Asm Travel

Switched lodge from mid-range to budget without letting us know until our arrival in Victoria Falls.

I want to express my disappointment in this tour operator. We had reasonable accommodations in Victoria Falls but on arrival in Zimbabwe we were given a “new” itinerary stating that we would be staying at a place called Lions Kraal Lodge in Hwange instead of the Hwange Safari Lodge which was the place in our original itinerary/invoice. We didn’t initially protest this change because we assumed the two lodges would be equivalent however when we arrived at Lions Kraal we soon found many issues.
There was not nearly enough hot water for even short showers for all people, no heat, very poor lighting, in some rooms just one lightbulb, no shower curtain. The rooms had open air with screens that didn't go all the way down, so were very cold and not insulated at night without heat, and very exposed to bugs and animals, such as 3 lizards found in the rooms. One bathroom had no mirror over sink for shaving. Bottled drinking water was only provided the first night but never replenished after that. We had to pay for bottled juice/soda at meals. Wifi was spotty, didn't work in some rooms. There were no locks on doors.
The Lions Kraal Lodge is in a beautiful area and has great potential but is clearly not quite ready for visitors. Other issues, we were supposed to see the painted dog reserve but the day this was planned – the reserve was closed.
There was also a misunderstanding about meals at Hwange. We were told that meals were extra at Lions Kraal but on our departure were given a bill for $700 which we had to pay in cash and were told we were being charged $25/person/meal for very basic no frills meals with no options. There was no menu – we were given food without ability to choose.
There are 4 restaurants at the Hwange Safari Lodge where we were supposed to stay, we could have chosen our own meals and price range. We also thought that most lodges in isolated areas would include meals and our original quote for Hwange Safari lodge actually included meals. The amended itinerary said breakfast only, but this was not associated with a decrease in price. We would have spent less on food had we been fully aware of its cost and marginal quality. Hwange Safari lodge looks like an excellent place online with ac and heat enclosed rooms and tea making supplies in rooms, hairdryers, desk, laundry service and multiple restaurants and a bar. Hwange Safari lodge is also closer to the park.
In our original invoice we were quoted at $250 per night per room at Hwange, which aligns with online prices, but online we can see that the chalets at Lions Kraal are $60 per person on their website, so $120 per room. This is a difference in price of $390 per night for the 3 rooms, and $1170 for the three nights.
Before this switch we were very pleased with the service, itinerary and attention to our comfort, so were extremely sad and disappointed. I wanted to write great things about the company ASM, but this has left a very bad taste in my mouth.
When we voiced our concerns to the tour operator Arthur he replied “Thank you for reaching out and providing us with valuable feedback. We appreciate you sending us your feedback and i would like to apologize for the bad services you encountered in Hwange and all the mis communications, we have learned something from your message and I will take up on the management do that in near future for other guest not to go through this, communication is vital, we should have communicated all the changes .
Once again kindly accepts my apologies 🙏 for everything happened. “ [SIC]
ASM is Arthurs company so stating will take this up with management is BS. He did not offer any compensation.