Bano Beach Residence - Grand Bay Beach

A comfortable, decent place near the sea.

Stay far away from this place. If you’re thinking my review can’t be right, do yourself a favour and ask to see the room before paying. We booked four nights, from 30 Dec to 3 January, because we thought the reviews couldn’t be that bad. We paid before seeing the room, and that was only the start of our adventure. At check-in, the lady, let’s call her “Suzie,” took our money and promised to give us change. We’re still waiting. The first room was a disaster. The bed looked like it had been slept in for ten years, there were no towels, and the bathroom was a biohazard. Tiny weavel ant-like creatures were wandering around too. We asked for towels, linens, and a kettle. They had no kettles, but brought fresh towels and linens. I had to change the bedsheet myself. Just as we were leaving, we discovered the front door wouldn’t lock. Staff said they’d fix it while we were out, so we went to buy bleach, a scrubber, and bug spray. Who wants to clean a hotel room on holiday? When we got back, they said the door couldn’t be fixed. Suzie offered rooms 27 and 26, both disasters. We chose the one with a working front door, and got dirty socks someone had left behind as a bonus. My husband scrubbed the shower and toilet with our cleaning supplies, and I changed the sheets again because these definitely weren’t fresh either. Then we woke in the middle of the night in a wet bed because the ceiling was leaking. We pushed the bed into a corner and slept there for the rest of the night. The leak also cut power to the lights at the electrical box. It took six hours for them to fix it. Around 11:30 p.m. the next night, we were locked out of the hotel. The reception entrance was closed, and guests were supposed to use their key cards. Clearly, staff hadn’t registered ours with the magnetic lock. We called the number on the door. Jeebran answered and said it would take two minutes. We’re still waiting for him. Luckily, two other guys showed up and called a friend of theirs who was staying there to let us in from the inside. We told Suzie the next day that we’d been locked out. She was unfazed and offered no solution. At 4 a.m., shouting and slamming doors woke us up. Four or five guests were having a full-on brawl. Staff did nothing. We talked about calling the police, but thankfully things quieted down. Around 9-ish, after we got back from the laundromat across Super U, two police officers were in the foyer with Suzie and one guest, filling out paperwork. We hurried up the stairs and saw blood splattered on the wall in a corner. We seriously think young locals come here to drink and probably do other stuff too. The cleaners didn’t clean our room once in four days, change the sheets or towels, or refill the toilet paper. When we ran out, Suzie casually said they didn’t have any and we’d have to buy it ourselves. Then, while packing at 7 a.m. and getting ready to get the hell out, we found condoms in the drawers. None of the rooms has a sea view, though the location is superb and the air conditioning works. If this place were a comedy, the joke would be on us.

The location is good, and the rooms are okay. The best part was hearing the ocean at night. But the sheets had blood spots, and despite asking, we were told there were no spares to change them. I also left behind something that wasn’t expensive but mattered to me. I asked the cleaning lady and reception about it, but neither could find it.

The low price doesn’t make up for how dirty the room was. The sheets were unclean, and the bathroom was grimy with mold in the shower. Hotel staff also came into my room at any time, even while I was asleep. I couldn’t live with that, so I don’t recommend it.