One Thibault Hotel by ITC Hospitality — Hotel in City Centre

I feel compelled to leave this review even though the manager, Charlene, handled my experience extremely well and with the highest standard of professionalism. Alas, while this review applauds Charlene, it is necessary to hopefully serve to provide detailed insight and perhaps, the other staff with a teachable moment, (one would hope). First and foremost. This is not a 5 or 4 star stay. booking.com says otherwise but please don’t believe them. This is also not an hotel. It is more like a decent apartment building with long stay and short stay residents. I came to learn about this because my Nieghbour (“Noisy-Neecy”) appears to have been living there for some time while trying herself out for a budding shouting-music career. More of that below. Since it is a long stay rental type building, it gives the impression of a student accommodation more than anything. Secondly, the security: I mistakenly locked my one and only access card ( you not allowed to have more than one) in my room and needed a new one. Thinking it’s an hotel, I assumed I could just go downstairs assuming I could get a new card. My assumption was immediately halted dead in tracks by TOP-FLIGHT-SECURITY-GUARD-OF-THE-WORLD who decides he doesn’t believe me (that I locked myself out) and that without a card (to leave the lift area - which are turnstyles, like a train station) I cannot go to reception. I debate this with him for 30 minutes and he is unconvinced. Even Rude to an extent and had an incredible desire to make his authority felt and observed. He also needed to have the “final say” - that I must “follow the rules”. I’m a grown man, in Cape Town, on business, but I was reduced to someone trying to skirt the rules. This reminded me of my varsity days. Anyway, I then ask him to go to reception for me and ask them for assistance. He does this, but I also ask him if I could sit at and order a coffee while all this is ongoing (it’s 08h00 AM and actually wanted a coffee). But what i didn’t know is that TOP-FLIGHT-SECURITY-GUARD-OF-THE-WORLD is also the sworn protector and gate keeper of the coffee cafe adjacent to the lift. He says no in a tone that made you feel like you were in a prison. This left me waiting at the turnstyle and starring into the abyss, daydreaming of a coffee that TOP-FLIGHT-SECURITY was sworn to protect and gate-keep. The stay: I booked what is called a luxury apartment (2605 on the 26th floor). This came to just about R3000 per night excluding breakfast) Equipped with a mini kitchen, lounge and small two chair nook seating area with a separate bedroom and bathroom. Akin to a one bedroom apartment. This is the best room they offer and it was within my clients budget. I was to stay there for 7 days 28 September 2025 to 5 October 2025. It is the exact same room pictured in the advert with panoramic windows that is used to attract everyone to the booking (albeit misleadingly). But be not mislead my dear friends. The view is betrayed by windows that appear to have not been cleaned in some months and overcrowded with stains and dust, overhanging concrete pillars and the Luno Building (dead center of the view and close enough to dwarf that mountain that looks like a table). While I had the benefit of a lounge and kitchen area, the size of this space was like a shoe box. The couch is probably the cheapest couch I have ever encountered. The foam used for the coach might as well be cardboard. The bed is a rudimentary double bed. I am quite tall so my feet were hanging over the bed. The room was so small that while I was laying in the bed, I could touch the cupboard with my feet. Typically, the luxury of staying in what appears a decent place (at near R3000 a night) is the expectation of a quality bed, at the very least. The bed was rock hard. In my younger days, I’ve been in backpackers with a better bed. The bathroom floods when you take a shower. Mind you, I do not take long showers. Max is 3 to 5 minutes. This is relevant for what follows. But, from the moment you start to shower, the bathroom floods. The entire bathroom floor post-shower is a puddle of water. I made the mistake of leaving my clothes on that floor since I was oblivious to the biblical proportion flood that would follow. I reported this and I was told it was fixed. Next morning, the very same flood. Wiser now, I took pictures. I have also learned that the design of very shower in the building, leads to an inevitable flood. On my first night, the lift area was overrun by people moving in. I saw boxes being shipped in like it was a cargo terminal. A few gentlemen even sat around playing Nigerian music (which I actually enjoy - albeit in a different setting) in the lift area, while the place was overcrowded like a taxi-rank terminal on Friday night. By the first night, Noisy Neecy was relentless. I think she had guests and they were screaming of laughter and loud music played on like a nearby marching band en masse. Typically, these are my prime working hours, due to international time periods and also because as an advocate, I am in Court for most of the day time. Because of