Nestled on the banks of the Vaalriver @ Vaaloewer we found Heaven on Vaal. A beautiful little getaway for the family. The eight sleeper unit we occupied was well serviced with two bedrooms, each with a on-suite bathroom. Everything you need is supplied and all you will have to take with is swimming towels and your own food and drink.
The kitchen has all utensils one would need, and the adjacent open plan lounge is equipped with a TV and DSTV decoder, you will just have to take your own smartcard from home. Two sleeper coaches in the lounge makes the unit we visited a comfortable 8 berth.
Each room also has its own sliding door opening up onto the balcony with a beautiful view of the river and the game reserve on the opposite banks. With the rain we had over the weekend we could only make use of the braaier on the balcony the one evening.
In general the service was very good but for two factors. One would expect that for R1000.00 a night the management would at least make an effort to show a bit more interest whether their guests are still comfortable and if they need anything. The worst part of our stay with Heaven is that NO effort was made by any of the staff members to help us carry all our baggage back up the steep hill. This was very disappointing as the owners saw us packing up and no effort was made to offer help.
Angling over the weekend was very slow as the carp were spawning. This however did not prevent the barber from feeding and some small barber were landed. The yellowfish and bass were feeding on carp eggs and did not want anything to do with artlure and fly baits. I would suggest to management however that lights at the river would be a nice addition as the floodlights did not get turned on every night. Let the anglers and visitors at the water front rather have control over whether or not they want light.
I will surely return here as one could see there is no shortage of decent sized carp and yellowfish.
There is a boat launch at the boat club for a once of fee of R250. Even with a few boats on the water the boaters were all well mannered and reluctant to enter the area where we fished. For the first time in a very very long while I actually saw anglers and boat owners sharing the same water with no need for conflicts or harsh words. This gets a great thumbs up from ANGLERSHAVEN.
VIEW FROM BALCONY
RIVER BANK
MAIN BEDROOM
VIEW FROM BALCONY 2
KITCHEN
POOL OVERLOOKING RIVER
So in close I will with comfort suggest Heaven on Vaal to all as a weekend break whether you are going boating fishing or just to take in nature.
We asked Heaven on Vaal what they would like to add and this was what they replied.
"Thank you for the Anglershaven rating. We accept as constructive your criticism regarding the difficulty in carrying your baggage to your rooms. Although we have found that self catering accommodation in our area and on the dam even at R1000.00 per night for up to 8 people sharing do not have a porter facility, we agree that our set up with the difficulty in moving baggage from our parking area to the apartments is different.
For this reason and in view of the above we will definitely be addressing the portage of baggage problem in the near future and finding an acceptable solution.We are pleased that in all other aspects you fond our accommodation sufficiently acceptable to you to recommend to your readers that they give us a visit."
WE HAVE SINCE REVISITED HEAVEN ON VAAL AND IT IS WITH GREAT DELIGHT THAT I CAN REPORT BACK AND SAY THAT THEY HAVE INDEED ADDRESSED THE PORTAGE PROBLEM. THEY NOW HAVE A TROLLEY AND SUPPLY HELP WITH THE BAGGAGE. THUMBS UP TO MANAGEMENT FOR MAKING GOOD ON THEIR PROMISE
10.0 - 3 votes