Dullstroom on the Dam — Hotel in Emakhazeni Local Municipality

My son booked Dullstroom on the Dam for four nights (4 - 7 January 2023) for him, my wife and me. The reviews said that the view was spectacular and that it was tranquil. We can confirm that those attributes are accurate.

We paid the deposit and received a confirmation that our chalet was booked. We phoned again to find out when the balance was payable, but there was no answer. We paid the balance and called again, but no reply. On arrival, we found the site in disarray with a jumping castle left in the rain and rubbish strewn close to the reception area - NOT a welcoming sight.

There was nobody at the reception, and a young man said that chalet number six had its key in the door. We found the run-down chalet with brown watermarks on the ceiling, dampness in the walls, and crookedly built like a dog's hind leg. About every chalet had an overflowing rubbish bin.

The shower's tap handle was broken off, and the door would not close without violently beating it into submission. The floors are uneven, and the tiles are broken. This place will never pass an inspection for safety and cleanliness. We slept there for one night, and the 1970's style bed mattress was probably just as old. It was terribly uncomfortable. They claim to have Wi-Fi, but it was never functional.

We phoned the manager, and she was already off-site for two days, leaving it in the hands of inept workers. We could not get any information about canoeing. We told her we were unhappy, but she seemed to shrug it off.

We strolled around the dam and took breathtakingly beautiful photographs. That was our stay's highlight, but we packed our bags and left. We will ask for our money back but are not holding our breath.

Dullstroom on the Dam has so much potential, but not in the hands of the current management. They do not take pride in their work, and we cannot support such an enterprise. Sadly, they forced us to cut our holiday short.

I give five stars for the view but minus ten for...

We went for a family camping weekend. The location was beautiful, the horses were amazing and friendly, the view was beautiful, but the campsite was completely run down and not looked after. The bathrooms were infested with spiders (not your innocent daddy long legs type), on the roof, under the toilet seats, on the toilet paper, everywhere!! There was old mouldy food in the bathroom bins. And also drops of blood on the bathroom floor. Our kids found a syringe with a needle in the windowsill of the ladies bathroom. We told the owner about it, but he made a joke and said that we must think that there are drug addicts all over the place. He explained that he used it himself to measure out medicine for his son for the ozone bath, because he had a cough. We totally understand that, but if the place was kept clean and maintained, we never would have seen that- it could have been anything. The braai area was still dirty from the previous people, we were told that we should have told the owner about it and he would have come to clean it. It should have already been cleaned. We booked 3 nights there but left the next morning. We are regular campers but, with today’s huge issue of COVID, (zero COVID regulations were in place) we do not take exception when the cleanliness and hygiene is not adhered to! Lastly we did confront the owner about our experience, we asked in light of our failed stay, that he refund us for the 2 night that we didn’t stay, he acknowledged our comments and said there is always room for improvement, but declined to refund us. Which we feel was the least he could have done, given...

Arriving at reception was already interesting, as it seems a bit unorganised and un neat. They showed us to our chalet, the last one without the number. The frond door could hardly open, old dirty and looks as if it had been hammered before, or broken open. The inside was shocking. The curtains was hanging not been hooked in , the heater has broken wheels, the walls are dirty, carpets are filthy. couch is torn, bathroom had no nails or hooks to hang a towel, the washbasin was broken and fixed "make shift". outside braai, that has not been cleaned for how long, build in table outside but wood so dried out and dirty, unstable seating, which made sitting outside on their furniture almost impossible.||They advertise wifi, however we could not connect. None of the pictures in that chalet resembled the photos we saw on the on line booking , total misrepresentation. And this for over R1000 per night. After complaining we were "upgraded to a front unit, where i did recognize some of the on line photos. This was streets better, but the same dirty carpets, walls need a good scrub. Totally over priced for what it offers. No security on the premies The gate is unmanned and had to be owned by oneself each tome you went in or out. Not sure if it ever gets locked. The bedroom had a smaller than double bed I am sure, and blankets needed a wash, the heater's plug in the room had no cover, so all the wires are exposed...poses a real...