this, I decided I will have to spend the night elsewhere if I were to seriously get work done. I stayed at the TAJ that night. Now, you must understand that in general, I am undisturbed by slight or minor inconveniences. This is important to appreciate, fully, the gravity of the disturbance - leading me to abandon ship and for me to check into a different hotel for that evening (no pun intended). I obviously first complained but the management team claimed that TOP-FLIGHT-SECURITY-OF-THE-WORLD had put an end to the mini-night club next door. This was obviously untrue as it was ongoing when I received the message. Defeated by the system, I then decided I need to abandon ship. By the second day, I decided to go to the reception area to ventilate my concerns to someone in person. Guess what? A gentlemen working at reception, having heard my cries for help, had the temerity to say “but sir, you must not take a long shower” and “but sir, you must wait for the tiles in the shower to drain the water”. I asked him to write down, on a piece of paper how long, in minutes and seconds, I need to shower, to prevent a flood and record his recommendation on personal hygiene, so that I know what the standards are for shower duration, generally. He couldn’t respond. The temerity of what he said and his accent while saying it is quite hilarious in retrospect. I must clarify that I am a coloured male and he was also coloured so there aren’t any racial undertones in what I am saying apart from the obvious candour of his statement. In hindsight however, my prognosis is that he must have felt that he can talk to me that way because of what I believe to be a systemic problem in Cape Town between us people of colour - in spite of his hospitality and professional mandate. But that is a discourse for a different day. Needless to say, I was astonished by the temerity of the response and again, in retrospect, his response made perfect sense, if for instance, one was staying in a student accommodation digs or backpackers. But this was not all. You’ll notice on Booking.com that the establishment doesn’t share pictures of the corridors or lift area in any particular floor. This is discreet (apparently for good reason) because it is a sight for sore-eyes. The general impression is industrial and reminds me of a corridor or passage way in a home affairs building or communal less-than average residence- akin to a block of flats. Worse than this, Guests typically sit around these areas and socialise. The image attached is just one encounter. The previous night, a different gentlemen was smoking a cigarette in the same spot and having beer. Again, one would perhaps expect something like this if it were, for instance, a block of flats or student accommodation building (which in my view, it probably is). I instructed booking.com to cancel the booking. By this stage, I was already starring into a further 6 days of no productivity, loud music, TOP-FLIGHT-SECURITY-SUPERVISION and an extremely uncomfortable bed and couch, still less, a bathroom that invokes the need to build an arc when taking a shower. Axiomatically, by this stage, I had neither the desire, patience nor inspiration (from Moses) to tolerate this any longer. My agent and Booking.com told me that the property refused to cancel, in spite of my concerns and complaints, which were all unaddressed. I even went as far as informing them over message that they can take the cost of the two days, but refund the remainder since I wanted to cancel and leave. I was told that while I may cancel, I forfeit the complete costs of the stay. This was R19 000 approximately. I was also informed that there is nothing they can do about the bathroom and that there are no similar rooms available to relocate me. I was in any event, not inclined to stay. This is where Charlene (manager) got involved. Charlene was astonished by what I had to say and she immediately agreed to override the cancellation refusal and issue a full refund. Charlene’s excellent service aside, the point of this review is to inform the establishment (and perhaps prospective guests) to understand four cardinal things. The first is that this is not a luxury or semi-luxury 4 or 5 star hotel. It is less than that. In my experience, it would struggle to be classified as 3 stars. I am however no expert on ratings. The second thing is, you should perhaps reconsider travelling for work or with children to a place like this. It is not family friendly and the staff seem stretched with the influx of guests rushing in at any given time. Third, the apartments, appearing big on images, are basic with rudimentary fixtures and fittings. The view is overstated (perhaps even misleading) and underwhelming. You will care little about waking up to see a section of the mountain because your back will feel like you slept on that table-looking-mountain. An end note and the fourth cardinal thing to take note of is that maybe this was just a once-off constellation of errors and freak events of bad service, but whatever you do, do not leave your key card in the room. IF YOU DO, prepare for TOP-FLIGHT-SECURITY-OF-THE-WORLD to place...

