Diamond Rose Guesthouse

We’re halfway through our stay, and the ten of us already feel unwelcome. The gardens are lovely and well kept, but the service has made this a really awkward visit. We’ve stayed at plenty of guesthouses around Middelburg, and we’ve never been treated this way. On our first evening, around 18:30, we asked if we could eat together in the dining area. We were told it’s only for breakfast, so we had to eat outside on the cold patio. The sliding doors were shut on us, with no warning, though someone did wish us good night. That was one of the coldest moments of the stay. We also followed the instruction to tell the guesthouse when we planned to braai, so they could provide what we needed. We got only the bare minimum and had to ask for more. A match we’d requested was taken away, and we had to go back for it. We’re not in our usual setting, so naturally we needed a few extra things. The staff’s unfriendly manner made it worse. A woman spoke to us with a cigarette in her hand, telling us to wrap up our meal. It was after 21:00, fair enough, but smoking while addressing guests felt inappropriate. The person who checked us in came across as aloof and suspicious, and the other staff haven’t been friendly either. There’s been no sense that anyone is trying. There was also a booking mistake: we’d requested a three-sleeper room, but an adult woman was expected to use a sleeper couch. We asked for a bed and had to carry it between two rooms ourselves. Nobody offered help. We’re very disappointed.