there is so much to experience on property.
• The design of the whole property creates an indoor/outdoor ambiance, making you feel connected to nature 24/7.
• On their game drives, you can spot some of Namibia’s most exciting wildlife like giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and more.

Property and Amenities

From the moment we arrived at Gmundner Lodge I knew we were in for a treat—about 10 staff members greeted us with a beautiful Namibian song and huge smiles on their faces. The delicious rosé that came after was just the icing on the cake.

Once inside the main lodge area, the impeccable curation of every last detail instantly impressed us. Walking the premises feels like stepping inside a scene from Out of Africa, with tasteful antiques and curiosities that call to mind a bygone era of exploration.

Think magnifying glasses, binoculars, vintage trunks and other types of safari nostalgia. As someone who truly loves design, I really appreciated the thought that went into crafting the entire visual experience here.

On top of that, every room of the entire hotel has an indoor/outdoor feel; all the canvas walls open up during the day creating the illusion that you’re never really inside. And why would you want to be when the sprawling Kalahari is at your doorstep!

The main lodge area and communal spaces are overall not huge (there are only 12 rooms on property), but there’s still plenty of space to rest and relax in the various areas.

These include: The dining room, bar area, lounge, boutique and outdoor pool deck. Next door there’s also the spa and gym, and then a bit set away from the pool deck is a private circular fire pit where larger groups can gather.

Something I especially loved about staying at Gmundner Lodge is their commitment to sustainability and care for the surrounding environment. All of the buildings blend seamlessly with the landscape, and solar power is used throughout the property. They even have a farm on site where most of the produce and meat for the kitchen comes from—but more on that later when I share more about the dining!

Like many other safari lodges in Namibia, they charge on an all-inclusive basis, but I found Gmundner Lodge’s offerings to be the most generous of any that we stayed at. We were especially impressed by their collection of top shelf liquors and incredible wines that were all included in our stay.

Here’s the full breakdown of amenities you’ll get with the nightly rate.

What’s Included in your stay:

• Luxurious accommodation in a Double or Family Suite
• Airport transfer by car (Hosea Kutako International Airport)
• Three gourmet meals per day
• All drinks (except french champagne)
• Afternoon high tea
• Mini bar
• Gym & sauna
• Activities: game drive, sundowner drive, farm tour, bow and arrow, tennis court, e-biking.
• Airstrip & helipad usage
• 24-hour security service
• Wi-Fi

Not included:

• Helicopter flights
• Laundry service
• Gmundner shop purchases
• Gratuities
• Spa treatments
• Special activities: ceramic painting, horse riding, clay pigeon shooting, golf excursion, town trip.
• Private safari vehicle & private bush arrangements
• Game drive at the neighbouring game reserve (Big 4)

Dining at Gmundner Lodge

The truth is, we got absolutely spoiled starting our trip here as the dining was way beyond our expectations. In a country that isn’t known to be a foodie destination, Gmundner Lodge is serving 5-star food, which unfortunately made the rest of our meals off property when not at hotels a little lackluster.

Meals as Gmundner Lodge are all served fine-dining style inside the dining room, and the menus change daily (with the exception of breakfast) to keep things fresh and fun.

Breakfast

For breakfast, guests order from a set menu that’s the same daily—it’s the only menu here that doesn’t change throughout your stay, however there are a good variety of options to choose from.

You can expect items like freshly baked pastries and juices along with classic breakfast dishes like omelettes and eggs benedict. I typically avoid omelettes because the eggs are always overcooked, but I have to say Gmundner whipped up one of the best omelettes I’ve ever had.

Lunch

For lunch, guests are given an option of three different items to choose from. One day I had a penne pasta with chicken and vegetables. Another day I went for a lighter watermelon and feta salad with crunchy pepitas. And of course there’s dessert too.

Dinner

Dinners were my favorite meals at Gmundner Lodge as they’re served as a multi-course menu featuring an appetizer, main dish and dessert, and the staff were wonderful at suggesting wine pairings for certain dishes.

On Sunday evenings the hotel does a special family style dinner with more traditional Namibian dishes like rump steak, minced meats, cabbage salad and roast chicken (which we both agreed was some of the best chicken we’d had in a LONG time).

There really wasn’t anything we didn’t like here; all the food was consistently top-notch.

Farm-to-Table Dining

Gmundner Lodge has its own farm right on site where they source meat, produce and veggies. The majority of ingredients on the menu come directly from the farm, making it the epitome of farm-to-table. Guests are invited to go out and tour the farm if they’d like to see where everything is locally grown.

Sustainability

Beyond lowering their environmental impact with food sourced directly from the farm, I love that leftover food doesn’t go to waste here. The staff told us that any food leftover from meals goes to feed the chickens and pigs, so nothing gets left unused!

The Suites at Gmundner Lodge

Now for my favorite part, the suites! To say my jaw dropped when we first stepped into our suite would be an understatement. Beyond how beautiful the decor is mirroring the nostalgic safari vibes of the main hotel lodge, the suites are generously spacious.

There are only 12 total suites on property making the entire hotel feel super intimate, plus that comes with more dedicated attention from the staff.

