Bird Haven Guesthouse

Not a safe place and got robbed here in the night, although the place was gated and secured by guards. After the police came, the owner lady promised to refund the losts, which I also documented. She told me to give her the bank account of my guide, so that she can transfer the money to him. I did what she asked for, she said that the money is on its way and then both disappeared and didnt answer anymore. She only answered me after I went to the police. Cameras of course did not work on that day. As it was a closed and surrounded place by a wall, probability is high, that someone from the inside stole my stuff. It Not a surprise - of course I still didnt get a refund. So definitely no recommendation.

Lovely guest house. Hospitable staff and owner. Well appointed rooms with fridge, fan, heater, TV, desk and chair, cupboard. Complimentary soap and shampoo. Comfortable king size bed. Generous portioned lamb chop dinner. Great English type breakfast. Easy card (tap) payment with a South African bank card. Was there on a motorbike trip. Parking was off street.

Bird Haven is a lovely, quiet space with traditional Basotho Rondavels modernized for comfort. The staff was amazing, attentive, and sweet. The evening cooked food customized to our dietary needs and it was delicious! The breakfasts varied by day and we plentiful and very tasty. The gardens include indigenous plants and are very well kept. Combined all this makes Bird Haven the perfect place to visit in Hlotse!

Bird Haven is a super guest house to stay, the owner and staff are so friendly and welcoming and went above and beyond to make our stay extra special, it was my husband’s birthday during and our stay, I asked prior to arriving if they could do a special meal and such a lively meal they did too, Pea Soup, Steak for my husband, & Red Velvet Cake which was fabulous. I had local Trout it was the best I’ve ever had and I’ve never had a Trout as good as this even in 5* restaurants. The accommodations are clean and nicely furnished and secure parking, you couldn’t want more. My only comment is that it was a nightmare to find, we asked a local taxi driver and he kindly told us to follow him, thank goodness he did after a 8 hour drive it was a relief to arrive there, but the welcome Fifi gave us we soon forgot not being able to find the guest house. The owner told us how to get to places especially as our Wi-Fi dongle had stopped working, thank you to everyone for a great stay.

My work colleagues and I ended up at Bird Haven because there was an issue with our booking at their sister property, Naleli Guesthouse. To be fair, we were there during the October elections and most properties in town were booked up by election observers. As Naleli though we had only booked for one person and we had four, the owner/manager of both properties stepped in to find a solution. She kindly offered us free drinks while we waited. Ultimately she found four rooms for us at Bird Haven. It's a lovely property with a pleasant garden surrounded by a range of different rooms including in rondavels. My colleagues were relatively happy with their rooms but, unfortunately, I got the room in the back of the main house across from the kitchen. Avoid it or you will be disappointed with your stay. While the room is reasonably big with a small fridge and a couch, I didn't realize until after I had moved in that there was not a private bathroom. Instead, I had to use the bathroom in the hallway. Furthermore, there was no way for me to lock the bathroom door so I showered in fear that someone would walk in on me. To be fair, there is a partial door (it is not floor to ceiling so more like a shutter) between the kitchen and hallway and the bathroom that can be pulled shut which made me feel a bit better. There is no shower so you have to "shower" by squatting in the bathtub and using the handheld shower head. Also, you get all of the noise from the kitchen from breakfast through dinner which was a distraction. The restaurant has a very limited menu with no vegetarian options. The cook was able to make me a vegetarian pasta which was reasonably good. I want to emphasize that staff were accommodating despite the challenges with our reservations. I would still recommend Naleli over Bird Haven. If not, be sure to know which room you are booking as the quality of your experience will depend on it.

A lovely, peaceful place to stay. The accomodation was clean and comfortable The staff was friendly and went out of their way to assist The food was tasty I would definitely recommend Bird Haven to others travelling in the area