Port Lympne Mansion Hotel

We stayed for our mini moon in the treetop bubble. The accommodation was lovely (albeit slightly noisy being situated by a main road) and the site itself was great. Lots of wonderful gardens, buildings, walks etc to explore. Both the inclusive safari and ranger safari were excellent. However, the staff on site in the restaurants etc leave a lot to be desired. We were delayed checking in by 40-60mins due to an issue with the buggy, as a gesture of goodwill they offered us double welcome drinks and assured us we could have them the next day (we didn’t have time on arrival due to the delay and the delay with check in). This seems not to have been communicated to the clubhouse where the drinks are available so there was more fuss getting this resolved. On arriving for our drinks we were told there were no zero alcohol options but that they would source some from the other bar for the next day. The staff member the next day knew nothing about this. We ended up not having our welcome drinks …. You’d think they would have just offered us to have the drinks at the fully catered bar where they have zero alcohol options for non drinkers?! On cleaning and restocking our accommodation they missed the loo roll and we had to call for more. Two mornings we had breakfast delivered to our accommodation, both times they missed marking the gluten free option so we had to call to identify it. They left the hamper from the first morning for the duration of our stay, no instructions on where to return it and the staff didn’t remove it on cleaning. Not great considering it had food left in it/dirty dishes etc. In the bear lodge restaurant there was again refusal to make zero alcohol gin and tonic even though they have the gin for use in cocktails. Also confusion over gluten free offerings. Whilst these seem like minor issues, considering the amount we stayed to pay here we would have expected better service. I do have to give a shout out to the young man who checked us in (unfortunately didn’t get his name) and to Kyer who served us in the garden room restaurant as their service was impeccable and a breath of fresh air compared to others!

Thoroughly enjoyed our visit for my husband’s 70th birthday, I booked it as a suprise for him and we both had a whale of a time. The golf buggy is a fantastic idea, being able to go out on it at any time was was wonderful, especially when the park was closed. We ate in The garden room for breakfast both mornings and one evening meal, beautifully cooked food and lovely polite staff, we also ate at Babydoll, the food and staff were great there too.. we will most definitely return!!

A large group of us went to the Reserve for the day. We had a great time and would recommend it. However, the Garden restaurant wasn't so good. It's a lovely room and the service was good, but the food was awful. One meal had to be sent back and half of us found the food to be dry and over cooked. The beef burger I had was dry and tasteless. Definetly not good value for money and and unfortunate end to an otherwise enjoyable day. The restaurant was nearly empty which should have been a warning to us.

This was a birthday treat from our daughter and partner. There are various beautiful unique accommodations, ours was The Hideaway which was perfect, cute and clean with a log burner inside and fire pit outside. Perfect! There are plenty of animals of all species to see via walking or use of a golf buggy to get around. Lovely scenery and amazing food.

Just back from a weekend break for a special Birthday from start to finish the staff were simply lovely,welcoming, friendly ,knowledgeable and nothing was too much trouble,the room was beautiful, the mansion is stunning. Safari was included, the animals in big enclosures and looked well cared for and the guide really interesting and again knowledgeable. Golf buggy included lots of fun and got us round the big site easily ,booked a lovely meal In Babydolls ,lovely fresh pasta and they knew it was my birthday and popped a candle in my desert nice touch.Great breakfast included top ingredients in a gorgeous setting The Garden Room the next day a day in there sister site Howletts the elephants amazing 👏 Absolutely recommend so much included such a good price .

Just returned from a one night short stay in the hotel. From beginning to end the staff could not have been more helpful or friendly. We arrived early so had a good walk around before checking in and collecting our buggy. It is very hilly and the buggy does come in handy however you can’t take it everywhere. The concierge told is there is a van that can collect anyone that gets stuck and can’t manage an uphill walk. Dinner was included for us and tasty. The choice wasn’t too much and it would be nice to have an option to pay a bit extra for the normal menu maybe. We did the safari which was good and informative. The baboon scatter feed was excellent. We would definitely return in the future.

What an amazing weekend. Stayed in 8 berth bear tents and was amazing (take your toaster as there's just a kettle, but large cups and plates, knives forks etc) thank you so much Helen for going above and beyond with our early arrival - you and the staff were so welcoming! Very long walks and tiring but amazing and even our 4 and 6 Yr old just about managed. Safari with Mark was brilliant (1hr) £7 for 2 dairy milk lollies was a bit steep but we all thoroughly enjoyed our weekend. Thank you so much

We had a really special 1 night stay at Port Lympne. It started off a bit rough for us as our flight majorly delayed our arrival by 4 hours. This meant unfortunately we missed the two experienced I had booked and paid for. When we arrived in the airport, I called ahead and explained the situation. I was originally told a refund wouldn’t be possible, however the staff then did everything they could to help and were able to re-jig our timetable for the following day so that we could still maximise our time on the reserve. I was really grateful for this! We were showed to our accommodation by a very friendly team member who drove us down to the lookout Bubble and chatted to us about the reserve and the accommodation. She showed us our buggy and the accommodation. The bubble is such a unique venue to stay in - it felt like sleeping in a planetarium. Very special even though the weather was wild! We went for dinner at Babydolls and breakfast in the Garden Room which we both really enjoyed. We did the red panda experience and the small carnivores - both keepers were so knowledgeable and full of passion for the animals they look after (Georgie & Nathan - thank you!). We’d thoroughly recommend a stay here for a special occasion. It was my partners 30th and we travelled down from Glasgow - it was such a worthwhile and fun 24hrs or so spent here. (A small note on the accommodation is - if you are a light sleeper the bubble may not suit you. The bubble is made from an inflatable material which was very loud in the wind and rain. We didn’t mind so much but it might not be for everyone when the weather is a bit wild!)

Absolutely gorgeous stay and experience. Loved seeing the animals and learning about the work aspinal do. Ant on the safari was amazing and gave such interesting perspectives of the reserve. The big cat talk was amazing also, able to ask lots of questions. I do feel though, the restaurants are letting down the experience. Having ate in baby dolls and the garden room. The garden room was exceptionally bad, with poor service and average food. Having to continually ask for service was really frustrating. I had to find out a lot of information myself from various staff members also. Reception didn’t offer to book the safari or tell us how to get the buggy. Spent a good 30 minutes trying to figure out how to book everything. I had booked a dinner reservation months before but the staff member had accidentally booked the wrong day. Was told there was nothing they could do. Overall, the keepers and tour guides are superb. The hotel and restaurant staff need major training to make this a 5 star experience. You do pay above average for this experience and it’s not reflective of that.