Best for
The Upper Room Guesthouse is the practical choice for people who want to do Addo and the Sundays River Valley without being locked into a two-person cottage. It is one of the few places on this side of the valley that can put a family in a self-catering room with a washing machine, a group of nine in a five-bedroom house, or a single business traveller in a serviced room with a desk, all on the same property. It suits travellers without a car better than most Addo-area properties, because transfers and shuttles are offered. It is less suited to travellers who want to be a few minutes from the park gate, or who want a lodge atmosphere.
Location and setting
The guesthouse is at 36 Middle Street in Nqweba, the town most travellers still know as Kirkwood, on the western side of the Sundays River Valley. Kirkwood is a working citrus town: packhouses, orchards and the co-operative grounds define it far more than tourism does, and the valley around it produces a large share of the country’s export oranges. That gives the place a different character from Addo village on the far side of the park — less passing safari traffic, more ordinary small-town life. The property is residential and walled, set on a town street rather than out among the orchards.
Rooms and accommodation style
There are around nine units in three clear tiers. The standard rooms — a king, a double and a twin that converts to a king — are air-conditioned, en-suite and set up for short stays, with a work desk, satellite television, and a kitchenette holding a microwave, bar fridge, tea and coffee station and an air fryer. The self-catering rooms, in double, queen and twin-or-king configurations, add a proper open-plan kitchen and lounge, a full bathroom with both bath and shower, and a washing machine in the unit, which is genuinely unusual at this level. Above both sits the House: five bedrooms, three bathrooms, its own pool, garden, entertainment area and fully equipped kitchen, taken as a whole.
Facilities and on-site experience
Free Wi-Fi runs throughout the property and is the amenity the owners lead on. All units have air-conditioning, satellite or streaming television and en-suite bathrooms; several have private patios with braai facilities and picnic benches. Housekeeping is daily, parking is off-street, and check-in and check-out are handled privately rather than through a lobby. Laundry is available on request in addition to the machines in the self-catering units. The swimming pool belongs to the five-bedroom House rather than serving the guesthouse rooms generally, which is worth knowing if a pool is part of why you are booking.
Meals and dining
Meals here are a service rather than a restaurant, and everything runs on prior arrangement. Breakfast can be served in your room, handed over as a breakfast pack for an early departure, or laid on as a sit-down meal for a group. Lunch is offered as packs, which is the sensible format if you are spending the day in the park. Dinner can be prepared for you if you ask in advance. The key word in all of it is advance: arriving at eight in the evening hoping to order food will not work. Otherwise, the self-catering rooms and the House have kitchens, and Kirkwood has supermarkets and takeaways within a short drive.
Getting there and getting around
Kirkwood is reached from Gqeberha across the valley, and the guesthouse publishes its own driving directions from Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport, from Jeffreys Bay, from Graaff-Reinet and from Port Alfred, which tells you something about where its guests come from. The property offers airport transfers and local transfers by prior arrangement at an additional fee, so it is one of the few Addo-area options that a traveller without a hire car can realistically use. If you are self-driving, note that Addo’s main camp is approached from the Paterson side, so from Kirkwood you are crossing the valley rather than nipping down the road. Parking on site is off-street.
What to do nearby
Addo Elephant National Park is the anchor, with its main gate open from early morning to early evening and conservation fees payable at the gate; the current fee period runs to 31 October 2026, and Nyathi Rest Camp is closed for upgrades from 1 September 2026 until the end of March 2027. The guesthouse books activities on guests’ behalf and works with the Daniell Cheetah Project, private reserve drives, adventure operators running quad biking and ziplining, river cruises and canoeing on the Sundays, and coastal trips to the Cape Recife lighthouse and the penguin sanctuary near Gqeberha. Kirkwood’s own event is the Wildsfees at the co-operative grounds in late June, three days of live music, agricultural displays and several hundred stalls.
Trade-offs, honestly
- Kirkwood is on the far side of the valley from Addo’s main camp. You are not minutes from the gate, and an early game drive means an early drive.
- Every meal is by prior arrangement. There is no restaurant and no kitchen on demand.
- Shuttles and airport transfers are a real service but they cost extra on top of the room, and they must be booked ahead.
- The standard rooms have a kitchenette with an air fryer and a bar fridge — convenient, but not a kitchen. Only the self-catering rooms and the House can cook properly.
- The pool is attached to the five-bedroom House. Guests in the guesthouse rooms should not assume pool access.
- During the Wildsfees weekend in late June the entire town is full and rates across Kirkwood behave accordingly. Book far ahead or avoid that weekend.
Before you book
Be explicit about which tier you want, because standard, self-catering and the House are three different products on one address. If you need a washing machine, a full kitchen or a bath, say so — those sit in specific units. If you are a group of six or more, ask about the House directly rather than trying to assemble rooms. Arrange meals and any transfers at the time of booking, not on arrival. Confirm whether the twin-or-king room will be made up as twins or as a king. And if you are flying into Gqeberha without a car, agree the transfer and its timing in writing before you travel.
How it compares
Most accommodation marketed as “Addo” sits on the eastern side of the park near Addo village and Paterson, and is heavily weighted towards two-person self-catering cottages and small guest houses. Kirkwood’s offering is different: fewer safari-facing properties, more town guest houses, and generally more space for the money. The Upper Room’s particular edge inside that market is range — it can take a solo traveller, a family and a nine-person group on the same night — plus the transfer service. What it does not offer is the wildlife-adjacent atmosphere of a property on the park’s boundary. Compare the local field on our Kirkwood accommodation page.
Explore the area
If Addo is the reason you are coming to the valley, start with our Addo Elephant National Park guide, which covers gate logistics, what you will realistically see and how the park’s marketing compares with the visit itself. The wider Eastern Cape guide puts the Sundays River Valley into the context of the Karoo towns and the coast, and our accommodation finder lets you compare properties by destination across the country.
Current rates and availability
The Upper Room prices its standard rooms, self-catering rooms and five-bedroom House very differently, and rates move around the citrus-season and festival calendar, so any figure printed here would mislead. Enter your dates in the booking panel on this page to see what each unit type is currently going for and which of them are open.
