Protea Hotel by Marriott Dorpshuis & Spa Stellenbosch

Hotel booked as part of a trip of a lifetime through ROL. Hotel was nowhere near up to expectations given the cost of the holiday and implications that the trip was a top notch trip. I expected a standard such as Four Seasons but this was not at that level. The staff were very nice, helpful and lovely and the hotel is perfectly satisfactory and clean but not the standard for what we were led to believe to expect for our trip by ROL.

The location was perfect for us. The bed was comfortable and this time in Room 23 the bath plug fit! Breakfast was ok and the chef was happy to help.

Reception staff were extremely unhelpful and verging on rude. We asked if we could pay to extend our check out by 3 hours and told the hotel was full and we would have to pay 2424 Rand..ie a full day rate, so we declined. We vacated the room before 11am and sat in the lounge until 1.30pm when our Emirates driver picked us up. At no time did any staff ask if they could help or if we needed anything, which is unbelievable in a hotel. My husband went out and brought take away coffees! At no point were we thanked for our visit or asked if we had enjoyed our stay. The impression staff gave was that we were just in the way!

The hotel was convenient for where we picked up our hire car.

We were first offered room 29, which we declined because there was too much road noise, despite having requested a quietly located room. We were then given room 22, which was slightly quieter but very worn. When we were checking out we were asked to pay in full for our second stay which was over 8 weeks away, otherwise they couldn’t guarantee it would be available as it was their very busy season, despite being booked via Booking.com When we ran a bath, the water went out as fast as it went in as the plug did not fit properly

I would like to start by saying that I am a Platinum level Bonvoy member, and have visited six different Protea hotels, on our last two trips to Africa - four in SA. While the Protea chain is not at the top level of the Bonvoy chain, prior to this visit, we have enjoyed our visits to all of the properties. The property in Stellenbosch has both positive and negative aspects. The positives are they have very friendly staff, the property is well taken care of, the beds are comfortable and the pool area is a nice spot to relax. On the negative side, this hotel does not treat their tier members with the same level of recognition as other Protea properties that we have visited or that of any other Bonvoy properties that we have visited around the globe. That is the reason for this review. I think this must be an oversight from the management at this hotel. All of the Protea hotels prior to our visit to this location met or exceeded our expectations. This one did not! We asked about breakfast upon arrival, and we were advised that nothing was offered as we had booked the room on points. After check in, I logged into Bonvoy and opened the Bonvoy website to confirm what should have been offered. I approached the desk to query this and was then advised that that is not what I asked when checking in. I then pointed out that this is what is to be offered, and if it is not, then the member is to be compensated. I did not want the compensation, just the breakfast. I was then handed a card giving us a continental breakfast for the duration of our stay. I then pointed out that the website says breakfast, not a continental breakfast. They were firm on their offering, and that was what we had every morning. No bottled water in the room - another first in Africa, and a guaranteed late check out of 4 pm was met with rejection, due to the fact that the hotel was fully booked the evening of our departure. I again showed the staff the benefits of platinum and they then allowed us to stay until 2 pm. It is unfortunate to see this in a Bonvoy property, but in our experience, it is unique. I would not recommend this property, until management addresses these issues, and I hope that they do. I would wait for further reviews.

What a nice change from soul-less modern hotels - I had a split-level room with a wood panelled ceiling.....downstairs a kitchen area/lounge with bathroom/shower cabinet at one side, bedroom areas accessed via flight of wooden stairs, really nice and has some character. The room was accessed via a tree/shrub/plant lined outside walkway near the pool which felt quite tropical. All staff were lovely - friendly and happy to help with anything. The centre of Stellenbosch was a few minutes walk away where there are several bustling bars and restaurants - it felt perfectly safe to walk there even at night. I will definitely stay in this hotel on my next visit to Stellenbosch.

I had two guests with me from overseas and we booked 3 rooms yet we had to park on the street. Also they had no generator to supply electricity during load-shedding. For the price we paid I expected much more.