THE handover of Opuwo Country Hotel to its new owners Wouter and Lientjie Smith recently marked the beginning of a new era for the group of lodges and hotels previously known as the Namibia Country Lodges (NCL).
With the recent passing away of owner Johann de Beer, ‘the sale of entities within the group gathered momentum and we would hopefully soon see the end of the breaking-up process’ of NCL, the group said in a statement on Friday.’Negotiations about the crown in the NCL group, Twyfelfontein Country Lodge, is ongoing,’ it said.Meanwhile, it’s business as usual at the Opuwo Country Hotel. ‘We took over the shares in the company and no changes, apart from a soft revamp and the appointment of Fanie and Arta van Eck as management couple, are foreseen,’ Smith said. Bookings at the hotel are still handles by NCL in Windhoek.Another NCL destination, Solitaire Country Lodge, has been taken over by Walter and Simone Swart, and has embarked on an extensive revamp. Bookings for Solitaire can be done at 062 682033. Namushasha Country Lodge on the banks of the Kwando River was sold to Gondwana Collections. Manni Goldbeck, managing partner of Gondwana Collections, said the staff and management at Namushasha were ‘re-organised’ and that a soft revamp is underway. Bookings for Namushasha are handled through the Gondwana Booking Centre in Windhoek.Namibia Country Lodges continues to operate the lodge at Tsumkwe, Twyfelfontein Country Lodge and Aoub Country Lodge near Gochas. Tsumkwe and Twyfelfontein are still up for sale in the unbundling of the group and negotiations are ongoing, NCL said.
