Art Royal Hotel

The location near the train station is handy, and the room itself was fine, if a bit dated. But the water was dangerously hot. It came out of the pipes so close to boiling that it seemed to make smoke rise from the toilet bowl, and even showering was a struggle. On top of that, guests have to pay extra to use the hotel gym, which was my biggest gripe.

Art Royal Hotel looks presentable from the outside, but I had a very poor experience with the service. The reception and admin staff came across as rude, careless, and irresponsible. The Booking location is wrong, and calls to clarify often go unanswered. If someone picks up, they may say they have a guest in front of them and hang up without an apology. There was no follow-up or interest in helping clients understand the hotel. A nice appearance doesn't make up for that. Think twice if you don't want to waste your time and nerves.

The pool was the one good part of our stay. We checked in on 11 Nov, having booked three rooms on one floor, but they couldn't put us together. That was manageable. Later, my wife asked the receptionist if we could warm our food in the kitchen. A woman there even asked if we needed help, and nobody said we couldn't use it. We only used the oven, without touching any food. Then on 12 Nov, while we were having breakfast as a family, someone showed me a video of us in the kitchen and said it wasn't allowed. We explained we'd asked reception. He could have waited until breakfast was over to speak with us privately, and we would have cooperated. Instead, after speaking to me, he showed the video to my wife too. By 12:26 p.m. there was still no room service or room refresh on the 4th floor. The power had also been out since morning, and nobody warned us about the load shedding, so our phones weren't charged and we couldn't use the room electronics. The staff didn't feel welcoming. I've stayed in many hotels in different countries, and this fell short of what I expected.

We spent 2 days at Art Royal Hotel over New Year with our family of 15, booking 4 rooms. The rooms were clean, roomy, and comfortable, and the staff were friendly, professional, and quick to help. Breakfast had plenty of tasty, high-quality food and drinks for everyone. For what we paid, the room quality and service were better than I expected, especially compared with other hotels I've stayed in. We came away feeling we'd got a lot for the price. Thanks to the Art Royal Hotel team for a really pleasant stay.