1 William R - 11 months ago
I read this introduction line on the first paragraph of the website;
'Our comfortable self-catering units are centrally located on Diaz Beach... We offer great family holiday accommodation.'
So, being a well-seasoned traveler, I expected a room that has everything required to cook a meal, including an oven and hob and the appropriate pots, pans and assorted cooking implements, and of course, to be able to do this I would need a fridge to store the fresh meat and vegetables and frozen goods in.
I arrived on a Sunday, there was no one there to greet me, I found my keys and followed the instructions given by WhatsApp message, and eventually let myself into the room. I was immediately disappointed. The fridge was tiny, so all the fresh goods and frozen goods wouldn’t fit in the space provided, there was no stove nor oven. What was provided was a toaster, kettle, and basic microwave, cutlery and crockery, 1 sharp knife, and one egg flip. No Pots, Pans, stove, oven, cooker, hob etc etc.
I expressed my disappointment receptionist by message, she contacted the owners to remedy the situation. An Owner arrived with an electric frying pan. I was grateful that they had made an effort to rectify the situation, however, also explained that there was limited cooking that could be done with 1 frying pan and the food I had already bought. So I asked if I could have the appropriate pots, pans and heating devices. To which I was told that ther wasn't any, as they don’t really like self-catering as it made the rooms smell, I explained that there was already a strange smell in the room which I experienced on opening the door. The owner walked in a said he couldn’t smell anything. He kind of shrugged and left without a satisfactory answer on both fronts.
Whilst I was waiting, I tried to access the internet, it was limited to 0.08 Mbps, after the first two attempts failed as the internet was too slow to even open the webpage. I tried to watch some TV, expecting at minimum DSTV, sadly again there was only a very limited selection of 10 channels, in various languages, and really nothing of interest.
Later the Owners arrived with an electric air fryer and an electric pressure cooker to resolve the self-catering issue. She stated that this is what self-catering is in South Africa, I was ready to argue my point but felt that this would be a wasted effort. Again, I thanked them for the effort to rectify the situation and explained I would attempt to use the three items to cook the food I had bought.
I left two days early and asked if they could refund me for the 2 nights and breakfasts that I hadn’t taken. I was told that I should check the cancellation policy, I said that I had, and given the issues and misrepresentation I had experienced the least they could do was refund me the full amount. The lack of agreement on this topic was the final straw that broke the camel’s back and gave me a reason to write this account of my stay.
To Summarise;
Their website is not an honest representation of what you get.
There is absolutely no way this ‘Guest House’ can be classified as self-catering
There is poor to no internet,
The breakfast is lacking and basic, cheap everything and rationed at that.
The guest house is not on the beach, about 200m from it, but, it is right behind so high-rise buildings, so there is no view from the guest house.
They say it’s ‘great for family holiday accommodation’, yet also state in their terms and conditions no more than 2 people per room, and it specifically says ‘no children and no babies’.
I appreciated the effort made to fix the issues, especially by the helpful receptionist but overall, I was very disappointed, and feel that the guest house should change their website to be a more accurate representation of the reality a recognise when they have provided a sub-optimal service.
