The Elephant House

The Elephant House is an exclusive guest house, only a 10 minutes drive away from the Addo Elephant National Park main entrance gate. The decor is very colonial and furnished with the owners private collection of antiques, Persian rugs and Africana art, and the wide verandas are filled with comfortable sofas. The 8 spacious bedrooms open onto courtyards and private verandas.

This is an ideal place to stay if you wish to explore the Park in your own car. Alternatively, guests can choose to book an early morning or sunset game drive through the Park with the in-house field guide with many years experience, heading out on an open 4x4 safari vehicle and stopping for drinks and snacks midway through the drive.

After exploring the Park, relax around the pool area or find a quiet corner in the garden to put your feet up. The chef serves lovely light poolside lunches and in the evenings, a memorable 3 course candlelit dinner is prepared with flair and personal attention.

Rates Include

Breakfast is included. Guided game drives with an Elephant House driver into the Addo Elephant National Park are available at a cost of R1,750 per person per drive (pre-booking is essential, and cost is payable directly to The Elephant House - subject to change).

Children Policy

Children of any age are welcome. Rates available on request.

Bush Walks / Walking Safaris

Please note that children under 6 are not allowed on open safari vehicles.

Guest Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 based on 9 ratings

Directions For Drivers

From The Garden Route/Port Elizabeth (also known as Gqeberha): Take the N2 towards PE/Grahamstown. Turn off the N2 onto the R335 (signposted Motherwell/Markman and there is also a sign right after this sign for the Addo Elephant Park). Travel approximately 43 km to Addo village. Continue through the village on the R335 in the direction of the Park. You will pass a backpackers hostel (Orange Elephant Backpackers) on your right hand side. The Elephant House is further on from this on your left-hand side and is clearly signposted.

From Grahamstown: Take the N2 towards Port Elizabeth/Plett/Knysna/Cape Town. Turn right onto a dirt road towards the Shamwari Game Reserve. You will see the Shamwari boards on the N2. Go past Shamwari (entrance on your right) and continue along the gravel road to Paterson. Take the R342 towards Addo, and approximately 25 km along the road you will see the Addo Elephant Park turn-off on your left. Continue past Addo Park and you will see The Elephant House on your right-hand side clearly signposted. Note that the R342 eventually changes into the R335 if you carry on straight with this road.

General Information For Guests

All rooms have a private verandah, air conditioning, bathrobes, hair dryer, mini bar, tea/coffee making facilities, complimentary Wi-Fi, and a room safe.

The family rooms feature interleading sections with 2 or 3 additional single beds.

24 hour room service is available.

The guest facilities include 2 swimming pools set in the lush gardens.

Breakfast is served until 10:30.

Light lunches are served on the terrace or beside the pool.  Due to Covid-19, dinners are no longer served but guess can order a charcueterie and cheese platter from the chef or the reception can make a dinner/table reservation at one of th 3 nearby restaurants. 

The Wine Bar serves a variety of beverages.

Laundry, valet and babysitting services are available.

Game drives into Addo are available on open 4x4 land cruisers with an in-house field guide who is an elephant expert with many years' experience with the elephants of Addo. The drives depart twice daily - morning drive departs at 08:30 and returns at 12:30; the afternoon drive departs at 14:00 and returns at 17:30. Drinks and snacks are provided on the game drive. The cost includes the Park fees and is payable directly to The Elephant House on the day. Pre-booking is advised - please contact your Travel Butlers consultant to make the booking on your behalf.

Various other tours are available, including a Valley Tour; a cultural encounter to a predominately Xhosa speaking Nomathamsanqa Township to meet the people and experience real life in a modern rural township –you may even be invited into some homes and gardens, businesses and tavern; a scenic paddle down the Sunday's River where you can view a great variety of birdlife along the riverbanks; and a horseback safari in the Addo Elephant National Park or the Zuurberg Mountains (no children under 10 permitted on horse activities). More details and current costs available on request.

Children also have use of the 'Club Room' which has a selection of games and a DVD library.

The Elephant House are very involved with the local community, and their policy is to only employ, empower and uplift people from the community and to support their enterprises (for transfers, laundry, fresh food supplies, local artisans etc).

Bush Walks / Walking Safaris

Please note that children under 6 are not allowed on open safari vehicles.

Popular Alternatives to The Elephant House

These are the top properties booked by people who considered staying at The Elephant House, but for one reason or another booked a different property. It may have been that The Elephant House was not available on the nights they wanted to stay, or they decided that somewhere else was better suited to their budget or itinerary.

If you're not sure which place might be best for your own trip then either give us a call or get in touch via the website, and we'd be delighted to run through the options with you.