NH Johannesburg Sandton — Hotel in Gauteng

This hotel claims to be 5-star, but unfortunately, it does not live up to those expectations.

Positives: The lobby is stunning and creates a great first impression. The staff are super friendly and welcoming. The restaurant serves delicious food.

Negatives: The positives quickly faded once I entered the room and explored the facilities. The room felt old, tired, and dark, lacking the luxurious touch one expects from a 5-star hotel. The shower only had a small removable head, with no ceiling-mounted option for a spa-like experience. The long pole holding the showerhead was falling off the wall, which I ended up fixing myself. Basic maintenance issues abounded: the bathroom bin was broken, the towel hook on the door was damaged, and the toilet leaked, making noise throughout the night. The air conditioning system was poorly calibrated. Even on the lowest setting, it was either too cold and windy or completely off, leading to stuffy conditions. The entrance door to the room shuts with a loud thud, and the pressure arm needs adjustment to prevent potential injuries. The desk’s glass top rendered my computer mouse unusable, making it impractical for work. The charging station and row of plug points didn’t work. I had to get on all fours under the desk to find two usable outlets. The TV was outdated, with an unordered channel list that required clicking through each channel individually, despite having DSTV. Small details were neglected: instead of teaspoons, the room only provided thin wooden sticks reminiscent of a coffee takeaway place—hardly appropriate for a 5-star hotel. The small cupboard had only hanging space with no shelves, limiting its usefulness for storing clothes.

Service & Communication: A colleague visited reception midday and found all the receptionists on their phones, along with other staff walking around distracted by their devices. They had to say “excuse me” just to get noticed at reception. My welcome letter was addressed to a previous guest and dated a day earlier, adding to the sense of inattention. Communication through the Booking.com app was ineffective; my reply received an out-of-office response and was not acknowledged at reception.

Facilities: The tennis court is in a state of disrepair, clearly neglected and unfit for use. The restaurant experience was marred by waiters who couldn’t identify basic ingredients in the food, an issue for anyone with dietary restrictions. The pop and rock music playing in the elegant dinner setting felt out of place and detracted from the ambiance.

Overall: This hotel lacks the attention to detail expected of a 5-star establishment. Maintenance issues, outdated facilities, poor communication, and inattentive staff are glaring flaws that diminish the experience. Perhaps this hotel was a true 5-star decades ago, but it has not been maintained to meet any...

Positives:|The lobby is stunning and creates a great first impression.|The staff are super friendly and welcoming.|The restaurant serves delicious food.||Negatives:|The positives quickly faded once I entered the room and explored the facilities.|The room felt old, tired, and dark, lacking the luxurious touch one expects from a 5-star hotel.|The shower only had a small removable head, with no ceiling-mounted option for a spa-like experience. The long pole holding the showerhead was falling off the wall, which I ended up fixing myself.|Basic maintenance issues abounded: the bathroom bin was broken, the towel hook on the door was damaged, and the toilet leaked, making noise throughout the night.|The air conditioning system was poorly calibrated. Even on the lowest setting, it was either too cold and windy or completely off, leading to stuffy conditions.|The entrance door to the room shuts with a loud thud, and the pressure arm needs adjustment to prevent potential injuries.|The desk’s glass top rendered my computer mouse unusable, making it impractical for work.|The charging station and row of plug points didn’t work. I had to get on all fours under the desk to find two usable outlets.|The TV was outdated, with an unordered channel list that required clicking through each channel individually, despite having DSTV.|Small details were neglected: instead of teaspoons, the room only provided thin wooden sticks reminiscent of a coffee takeaway place—hardly appropriate for a 5-star hotel.|The small cupboard had only hanging space with no shelves, limiting its usefulness for storing clothes.||Service & Communication:|A colleague visited reception midday and found all the receptionists on their phones, along with other staff walking around distracted by their devices. They had to say “excuse me” just to get noticed at reception.|My welcome letter was addressed to a previous guest and dated a day earlier, adding to the sense of inattention.|Communication through the Booking.com app was ineffective; my reply received an out-of-office response and was not acknowledged at reception.||Facilities:|The tennis court is in a state of disrepair, clearly neglected and unfit for use.|The restaurant experience was marred by waiters who couldn’t identify basic ingredients in the food, an issue for anyone with dietary restrictions. The pop and rock music playing in the elegant dinner setting felt out of place and detracted from the ambiance.||Overall:|This hotel lacks the attention to detail expected of a 5-star establishment. Maintenance issues, outdated facilities, poor communication, and inattentive staff are glaring flaws that diminish the experience. Perhaps this hotel was a true 5-star decades ago, but it has not been maintained to meet any...

We booked our stay through a third-party supplier (Booking.com), and our meals were supposed to be included. Upon arrival, we were informed of breakfast times for the following days, and during breakfast on the first morning, the hostess confirmed that meals were indeed included in our stay — we simply needed to sign for them.

However, on the second day at checkout, a different hostess waited until we had already started our meal before informing us that meals were not included. After a long discussion, she called a supervisor who said they would look into it, but instead of resolving the matter, we were presented with bills for the meals and escorted to reception by a waiter to ensure we paid — treated as if we were trying to leave without settling a bill. The supervisor never returned with feedback and instead charged the meals to our room, claiming an “error” had been discovered.

There were at least four opportunities during our stay for the hotel to clarify any issue regarding meal inclusion — on arrival, at our first breakfast, after our first meal, and before the second breakfast — yet this was mishandled each time. The manager’s only response was that it was a “Booking.com issue,” and that we should take it up with them.

In addition, our room was unclean on arrival, with plastic and confetti on the floor, stains on the carpet, and broken light fixtures.

Overall, this was a very disappointing experience. There are far better and more professional places to stay in Sandton. I would not recommend...