I was very disappointed to learn yesterday that the Marriott Bonvoy's Protea Hotel Kruger Gate is leaving as of 9/1/22 according to a report on the social media site. You will only have until that time to redeem rewards and stay at this property. Dates in August are available for 15000 or 15000 Marriott points per night. The hotel doesn't accept reservations for award stays past September 1st. I don't know if existing reservations will be honored. The Marriott website states that elite benefits won't apply after the hotel leaves the program on September 1, 2022.
I stayed at this hotel and posted a review, so this is a big deal. Since this post was written, the award price has increased, but this is still a great value using Marriott points for a hotel that is just outside of the Paul Kruger gate to Kruger National Park. I thought it would be a good idea to publish this for anyone who might have missed it before. The original post is followed by a new one.
My wife and I had a dream trip where we traveled to Africa. The chance to see lions and leopards and elephants in their natural habitats reignites the amazement of seeing them on TV for the first time as a kid.
We went back to Kruger National Park in South Africa for the second time last month and it was the same place. The diversity in Kruger park is wonderful and it's hard to not take a few pictures.
The lions are lying.
Maybe I stumbled on a leopard.
You can find a lot of things with a few days of patience and a good eye.
If you have looked at the packages before, you would think that it would be a lot of money, but that is not the case. On the other side of the spectrum, you can rent a bungalow in one of the many rest camps within Kruger National Park for just about $100 a night.
The Protea Hotel Kruger Gate is close to the Paul Kruger gate and is cheap to stay at. The photos were taken a day after the hotel.
When you convert 2500 Starpoints to Marriott points, you can get a great deal at the Kruger Protea Gate.
The lobby was completely open air.
The hotel is close to the Paul Kruger entrance gate and is surrounded by animals.
You can get a spa treatment under one of the roofs and listen to monkeys or watch zebra.
There are animals in the trees.
Sometimes they run across the dinner tables.
When we were eating dinner an hour later, we were happy to be in denial because we couldn't see anything running across the tables.
The room was nice.
There is a gap between the door and frame in the two rooms we saw that could allow a spider to enter. The hotel offered to have the room cleaned again after we found a spider in it. In a Malaria zone with venomous spiders and scorpions, I would expect a $250 a night hotel to have better doors.
You can self-drive within the park, but it will take you about an hour to get to the park. We traveled for hours at a time without seeing anyone.
I was surprised to have access to the wild world above while staying at a Marriott rewards property. I found the hotel to be worth 7500 Marriott points even though it wasn't perfect. You can convert Starpoints to stay for 2500 Starpoints a night.
Dinner was one thing the hotel did well. The dinner buffet was large, diverse, and pretty tasty even if a bit expensive compared to the restaurants within the park.
The Kruger National Park is a great place to view wildlife. When we return to Kruger again, we will most likely use Marriott points to stay at the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
