We stayed for 2 nights, 28-30 August. Upon arrival we were instructed by the staff outside to park in the underground parking as the main entrance was closed off. A porter met us at the basement parking to assist with the luggage. We arrived early and the room understandably was not ready. We made use for the restaurant and pool area. We were aware the hotel would be busy as we were there for the same rugby event as almost everybody else. After waiting until way after the 2pm check I time the rooms were still not ready, reception said they didn’t know why. Eventually they were ready after 3pm. The rooms were good, nothing fancy or over the top. The beside charging ports did not work which was disappointing. We were in the lift to our room and were listing to some other guests saying they had changed rooms numerous times because of some or other issues with the rooms they have been assigned. Friday evening we went to the bar / pool area for drinks. There were exactly 3 staff on duty, 1 barman and 2 waitresses. They were run off their feet leading to long waits to either place / receive orders. We went to the upstairs restaurant for the buffet dinner. It was not busy and there were a number of staff on duty in that restaurant, I am not sure why they could not have been used to help downstairs. The food at the buffet was good, with a wide range of hot foods and salads to chose from. The dessert section could use some attention as the selection on offer was very limited. Breakfast the next morning was very good. We were there early at 7am. There was a wide variety of foods on offer. Despite there being staff on hand the clearing of the used plates took a long time, leading to there being a build up in the table. That Saturday evening we returned around 8pm. We wanted to have dinner at the bar / pool area. It was really busy, but again there was maybe 3 staff again on duty. It took an eternity for the food we ordered to arrive, and drinks that were ordered never arrived. There was a manger walking around who was informed of the situation. The excuse we were given was that the hotel was busy with a recruiting drive. Not sure what that has to do with not having staff on hand, especially for a time when they knew months in advance that they would be busy for. At checkout the next morning we were told that we had to pay for their onsite parking. We have used many Southern Sun hotels in JHB and Durban and have never been charged for using the parking. This should have been explained at check in surely? We chose this hotel for reason, it just seems that despite knowing well In advance how busy it would be that they were ill prepared. It was just a disappointing way to end of the holiday, and will make us look a alternate places to stay in the future.
