Garden Court Nelson Mandela Boulevard

The beds were comfortable and the room was clean, and the location is great. Breakfast was decent too. The building needs renovation, though, and the hallway carpets and rooms felt stuffy. There were no power outlets by the bed, no fridge and no bottled water. It was a decent stay.

We had a comfortable room and loved how clean and quiet it was, with a great view of the harbour. A fridge in the room and power points closer to the bed would have made things more convenient.

I keep returning for the little touches, like a friendly welcome back and a gift pack in the room, but my loyalty is wearing thin. The view of the harbour is good and the staff are friendly, though they seem overworked. Maintenance can take hours to respond, waiters may not make it to your table, and the food seems to be getting worse. The room amenities and bathroom need an upgrade.

The rooms were clean, but the hotel is dated, and our stay was disappointing. We still had one of our three nights to go when I wrote this. The rooms have potential, but attention to detail, communication and service were poor for a three-star hotel. We’d booked and paid for two adults and three children, including the third child’s breakfast. Still, our room had only two bath towels and two coffee supplies. On the second day, the room was serviced but no toilet paper was left. We asked for some before going out and came back three hours later to find it still hadn’t been delivered. That was very inconvenient with children. The bath faucet also sprayed water over the toilet. At the pool, gardeners started watering the grass while we were sitting there supervising our kids. They sprayed us, so we moved, but they kept watering and sprayed us again while speaking loudly. It felt uncomfortable and unprofessional. Dirty dishes and food scraps were left around the pool all day as well, and there was a strong glue or chemical smell in the corridors. Service at the bar and reception was poor. No one was available at the bar, and at reception we had to ask for help, which came reluctantly. When I politely asked if the bar opened later, the staff member laughed it off. We waited 15 minutes for two drinks, even though there were no other guests. We told management about the pool incident and the missing towels and coffee. They apologized, but shortly after, we got a call asking us to come pay for the “extra” child’s breakfast, despite having prepaid it. Pool towels also had to be collected in the same queue as guests checking in, which wasn’t practical or guest-friendly.