Amani Boutique Hotel and Conference Centre

I couldn't get dinner, even though I asked to book it four hours beforehand, and there was no soap in the room. During a power cut there wasn't a flashlight or candle, and only two of the six lights worked. The shower was cold, its head was broken, and water sprayed everywhere. There was no mirror in the room, only in the bathroom, and I couldn't find a hair dryer. After reading the reviews, I expected the problems to have been fixed, but they hadn't. The same complaints keep coming up. This isn't a four star boutique hotel, and nothing about my stay was good. They stole my money. It was daylight robbery.

We paid R15 000.00 to host an office meeting at Amani, but had to move it elsewhere after seeing the venue. It wasn't large enough for our group and didn't have enough tables or chairs. They offered extra chairs, but said those were in bad condition. The venue smelled awful, and the walls were dirty with children's drawings. Before paying, we'd asked whether it could fit our group and were assured it could. We've still not received our refund. They ignored our WhatsApp messages and only replied when we said we'd take the issue to social media. Then they asked us to resend proof of payment, which we'd already handed in personally, and didn't seem to check their bank statements. I won't recommend this place, and we'll keep pursuing the matter because we've lost the money.

Compared with the guest houses around Lydenburg, this is the best place.

On our first trip to Lydenburg, we stayed at Amani and had problems with the water. There was no hot water in our room, and the shower sprayed beyond the shower area, soaking the bathroom floor and even reaching the bedroom. After we complained, we were moved to a somewhat more comfortable room with hot water. A year later, on our second visit, they put us back in that same original room, and the issues were still there. At 9 pm, after trying to shower in lukewarm water at the start of winter, we complained again. The owners already knew about our earlier complaints. They moved us upstairs, where the water was a little hotter, but the shower still soaked the entire bathroom floor. Stepping onto a drenched floor in winter is miserable. We raised it with the manager, but it doesn't seem like customer feedback matters to Amani. We won't be back.