This trip was for 7 people x 7 nights: Three studio rooms and one studio deluxe (had a couch). All feedback here was already given to the hotel itself. Hopefully, they fix the issues immediately because these issues are easily addressed.||long thorough review. hope it helps you make your decisions.||ROOMS ARE FANTASTIC 💚 |Since there were four rooms and seven people, we do fit the occupancy rules per room (of two pax per room). We were planning to just arrange roommates amongst ourselves. But the security of the building necessitated that each person has his own room key to their room. My two teenagers and elderly mother stayed in the Studio Deluxe with the couch. They allowed that and gave the three of them room keys. The kitchenette is well equipped with clean and unbroken pots/ pans/ cutlery/ utensils so we were able to heat up our leftover restaurant food for our breakfasts. View from the rooms were a joy to wake up to (this only applies to one side of the building).||DEFINTELY RECOMMEND TO TRAVELLERS !!!! 💜💜💜💜💜|the location is fantastic. We bought the city explorer hop on hop off bus and can easily return to the hotel via the blue line. The V&A Waterfront is only 750 meters away so my mom could still walk it. Long Street (considered the main thoroughfare), is also just a hop away. There are some beggars around but that's true even in Jburg. A KFC (diagonally across the hotel) is open until 830pm when almost everything is already closed. And we often had breakfast at the Food Lovers Market (beside KFC) where breakfast is a pay by weight deal. Could easily buy groceries at Pick and Pay on Strand St and cook meals as well; we were too lazy though. ||GREAT SECURITY|1. We were granted blue key cards. They only work for the room doors. We show the keycards to the security personnel and they key open an automated turnstile for us to walk into an area with four lifts, then take the lifts up to our rooms.||2. Exit protocol is questionable. One security personnel got very short tempered with us the second day because out of the seven of us, I was the only one always ready with a keycard (i have a very small bag). We were not instructed that we should show our key cards to exit until that guy angrily told us about it. I understand the entry protocols, which are actually very good. I do not understand the exit protocols. Why do we need to show key cards? Assuming that the entry protocols were followed to the letter, then no one inside is inside without having cleared security. Which also means we should be able to exit at will. ||HOUSEKEEPING IS VERY POORLY DONE.|We were informed that housekeeping is done every second day. We stayed for seven days so our housekeeping would be Day number 2, 4, 6. The review below has been relayed to the hotel. Posting here and i hope these are no longer issues when you book here. These are solvable. The stay is otherwise still great. ||1. Mom's room (Studio Deluxe): Bathroom sink had HAIR clogging the drain. Super yucky and very very obvious even before using bec the hair was sticking out of the drain. My mom lifted the drain top (that silver circle thing) on day 2 cleaning day hoping that the housekeeping staff would remove the hair. Nope, all that hair stayed there until we checked out; staff just put the silver circle thing back in complete with hair. My mom and kids used the kitchenette sink for washing hands and brushing teeth and did not touch the bathroom sink. ||2. One studio room had a very dusty floor. We all wore socks while inside the bedrooms, and the occupant of one studio room ended up with black soles. The floors are not carpeted so the expectation is that they are mopped. The room was mopped after Day 2 cleaning. No more black soled socks. Putting this here so you could check your rooms for cleanliness before heading out to tourist. ||3. ROOM SAFES - unusable. There are no instructions on how to reset the passcode to the safes. (Other hotels have simple instructions attached to the safes). My mom's room safe door was open, but the lock was protruding. My room safe was closed and locked. The other two rooms had open unlocked safes but there was no technician to teach us that first day as we arrived at almost 7pm. I called the front desk about it, but apparently, technicians are there during office hours. uhm... that's a bit of poor planning there, eh? Tourists are out during the day and often return after dinner. Which means during the times we need to have someone teach us about the safes, there is no one there. ||3. All three rooms got refills of shampoo, liquid soap, coffee, tea, sugar, creamer only on Day 2. When we returned on the evening of Day 4, there was no coffee or shampoo in my room. I called up the front desk to request for some and waited an hour before calling them up again. Front desk person sounded exasperated with me and said there was no housekeeping staff in the evenings. They report for work at 8am. "Oh okay, thank you, i now understand." I was under the assumption that this was a hotel, since it's labeled under hotels. In any case, I expected that housekeeping would refill what is needed by the time we returned on Day 5. Fortunately, we arrived before 5pm on Day 5. There was nothing refilled. Called up the front desk again, and i reminded them of it. Front desk person said she made a note for housekeeping to bring amenities to us, and was surprised that there were no refills done. Finally, a housekeeping person arrived with shampoo refills and coffee refills. Fortunately again, my husband decided to grab more coffee packets instead of the usual two they give. I found out during dinner of Day 5 all of us did not get refills, and we had to share the coffee husband grabbed among us. (Nope they weren't enough. At this point, we were frustrated already so we just bought our own coffee on Day 6 from across the street).||After Day 4 housekeeping also, my room did not get a blanket. It was just sheet, comforter, duvet. No thin blanket that usually goes under the comforter. not a big deal for the husband because he likes comforters. It mattered to me because I get very hot while sleeping and can only use a thin blanket. But with our experience with the coffee thing, i decided not to request anything anymore. i just slept on top of the comforter with...

