Although it was classed as a 4 star hotel I did not think it had the 4 star feel about it.
We were in a Studio Executive Suite. The room was very spacious; indeed too spacious for the amount of furniture and furnishings it had. The settee/couch was a disappointment and given the excess space it could have been bigger. Also there was a round table in the room but only one chair. As we were two people in a double room I'd have expected the hotel to provide the opportunity for both of us to sit down at the same time.
Continuing with room inadequacy. There is an absolute distinct lack of electrical sockets. Yes there are sockets. But not in usable places. For instance there is no shaver socket in the bathroom, so we ended up charging the toothbrush using a socket that was placed in the middle of a blank wall, with no table or furniture to put it on. There was no wired-
in hairdryer in the bathroom, and that meant my wife had to use the aforementioned socket to use the hairdryer, which incidentally is no where near the only usable mirror; a socket next to the mirror would have been nice. Still on the subject of sockets, there was only one socket for the kettle, toaster, and microwave. Why! Is the concept of boiling the kettle whilst making toast not a thing in SA. (See pics x3.)
Breakfast arrangements was a new and disappointing experience for us.
No tea or coffee brought to the breakfast table. You had to queue up for it. And sometimes the queue was too long, time wise, meanwhile your breakfast is sat on the table getting cold. For a 4 star hotel I'd expect someone to bring the hot drink to the table so I can get on with my breakfast.
The toaster was also annoying. Even on the highest setting you had to put the bread in at 'least' 5 times to make it look like toast. Meanwhile, guess what, yes you guessed it the rest of your breakfast is sat on the table getting colder by every rotation of the toaster.
Next gripe. Cereal and fruit bowls. There was never any to be found. I had to ask on 6 days out of the 9 for 2 bowls. Then had to wait for them to be brought from the kitchen. Meanwhile, ...breakfast table colder etc.
Importantly. I saw a few things that I'd rather not have seen. For instance. A member of the restaurant staff was applying lip-salve, then proceeded to pick up cutlery and crockery to lay the tables, without washing her hands before doing so. I also saw a napkin being dropped on the floor and then put back on the top of the pile and not in the bin. Then also cutlery dropped on the floor and yet still placed on the table.
Actually I have thought of something else.
We went to the bar on the 18th floor.
We ordered a couple of cocktails. They didn't have the ingredients for it, but didn't tell me. So we waited an extraordinary long time for the drinks while the only bar staff member went down in the lift 18 floors to source the item and then come up 18 floors again.
Lastly. A big thumbs up for all the super helpful staff that were most welcoming, friendly, and warm (despite it not being the best of jobs). I feel you all need recognition. However, I feel that all the effort you put in being so nice is all undone by the many staff that clearly don't want to be there.
This is one of the longest reviews I've ever written. But I feel anyone considering booking needs to know as much as possible.
And you never know it might even be useful for the management.
