Centurion All Suite Hotel

My family and I were in South Africa for a 2-week holiday this past August. For the most part, we found it a truly delightful (if rather expensive) country. We had booked our last 3 nights with the Centurion, a self-catering facility in Cape Town. We were fortunate that Ismail -- the friendly and very considerate cab driver who we used throughout our time in Cape Town -- also doubled as a guide and made up for the bitter experience that the Centurion turned out to be. Like most other travelers, we had tried to search the net diligently for accommodation options. And I must say we got most of our choices right. But we were completely fooled by this particular hotel's trading advert and internal photos. To be fair, the area offers lots of choice in terms of eating places and is within easy reach of the city centre. Anyway, late morning 15 August, my family of three (2 adults and an 11-year-old daughter) arrived at the hotel all fired up with excitement for the last leg of our thus-far very enjoyable holiday. A gentleman at Reception asked which suite we had booked, and politely explained that different apartments were owned and managed by different people. The apartment we had booked (Suite 601) was presumably managed by someone called "Vassi" and we were shown where to find him. We were met in a drab and crowded office by Vassi, who identified himself as the "Managing Director". After some 10 minutes of paperwork, he took out some discoloured sheets and an extra pillow (presumably for the sleeper couch which the online brochure had mentioned) and led us to Suite 609, even though we had specifically booked Suite 601 (a corner apartment). The lock to the apartment was a bit iffy and Vassi explained that we had to double check each time we locked it. The alarm bells started ringing in my mind. The apartment looked old and had an overpowering smell. When I asked if we couldn't be relocated, Vassi explained that the entire place had just been fumigated (which sounded rather self-inditing). It was winter in Cape Town, yet the sliding windows had been left wide open -- presumably to take away the pungent smell of the fumigant. I tried to shut the windows partially (it was windy upstairs and chilly), but the glass wouldn't slide easily (from what seemed like sheer lack of maintenance). The floor was wet from the windy morning shower, so I drew Vassi's attention. Guess what his response was: he strode calmly to the kitchenette sink, picked up the sponge and used it as a mop! I can't begin to describe the look of utter horror on my daughter's face!!! And he expected us to use this same sponge to do our dishes? (this was a self-catering facility). Unfortunately, I couldn't see any easy way of getting our deposit back, or else we would simply have picked up our bags and left at this stage. Vassi proceeded with a little demo on how to convert the sleeper couch for night use. The cushions were old and looked grimy. He pulled at the seat section, revealing used tissue stuffed in the joint of the bed section (I didn't want to hazard a guess as to what the tissue might have been used for). Now, this was getting alarming (this was supposed to be a flattering holiday for my family). When I drew his attention to the tissue, Vassi proceeded with a lengthy complaint about how lazy the cleaning staff were, describing them as wanting money yet not willing to work ... and that this wasn't work that he as "Managing Director" should be doing. (Didn't he realise he was actually running his own place down with his comments?) Now beginning to shiver from the cold, I asked where the apartment's heating controls were, only to discover there was no provision of any sort for heating the space. To our dismay, the "MD" sought to justify the lack of heating, explaining that the heating bill would exceed what he received from the rental for the apartment. By now, I was beginning to feel insulted by his insensitivity and the very bad deal we were getting. Firmly, I told Mr MD that this wasn't true and that we simply had to have heating, especially for the night. He then left to get us a mobile heater from his office. We moved to inspect the bedroom. The mattress was clearly old and sunken in parts and there was no other covering for the mattress except the thin sheet. Without a blanket between mattress and sheet, I wondered just how hygienic this hotel bed could be. Further, the sheet was threadbare and badly bobbled, making our sleep very uncomfortable (how much would it cost to replace the sheets?). Noise from the bathroom easily traveled through the dividing wall, disturbing everyone else's sleep each time one of us used the toilet at night. Half the time, one or another of the three lifts (2 passenger and one goods lift) was out of order. On our last evening (17 Aug), none of the three lifts was working. Thankfully, the goods lift was working again on the morning of our departure. Avoid this place if at all possible.

Conveniently located near main road in Sea Point, but the room was shabby, unclean, and freezing cold for a winter stay.

This hotel is ok, very nice and cheap, i can recommend it to anyone

Great location in a very nice neighborhood

The Hotel was a pleasant surprise. It was a booking done by my daughter as a gift for my 30th wedding anniversary. Our friends also joined us two days later at the Hotel for the rest of our stay, and were also very happy with the Suites and the staff.

Your first impression will be how ugly the building is. Monica who runs the Centurian is willing enough but the place is badly in need of some serious renovation. Our first room allocated was 701 and to say I wouldn't even lay down on the bed give syou some idea of how bad it was. We then moved to 502 after some fuss and that room had been renovated. The noise was unbelievable from the constant hooting from the local pick up taxis. You have to be very careful in Seapoint as there was serious crime elements and no one walks out after 10.00pm. Having said that its close to Cape Town and if you can find better accommodation I wouldn't rule it out. However Green Point or Mouille Point would be a better option