Worst Hotel I have ever been to in my life. The President Hotel Cape Town.

The President Hotel Cape Town

My wife and I spent our December holidays at the president Hotel in Cape Town

We were appalled saddend and very disappointed with our stay at the hotel.

I will never ever stay at that hotel and will tell the world never to waste your money to stay at that hotel.

Please find attached letter written to the General manager of the hotel telling him of all the problems his hotel has.

Greetings

Attention Desmond O'Connor.

Pray you are well.

My name is Marius Francois Robbertze

I stayed at the President Hotel from the 19 December 2022 till the 05 January 2023

My wife and I were very disappointed with our stay there. We were looking forward to the out of the ordinary experience and got nothing less than very plain and very simple, with so many bad points, errors and mistakes.

I have many negative points I would love to share with you that may make guests at your hotel have a better experience in the future.

Sadly, I have to make my unhappiness public on social media to warn people about staying at the president hotel in the future.

Points to discuss that there is so much UNhappiness about.

Health and Safety

Christmas Lunch for guests at the hotel.

Staff at the hotel

Tours that were supposed to be arrange as per hotel agenda

Room Service

Room Service Prices

Laundry prices

Milo

SA Guests to overseas visitors.

Vaping and smoking locations

Food

Health and Safety See attached document

Our room never had such a document and there was none on the floor we stayed on, fourth floor.

In the event of a fire, bomb or any other bad situation, how do we know where to go? How do we know where the fire escapes were or are? How do we know where the meeting points are?

There is no documentation telling you where you are, where to go, where to assemble. A very very bad health and safety issue. Something I intend to take up with the Hotel Board of South Africa.

The night before we left, there was load shedding and the whole hotel was dark and lost to the outside world. Why does each room not have a rechargeable lamp in the case of total darkness?

Nothing worked that night, not even the phones, in the event of a fire, how many people would have died that night? Ask yourself that question.

Christmas Lunch for guests at the hotel.

As a paying guest at the hotel I was under the impression we were entitled to attend the Christmas lunch. I had full intention to pay for the lunch as at the president hotel nothing is for nothing and paying exorbitant prices is the order of the day. When I asked if my wife and I may attend the Christmas lunch, we were told it was fully booked. Surely you're paying guests at the hotel get first preference to attend the lunch before outsiders. But again, the President hotel is more concerned about the money than the guests staying at the hotel. My wife and I had to roam the V and A waterfront on Christmas day for a meal. Not a happy occasion thanks to the President hotel.

Staff at the Hotel

The staff at the hotel were truly not a friendly group of people. They were blunt and very unhelpful and very non caring all the time. There was one Indian young man that worked the morning breakfasts that was the only friendly helpful man. The rest, very very sad. As a guest all you want is a helpful friendly face at all times. That, we never ever got during the whole of our stay.

Tours that were supposed to be arrange as per hotel agenda

When I made the booking and paid for the holiday, I was assured that the hotel would arrange any tours of Cape Town during our stay. I went to the effort to make a spreadsheet with all the things we wanted to do and all the places we wanted to go to. On arrival and when we checked in I gave the spreadsheet to a short fat bald Italian gentleman. Four days later, yes four days later I had to ask for the spread sheet back, and I took it upon myself to arrange everything that I had placed on the spread sheet for us to do during our stay in Cape Town. The President Hotel did nothing for us.

Question, why do you offer a service and it does not happen or materialise? If you offer a service then surely you should keep to your promises. Another service I paid for and got nothing in return. Thank you that I had to arrange everything myself.

Room Service

Room service at the President hotel does not exist.

There were days that at 4 o’clock in the afternoon our room was still not made up. Hello, that is 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Is this a President Hotel standard? I have been to many hotels all over the world, and I have never ever had to wait till 4 o’clock in the afternoon to have my room made up. When the room was made up it was still left in a very bad state. The floors were not swept, and there was still hair and baby powder on the room’s floors after the room was made up. Does the President Hotel not have brooms or mops? The passage in front of our rooms was never cleaned or vacuum cleaned. That corridor was disgusting the whole holiday.

