The Quarter 601

This was the worst experience I’ve ever had while traveling. The security guards were rude and unprofessional, and took pictures of us in our private space without permission to show that my friend was smoking on the balcony. After midnight, they ordered us to leave the apartment straight away, with no notice and not even ten minutes to stay. We felt unsafe, and they threatened to throw us out onto the street immediately. Avoid this place, even if it’s free.

Being forced to leave in the middle of the night was frightening, humiliating, and completely unacceptable. I was staying at this Cape Town property when staff photographed me smoking on my balcony. A security guard then banged on my door and shouted at me to pack and leave. I said I understood smoking might be against the rules and was willing to pay a fine, but they wouldn’t discuss it or let me speak with management. They threatened to bring armed security if I didn’t go immediately. They also showed me footage of me and other guests on our balconies, which raised serious privacy concerns. It felt like we were being watched 24/7. I could have called the police about the harassment, but friends advised me to leave, so I did to avoid more confrontation and keep it from ruining my whole vacation. If your safety, privacy, and peace of mind matter to you, avoid this property in Cape Town.

This was traumatic and felt unsafe and completely unprofessional. I booked two rooms for work from 24 September to 2 October, then was asked for a R4,000 breakage deposit that hadn’t been made clear when booking. Staff gave me different information about it, so I had to withdraw cash at check-in. That night, although I followed the no-smoking rule and went outside the building to smoke, security accused us of smoking in the room. They wouldn’t inspect it, called armed security, and tried to evict two women close to midnight in a city we didn’t know. One guard even hinted at a bribe to “sort it out.” Hours later, SAPS found no evidence, and another staff member apologised and admitted it had been mishandled. By then, the damage was done. No guest should be treated like this.

We were really disappointed. The room wasn’t the one we’d booked, and the smell was so bad that I bought my own pillows and blanket to sleep with. The fridge smelled like something had died inside. Housekeeping needs to do better. It seemed like they were just tidying up for the next guest instead of properly cleaning the place.