Bloem Hotel Conference & Spa — Hotel in Free State

There are some good things and bad things to say about this hotel.

The room was neat, and had a fridge, aircon TV, kettle and basic set of very cheap coffee and tea sachets. The TV in the room has a very limited set of channels and the reception is not good at all. The visuals are not clear and the sound does not align with the visuals on screen.

There is a nice pool outside, and I imagine it can be a lovely place to socialise... however, it could be very bothersome if you are in the room hoping for some peace and quiet. The rooms are not soundproof at all. I could hear the person getting hundreds of messages in the room next to me. I could also hearr the peacocks persistently, continuously and incessantly cawing all through the night. For those who have never heard a peacock... it sounds like a cat in pain.

Although the rooms and bathrooms are nice, the passages remind me a bit of an old school hostel's passageways. The lobby of the hotel has pool tables, but the feel of the lobby is not one of class. The furniture is clearly old and I suppose the style of the lobby could charitably be called eclectic.

Breakfast was a mixed experience. The food was of mostly of very good quality. There was a nice selection of cerials, fruit and yoghurt. There was a buffet style hot food section and a bread and jam section. These were all fine.

However, there was a coffee station with a coffee dispenser... but it was not working. As an alternative there was a percolator heater with a metal jug of pre-made instant coffee.

Then there was an egg station. This is a very small annoyance, but it really spoilt my breakfast. The sole point of an egg station is to prepare eggs. I would suggest that the person who prepares the eggs actually take some time to practice preparing eggs. People have preferences for how they want that their steak to be done, and restaurants go to the effort of making the steak as requested. Eggs are so much easier to make, yet apparently this is a skill that is still sorely missing at Bloem Hotel and spa.

Finally, I must mention that this is a 3-star hotel, so I know that I should manage my expectations, but having propoer coffee at breakfast and a person who can actually prepare eggs to specifications cannot cost that much and that would make it worth the price...

My wife and I booked on Saturday for a breakaway. We wanted something romantic and we booked the Presidential suite. The staff was excellent and arranged the evening for us as we required. The price for the Presidential suite was R2000 that included the night's accommodation, 20 minutes back and shoulder massage for each of us, a dinner of our choice from the restaurant's menu and a nice breakfast the Sunday morning. They included a bottle of champagne as well that we enjoyed with the presidential suite's private jacuzzi.||We arrived at 15h30 at Bloemspa and Amerentia at the front desk was very forthcoming and friendly with her service. She booked our massage at 16h30 on our request so that we would be in time to watch the rugby game in our room afterwards. She arranged our dinner for 19h00 on our request and arranged our private jacuzzi to be nice and warm for 20h00 with a room-heater to keep the jacuzzi room nice and cozy. When we entered our suite at 20h00, the champagne was already there and the main bedroom snuggly warm and already preheated with via the air-conditioning system. We loved the warm atmosphere and jacuzzi provided by Bloemspa and their staff.||The pricing for the whole evening was worth every penny and actually very cheap regarding everything that was included. I have searched high and low for a place in Bloemfontein with a private jacuzzi that could serve my budget and I would recommend the Presidential Suite at Bloemspa for every couple in need for a romantic breakaway in the...

Room was small and spartan. Just the basics. Light switch for room and bathroom by entrance- had to get out of bed to turn on and off lights. Bathroom ceiling and shower had tons of mildew- simply not cleaned properly. Bathroom walls showed water damage from above. Noisy air con/heater. Couldn't get room wifi to work.||The grounds are rustic- poor signage in the upper areas and lots of sloping walks and small steps. Was directed to a venue through the pool area after the rain-- this was flooded with quite deep water. Watch out for the peacock scat- especially at night!||The food was hit or miss. The first morning (a Monday) the breakfast was almost inedible, but it improved a bit after that. Coffee was burnt. I felt sorry for the food service staff. They seemed overworked. ||Front desk were clueless and had trouble finding verifications of bookings, pre-payment, etc.||The conference arrangements were better than the room. So if your group books there, stay somewhere...