Lodge on Main Guest House & Conference Centre — Hotel in Eastern Cape

I decided to stay at Lodge on Main in Walmer. Based on the reviews, pictures and its 4 star rating. I have never been more disgusted by the state of a place before, and how on earth they are getting away with putting guests in filthy rooms.you are definitely wowed by the property, gardens and common areas like the bar and breakfast room. But when I got into the room… it went from 4 star to -1 star.

They have various rooms & I booked the Baobab suite which was at the back of the property, I chose that one because it had a separate lounge/kitchen and a washing machine (more on this later!) When I was shown to my room, I noticed a strong smell of damp and mould. I also noticed how dark the place was, and how filthy the carpet looked, like it had never been properly cleaned since forever. Inside the wardrobe it smelled even worse, and you could see the damp stains. I wasn’t able to store my clothes in there for fear of it stinking. The headboard was stained with what I presume are old sweat stains. The bedroom was truly a disgrace. I immediately noticed there was no washing machine in the kitchen. I spoke to the lady whom I assume was the manageress. She said “there are no washing machines in the rooms” and said they have a laundry service I can use.

I was unable to sleep because of the smell, and I messaged the property telling them that I would need to change rooms. The next morning, I went looking for the owner, and told him this. He seemed so blasé about this, I was shocked that the owner of a 4 star lodge didn’t even flinch when a guest told him that a room at his establishment is stinking of damp and mould!! He seemed BORED. He did check, but told me it’s fully booked (fair enough), but couldn’t I just “open a window”! I didn’t even know what to say, and at that point I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere with this. He did offer me an opportunity to change to a different room each night, but the other rooms don’t have a kitchen… that was just not practical, so I turned it down. As I was there for 5 nights, I wanted a kitchen (which is why I booked THAT particular suite). So basically I got nowhere. I was given a humidifier after I asked if they had one, he said yes, but it turned out to just be a normal fan. It didn’t help one bit. I DID change my mind about the room changes after I got back to the room, and messaged him about it. Now is the time to mention that nobody bothered to reply to any of my messages regarding the issues. They simply didn’t care. They had my money and couldn’t be bothered that I was upset or uncomfortable. And they get away with it time and time again.

The bathroom, the only nice things in there was the mirror and the bath tub. Otherwise it was equally filthy. The toilet with it’s cheap plastic lid, the toilet brush that’s probably never been changed in years, the window sills, blinds, dirty and rusted burglar bars, shower with its flimsy cheap plastic door AND the state of the towels and bathrobe. I was flabbergasted. Then the kitchen, it was probably the best of the worst, but still dirty. Cobwebs, dirty windows, a severely rusted stove top, and the cheapest utensils you can imagine. The crockery and glassware were at least OK. But even the “bottle” of water was just a refillable glass bottle with what I suspect is tap water. Simply horrible.And at night, the light from the other unit shines right in, directly onto the bed! I had to use some tape to try and keep it close.

I chose to stay because I was not going to waste more money, time and energy to find a new place to stay, and I shouldn’t have...

This is a humbly looking establishment that offers way more than one would except, with secure parking and front that has a beautiful swimming pool, going up there are steps with a nice fancy wooden rail and obviously they didn't forget wheel chair access. I'm lucky to have witnessed the beauty of this place, stayed there with our models and hosted us for 5 days and I left a happy person the staff was such a delight to be around and every morning their breakfast was on point and served with love, after our breakfast we'd hang around the pool area and their outdoors chairs were quite fancy or rather are fancy for those that drink don't feel left out there is a nice bar there for you and nice leather couches, long story short the place is beautiful with great stuff and just an addition the owner is so friendly and takes time to check up on Guests even us who came as a group he'd ask how our stay was and all, lastly he is a very nice and patient person I went for a swim at 1am made so much noise in my defence I wasn't drunk I don't drink but had worked all day and I didn't realise what time it was so I assumed it was a little after 10pm but alas it wasn't but all he did was come out and say, "My guy its 1am please consider others" (paraphrased) but the message is the same.

Thank you so much and had a great time next time I'm in Port Elizabeth I know where I am staying, don't take my word...

This guest house in Port Elizabeth is quaint, warm and cozy. This was my husband and my first impression of the guest house however this changed very quickly on the third night when many guests made it so unpleasant for us. They definately did not consider their other guests. They constantly kept moving between rooms, slamming doors, speaking loudly and even walked in the corridor with alcohol. We wanted to leave the guest house but didn't have time to arrange alternative accommodation because we needed to leave early the morning to go back to Somerset West. To make matters worse, there were cockroaches in the cupboard. Our worst guest house experience. The postive is the owner went out of her way to cater for my diatry requirements which I'm very grateful for. You win some and...