The Living Collective Villa

We did not get breakfast. It was self catering. We were attending a Lions Conference at the Lions Community Hall.

I liked that the property was clean and that the staff was very friendly.

Nothing.

Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure.Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure.Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure. Safe and Secure.

We travelled from Johannesburg on a Thursday morning to Hilton in Pietermaritzburg and stayed at the Living Collection Villa. Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by the host, who was pleasant and very helpful in explaining the villa’s features. Unfortunately, we encountered a major issue with Wi-Fi. The internet speed was extremely slow around 1 Mbps download and even less for upload which made streaming services like Netflix and YouTube unusable. WhatsApp was the only app that worked reliably. Despite several reboots and contacting reception, the issue persisted. The next morning, the speed briefly improved but quickly dropped again. We thought we could catchup on some work emails and attend online meeting but was unable to due to the internet being too.. slow. We contacted the owner and she responded promptly and arrived within 30 minutes to replace the SIM card in the router, as the property relies on 5G due to the lack of fibre. While the responsiveness was appreciated, I feel the high rating on-booking platforms doesn’t fully reflect some areas needing attention: • Towels: Provided daily but quite worn and tired from repeated dry cleaning. • Main Bedroom Ensuite: Dated and in need of a facelift; photos online are not entirely accurate. • Parking: Tight and potentially problematic if all units are occupied, especially late at night. • Aesthetic Details: Exposed piping over tiles detracts from the overall finish. On the positive side, the property felt secure and safe throughout our stay. With a few upgrades, this villa could truly live up to its high ratings.