Cape Town Lodge Hotel — Hotel in City Centre

Review for Cape Town Lodge Hotel (Stayed 1–6 July 2025) ⭐☆☆☆☆

My stay at Cape Town Lodge Hotel was extremely disappointing and distressing. I respected the hotel’s non-smoking policy and made sure to smoke only in the designated areas outside, as directed by reception. I disposed of the cigarette butts in the room dustbin rather than littering in the street, as no one informed me that this was not allowed. Upon checkout, I was unexpectedly told to wait while they inspected the room—something I’ve never experienced at any other hotel.

While in a rush to catch my flight, I was told that a fine of R1500 would be charged due to the smell of smoke and cigarette butts found in the bin and on the window ledge (note: one of which was not mine). I calmly explained that I was a single mom, could not afford the fine, and had an Uber waiting to take me to the airport. Despite this, the manager locked the door with a chain and physically would not allow me to leave until I paid.

I was visibly distressed, kept repeating that I would miss my flight, and pleaded to speak with a senior manager. After repeatedly asking, the manager on duty eventually stepped away to make a call, and I was finally let out—feeling like I had been treated like a criminal. This experience caused immense stress to me and my 15-year-old daughter, especially considering we had just left a difficult personal situation. I even suffered a panic attack on the flight back to Johannesburg as a result of the anxiety.

After returning home, I contacted the hotel and was promised a call from the GM. I eventually called her myself, but she was rude, dismissive, and defensive—refusing to listen to my side of the story. She offered no empathy or responsibility, only excuses.

Throughout my stay, I didn’t complain once about the loud music from the nightclub below or the noise from neighboring rooms, even though my daughter was in Cape Town for an important ice hockey tournament and needed proper rest. I was a peaceful and respectful guest and feel completely let down by the way I was treated.

This experience has not only affected me emotionally but also financially—I had to rebook my flight (R400 extra) due to the lack of flexibility around late check-out, and I lost money on my cancelled Uber.

I urge management at Cape Town Lodge to seriously reconsider how they treat guests, especially those in vulnerable situations. Staff and leadership need urgent training in guest relations, empathy, and...

Does Cape Town Lodge even check out the reviews and work on themselves? Maybe this is why their staff is so disrespectful and gets away with it.

My Booking.com review:

This has been the worst stay of them all.

Liked · The location was convenient.

Disliked · The front desk service the evening we checked in as well as the service when checking out. The gentleman from last night gave us very weird feels while checking in, mumbling amongst each other. This morning (20/02/2022) when checking out the lady said that we had already been checked out (not true as this was the first time we've been at the front desk for the morning). She then asked the elderly man for assistance. He then checked the system and said "Yes, Mr... already checked out." (How? When we were just 3 ladies, never had any males with us). We kept on saying it wasn't us and he kept on saying that it was and that this person was refunded with the security fee. We continued this for a while to a point saying he needs to go check the cameras. - When saying this he got impatient and as started speaking loudly as if the fault was with us. My sister then went on to say that maybe it was someone who just had the same surname but he continued to ignore what we had to say and just loudly said "he'll sort this out!" for the entire lobby to hear. In the end, we were right had he gave us a hearing. Someone with the same surname checked out and they mixed up the rooms. Complicated hotel. We wanted to take a swim but took forever to find our way because the sign shows to go straight but straight leads to a dead-end. Only to find out that straight means turn right to the lifts and go to 9th floor (the 1 lift goes to 8th floor and the "fireman's lift" didn't open) we figured to go to 8th floor, then see if we can get in a different lift for 9th floor. Finally, on 8th floor the firemans lift opens and off we go to 9th floor, scan ourselves into the pool area to see the pool is closed because of "winter season". We decide to leave only to realize that there's no way of scanning ourselves out, all that there is is an emergency button option which we wouldn't dare press. We call reception only to get laughed at because to exit all you need to do is actually make use of the emergency button and the lift that says...

I stayed at this hotel from 27/06/2024 to 01/07/2024, and my experience was far from satisfactory. Several incidents occurred during my stay, highlighting the poor customer service and lack of concern from the hotel staff.

Stolen Phone Incident: I left my phone in a bathroom stall and remembered almost instantly. When I returned about 2 minutes later, it had already been stolen. I immediately contacted reception and the manager. After reviewing the CCTV footage, they informed me that they knew who the person was but couldn't reveal that information until the police were present. I went to the police station, reported the incident, and came back with two officers. Despite this, no effort was made to assist me as the reception staff on duty claimed the manager was the only one with access to the CCTV but was not available. They made me jump through hoops, showing no interest in helping me, and it became clear that I would not get any assistance regarding an incident that took place in their hotel. As a result, I still have not gotten back my phone. It felt like the hotel staff were enabling criminal activity by not acting, and their only concern was protecting the criminals involved. I will be taking this up with consumer protection, and I demand that the hotel return my phone.

Room Access Issues: We had problems accessing our room almost every day during our stay. One evening, we had to wait for more than an hour to gain access to our room, even though it was quite late at night. The hotel staff showed no sympathy, simply saying the key-reader battery must have died. There was no urgency in getting this resolved, resulting in us being locked out of our room for about an hour in the middle of the night. This was not the first or the last time that this happened as it failed again the next morning.

Overall, the lack of concern and effort from the hotel staff was incredibly frustrating. The incidents I experienced show a clear lack of customer service and care for their guests. It feels like the hotel staff enabled criminal activity by not acting, and their only interest is in protecting criminals. I will be taking this matter up with consumer protection and demand that the hotel return my phone. I would not recommend staying at this hotel based on...