Bayside Hotel Pietermaritzburg

The rooms are decent and clean, and reception staff are friendly. Service is just okay, though the house keeping and security personnel aren’t friendly. The location deserves minus 5 stars. There are hobos all over and it feels completely unsafe, though unfortunately that’s beyond the hotel’s control. Parking inside the building is safe, but costs R50 per night. Since there’s no alternative safe parking, that feels like a scam. Getting in from outside is a nightmare: you have to call reception for security to open the gate, and it feels very unsafe at night.

Yoooo, what a disappointing Easter weekend. The bedding was disgusting, with brown stains on linen that should have been white. We couldn’t sleep and asked for a replacement, but the new bedding wasn’t any better. The microwave was dirty with fungus, and you have to ask for soap and tissue for the bathroom. They promised conventional breakfast, but the cornflakes were a fake product and there were no scones as promised. When I needed the manager to see the state of the room, he ran away. Seriously, how do you make a bed for guests with stained linen? My kids have sinus, shame. I’ll never go there again, not even by mistake.

We ended up finding another place and were relieved, especially after the receptionists at the Golden Horse looked shocked that we had booked Bayside hotel. They said it was mostly used for overnight stays by long-haul truck and taxi drivers. We had come to PMB for a wedding, had never been there before, and chose this hotel because the booking.com pictures looked decent. But we never even went inside. There were drunk people outside at the shebeen, harassing passersby for money, and the area was so crowded that we felt unsafe. It reminded us of being in the middle of Hillbrow in JHB. We stayed in the vehicle, then drove off to find somewhere else. Our refund request was declined. I take it that's how the hotel makes money. We contacted booking.com asking them to screen their accommodation listings better, but haven't heard back. It felt like false advertising.

Our family room had plenty of space for three, and the bathroom was clean. The bedding had a few marks, so you might want to bring your own sheet and pillowcase. The parking area is tight, and you need to ask the guard to open the gate, though people are kind and will move their cars if the shisanyama next door has them blocking the road. Check-in was quick and easy. Bring R150 cash, R100 for the key and security deposit and R50 for parking. It got quiet by about 11 pm. Remember to open the bathroom windows to keep moisture from building up.