We stayed in a Luxury Double Suite which featured:

• King sized four posted bed with mosquito netting
• Walk-in wardrobe
• Two separate desk areas
• Living space with a couch and hidden TV
• Large mini bar
• Spacious bathroom
• Outdoor deck with claw-foot tub and shaded lounging area

I always secretly judge a hotel room by its bathroom and this one absolutely blew me away. Beyond its sheer size and gorgeous design with gold hardware accents, guests are totally spoiled with not one but TWO showers (one indoors and one outdoors). There’s also a private indoor tub room with views that look out onto the desert vistas.

But don’t be fooled, because that wasn’t the only bathtub in our room! Our private deck also featured a claw foot tub which was so Instagrammable that I created an entire reel about watching the sunset here.

I honestly can’t imagine how insane the Luxury Family Suites are given how luxurious our standard double room was.

The coolest aspect of the rooms is that the canvas walls facing out to the Kalahari Desert all open up, so you can get that true indoor/outdoor feel if desired. They’ve really made every effort here to help guests feel one with the stunning natural surroundings of Namibia.

Spa and Wellness

Guests at Gmundner Lodge have unlimited access to the spa, gym and sauna, however spa treatments are an extra charge outside of the all-inclusive nightly rate.

My partner and I enjoyed a couples treatment here (JT got a scrub while I got a deep tissue massage) in a beautiful room that again was totally open to the outdoors—are you sensing a theme here?

I loved the little bowl of lavender they had under my head during the treatment so I could breath in the beautiful scent of lavender the entire time.

Even if I didn’t do a treatment here, I would just come to the spa to hangout as one side of the sitting area is completely open to the landscape and literally looks like a screen saver! It’s perfectly designed for the utmost relaxation.

The Safari Experience at Gmundner Lodge

Taking part in Gmundner Lodge’s game drives was the part that I was most excited about for our stay. Before this trip, I had only been on one other safari when I visited South Africa years ago, so I was itching to see some wildlife.

Game drives are included in your stay and there is typically one in the morning at sunrise before it gets too hot, and then one in the evening which is called a “sundowner drive.”

What makes them different is that the sundowner drive includes a final stop at sunset to a beautiful hideaway on the hill overlooking an endless expanse of Kalahari. It’s spectacular—and super romantic if you’re traveling with a significant other.

If you have time for both a morning and evening game drive on your trip, I highly recommend doing both to get each unique experience.

It’s important to note that the main Gmundner property is not home to animals in the Big 5—however, they do have a partnership with a neighboring area that does, so guests can still participate in game drives there to see animals like rhinos, elephants and lions. Just note this is an added charge to do the game drive off property.

We stuck to the sundowner game drive on property and had an amazing time seeing animals like zebras and ostriches, golden wildebeest, red wildebeest, springboks, kudu and more. With that said, we had another luxury safari lodge lined up at the end of our trip to Namibia, so I knew we’d have another chance to see other types of wildlife.

The other amazing thing about doing game drives at Gmundner is that because there are only 12 rooms, your experience is likely to feel super intimate. Ours ended up being private simply because no one else was signed up at that day, so you may get lucky and have your own private experience!

Our guide Jerame was so awesome at spotting the animals and gave us so much information about the deserts of Namibia that we wouldn’t have otherwise known.

As the sun started to set he drove us out through the Kalahari and up the mountain to this stunning lookout spot complete with a whole bar setup where we dranks cocktails, ate snacks and watched a gorgeous sunset over the Namibian landscape. A moment I will truly never forget!

Other Activities

Running out of activities to keep you busy at Gmundner Lodge definitely won’t be an issue. Here’s a list of the things you can do during your stay:

• Game drives
• Sundowner drive
• Clay pigeon shooting
• Afternoon tea every day at 4 pm 
• E-biking
• Stargazing
• Tennis
• Horseback riding
• Longbow shooting
• Ceramics and painting
• Visiting the Gmundner Farm

The Staff

I don’t normally include a whole section in a hotel review on the staff, but I had to do it here because the people at Gmundner Lodge really made our trip. I’ve never encountered hotel staff before who seemed so happy to be at their jobs and that positive energy really rippled throughout our stay.

From the beautiful song we were welcomed with on arrival to the laughs we shared with our safari guide, every interaction we had with the staff here was lovely and meaningful.

Helpful Notes for Your Stay

• Get to know the staff during your stay; they really made our experience at Gmundner Lodge a 12/10 and everyone was so kind and welcoming.
• Plan for as many game drives as you can for the highest likelihood of spotting different wildlife. It’s one of those things where you just never know what you’re going to get!
• Try to book your stay over a Sunday if possible so you can enjoy their weekly family style dinners that serve traditional Namibian fare.
• Don’t plan on doing a bunch of excursions off property during your stay at Gmundner. For your days at the hotel, plan on staying put and enjoying their offerings rather than spending hours in the car driving to other sites.
• Nightly prices drop by about 50% in low season during certain dates in December, January, February and March, so consider traveling then for the best rates (for reference, we visited in December).

I hope this Gmundner Lodge Namibia review gave you a detailed perspective on what staying here is truly like!

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