The Hotel

About the Hotel

Kakamas is famous for both its history and hospitality. And is en-route to various popular destinations: Augrabies Falls National Park, the Kalahari, Namibia, Richtersveld and the West Coast. Here you will experience a welcome warmer than the summer sun on an Aloe Quiver Tree and will not regret your choice!

The 3-star Kalahari Gateway Hotel is in the heart of the Kalahari Oasis, and we pride ourselves on being a family-owned hotel. Our purpose is to provide an exceptional service to our guest and make them part of the Kalahari Gateway family. We pay special attention to offer each guest a personal and specialized service, focused on the finer detail. We will warmly welcome you by name and with a friendly smile.

The hotel atmosphere is relaxed and serene. Enjoy a delicious cocktail at our tropical pool area or a scrumptious meal in our A la carte restaurant. Try your luck at our V-Slots Casino or find tranquillity next to our koi ponds.

Choose from our 26 sophisticated indoor hotel rooms, 5 luxurious outdoor pool rooms and 17 self-catering units, fully air-conditioned with an en-suite bathroom, coffee and tea station, Wi-Fi and various DSTV channels to choose from.

Kalahari Gateway Hotel & Conference Centre is the destination to choose for business or leisure.

Before the development of the hotel, there was a guesthouse on the site. The hotel still makes use of some of the outbuildings of the initial guesthouse. These buildings have been renovated and adapted to make them more useful for present day use. The hotel has been built by the Steenkamp family in 1974 and remained in the family for several years, known as the Waterwiel Lodge. The initial cost of the hotel, including all furniture (ordered from Cape Town) and transport was R159,000.

The hotel changed hands a couple of times. During the early years the hotel included a casino where the KG’s Sports Bar is located today. The bottom section of the hotel to the right of the entrance, where we have guest rooms today, were an open area with the prospect of locating shops in this space and making the hotel a business complex. This idea that was way ahead of its time did unfortunately not work, and at a later stage rooms were built instead. In 1984 the hotel became the Protea Waterwiel Lodge under the ownership of Mr. Frik Van Schalkwyk. Under his ownership the Lodge became a hotel and earned its first stars.

Boarding house of Mrs Gird on the building site where the Kalahari Gateway Hotel is situated today

Then two Britons, Steve and Mike bought the hotel and renamed it the Kalahari Gateway Hotel and Conference Centre. The late Dick Venter bought the hotel in 2007 when Steve and Mike returned to England. Under his ownership the hotel was not only restored to but surpasses its former glory – without compromising too much of the original character. The hotel is currently managed by one of his daughters and the Venter-family strive towards creating an environment and business that values family.

We and our friendly staff look forward to welcome you to our surprisingly modern rural hotel.