Dear Charlene and One Thibault,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to address a distressing situation regarding my recent booking at One Thibault in Cape Town, from December 25th to December 31st. Unfortunately, my experience was far from satisfactory and has left me deeply concerned and dissatisfied with the service provided.

Upon arrival at the specified address, I was shocked to find an old, dilapidated building with ongoing construction (which was not disclosed during the booking process), masses of individuals loitering aimlessly, and boarded-up doors. The passage leading to the entrance was unsanitary, emitting a strong odour of urine. (I have previously sent images of this.)

Furthermore, due to the lack of parking facilities, I had to park on a busy street, leading to an unfortunate incident where my partner's bag was stolen due to the unsafe conditions in the vicinity.

Given the appalling conditions and the misrepresentation of the property, I immediately requested a cancellation of my stay, as per the information provided by your receptionist, who assured me of a free cancellation policy. However, despite my request being logged on the portal, I received no response until December 30th, when I was informed, without any context, that my request had been rejected.

To my bewilderment, the portal indicated that I had checked in on December 25th and, inconceivably, checked out on December 27th at 10:08:54 PM. These details are utterly inaccurate, as I never set foot in the room, canceled my reservation, and was never informed of any change in my booking dates.

Moreover, I am deeply concerned about the discrepancy in the charges displayed on the portal, where it shows a total balance of R2,398.00 for a fictitious two-day stay, leaving unaccounted for the remaining R1,199.00 of my initial deposit of R3,597.00.

This situation is deeply troubling and seems indicative of fraudulent activity under my name, coupled with a lack of transparency and accountability from your establishment. I have refrained from taking this matter to social media or review platforms, hoping for a prompt and fair resolution from your end.

I kindly request an immediate and thorough investigation into this matter, a full refund of my deposit, and an explanation for the discrepancies in the booking portal. I expect a resolution within 3 business days, failing which I will have no choice but to escalate this matter to relevant consumer protection agencies and review platforms to prevent similar incidents from affecting other consumers.

I hope for your prompt attention and resolution to this matter.

I have attached screenshots of emails and the payment confirmation, as well...