A White House Guest House

I spent a month here, and the whole crew stayed friendly and consistent throughout. Jolandi and Leroy gave me a warm welcome and kept checking in and sharing updates. The kitchen team was friendly too, and everything was clean every day. The living standards and health and safety measures were very good, and I felt it was worth every penny. The one drawback is the town's roads, which are full of potholes.

I was only there one night for work, but the service left a lovely impression. I needed some rolls warmed up, and the woman in charge brought them back on a tray with butter and cutlery. That thoughtful touch meant a lot to me. I'd happily recommend the guesthouse.

The place was very clean, and the host was gracious, but the stay didn't feel like what I expected from a four-star establishment. It had a student-village feel. We booked self-catering with breakfast for me, my husband, and our two kids. The breakfast could have been better, and the kitchen had a damp dish towel but no dish sponge. We wanted to roast vegetables because it was too cold for salad, but there was only a hot plate, no oven. The braai area was by the pool, and getting there meant walking past a full washing line. The air conditioner didn't work for us, and Grahamstown gets especially cold at night. One of the kids' beds had no electric blanket. The shower kept switching between very hot and cold. There was no iron in the room, so you need clothes that don't need ironing or to ask them to do it. I meant to put all this on the comment slip in the room, but there wasn't a pen.

We stayed from 23 Dec to 27 Dec, and the price felt high for what we got. I don't think this was four-star quality. Our family flat at the back was small and claustrophobic, with a greasy, unclean kitchen and a broken control switch on the two-plate stove. The building also had a general air of neglect, and water pressure was a problem. In the early hours of 24 Dec 2014, our vehicle and another guest's vehicle were burgled. Management then offered us two semi-self-catering flats at the front, but on departure we found out that would cost an extra R1320. The bedding in the family flat was fine, while the bedding in semi-self-catering flat 11 was tatty and didn't feel fresh. Its cupboards smelled of mildew, and mildew was growing on the chopping board. The loose carpet in flat 12 had a lot of dust underneath and clearly hadn't been cleaned for a long time. Flat 11's sleeper couch cover was dirty, and its kettle stopped working after two days. The shower fittings in flat 12 and the kitchen sink tap in flat 11 both needed attention. Breakfast was just an average home-cooked meal. Management was friendly.