Room Service Prices

Room service prices at the President hotel are absolutely shocking. Prices we had to pay for items are there for kings and queens. For example, two bowls of ice-cream were two hundred and fifty rand. Let me let that sink in, two hundred and fifty rand for two bowls of ice-cream. A two litre ice-cream bought at checkers costs sixty rand. A profit margin of one hundred and ninety rand on two bowls of ice-cream. Really, the President Hotel think carefully about this one. Are you trying to get rich quickly?

Laundry Prices.

Hold onto your hat, this one is crazy.

I handed in 20 items to the laundry service at the Hotel.

Two thirds of the items were my underwear, bras and panties. For those twenty items I had to pay eight hundred rand. I say again, eight hundred rand for twenty items of clothing. If I added two hundred rand to that I could have bought a second hand washing machine in South Africa. Then we discovered a laundromat just down the road. I decided to rather go there. Now get this, six kilos of washing, I say again, six kilos of washing, one hundred and thirty rand. Really president Hotel you have totally lost the plot. Twenty items, eight hundred rand. Six kilos, one hundred and thirty rand at the laundromat. Sorry, this one blows my mind completely. Either you are using washing machines that come from mars, or you have an Asian princess that is washing each item by hand, naked.

Milo

One night, it was cold and my wife decided to order a Milo to warm her up and make her sleep well. No Milo in the great President Hotel. Really. Milo you can buy for forty four rand at the spar. President Hotel, no Milo, really. Every house and hotel in South Africa has milo. Wait, just remembered, you only cater for the overseas visitor and they do not know what milo is.

SA Guests to Overseas Visitors.

My wife and I came to the conclusion that the president hotel only caters for the overseas people with their pounds and dollars. The South African people are not welcome at the President Hotel and our stay there is made very plain on a day to day situation. I suggest as a South African, rather just cater for the overseas people and welcome and entertain them, than make the South Africans that visit the President Hotel sad and unhappy during their stay there.

And last but certainly not the least

Vaping and Smoking locations at the President Hotel.

I Vape

It is my democratic right to vape.

Yes I vape in designated areas.

Where I stay I am allowed to go to a restaurant, go to a location, where I can eat, drink and VAPE.

At the President Hotel, I vaped in the open air, under blue skies. I got my ass kicked by a very rude racist black man that told me the President Hotel owns the space and the open air and skies. I had to go to a designated area to VAPE. A pit of sand with two bamboo chairs and a table and not even a light for the night. I had to sit in the dark and VAPE.

But it is fine, I VAPED in my room to my heart's content.

Now get this.

You have an eating area where people can bring their dogs to sit with them and be with them while they eat.

The dogs **** and urinate in an eating area, really, but I may not VAPE. But as the black man said, you own the space. I sat outside and had breakfast. The birds continuously stole our food and had a good **** on the tables. Again you own the space, but I am not allowed to VAPE in the OPEN AIR. What do you own sir?

Food.

The breakfast in the morning was great.

Always something to eat and enjoy

The rest

Really, what’s with this nevo cuisine food?

Really, this is Africa, not some strange place where you have no idea what you are ordering or eating.

Again, start catering for the simple South Africans.

President Hotel, let me say this, my time with you was a nightmare and a waste of time and money. I would have had a much better time at a Holiday Inn in South Africa.

I will never ever visit your hotel again, and I will make very sure I do not recommend your Hotel to ANYONE. Never ever. I will do social media, hello peter etc. to tell the world about the President Hotel Cape Town.

I will not say thank you very much for the time spent in your hotel.

I will just say, you have a lot to learn and so much to do to get your hotel, The President Hotel , up to a very basic standard. Wake up and smell the roses that you own at your hotel. As the black man said, it is your space. I suggest, get your asses in gear and own your space.