Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! Pretoria Menlyn — Hotel in Gauteng

A review of the Protea Fire and Ice Hotel in South Africa by Allan Quartermain. I arrived at this urban establishment around 8 pm on a Saturday and was given a room with two twin beds which I thought a bit odd however having just finished a 14 hour sojourn from Sydney Australia and being a man of some ruggedness I accepted the room. Arranging my laundry into the graciously supplied bag I headed for the lobby to drop off my laundry and to have dinner at their café. I was informed by the wonderful front desk group that there would be no laundry on Sunday. I returned my laundry to my room and famished went on to the café to have their 250g hamburger. The burger was delicious although the French fries could have been hotter and crispier. Sunday morning came around and I was indeed pleased with my ham cheese and mushroom omelet as part of the breakfast bar. Sated I loaded my laundry into my backpack and utilized my ever faithful google maps to locate a laundry facility open on Sunday. I found “The Laundry Company” a mere 2.5 kilometers away and set out on foot. Little did I know of some of the steep inclines which awaited me on this not so perilous journey however it was good exercise and with all of the good food over the last few days, a necessary endeavor. I was quite pleased to meet the most helpful owner of the “The Laundry Company” who informed me that they would have no problem getting my laundry done and that the only thing they could not do on Sundays would be dry cleaning of which I had none. I enquired as to whether they would be able to deliver and was told that would be no problem as they were the laundry service provider for the hotel I was staying at. Further discussion revealed that as a matter of routine they did drop by to collect laundry at the hotel on Sundays to keep the drivers on a set daily course and that it was the hotel that did not collect laundry. The owner of “The Laundry Company” even offered me a lift back to the hotel however, as mentioned before I had calories to burn, thus I declined her gracious offer. Quite satisfied that all was well in hand I began the trek back to my hotel which was thankfully mostly downhill. Arriving at my hotel I went up to my room and took care of pressing business issues. As 6pm rolled around I began to worry that my laundry had not yet been delivered. I approached the front desk and asked if laundry had been delivered yet, explaining my expedition up to this point including that I had dropped it off with the company that handles their laundry. Rather than check with housekeeping who handles the laundry they called the laundry company and were informed that the laundry had indeed been delivered as promised. Finally they called housekeeping and told me it would be brought to my room. I expressed to them my irritation and displeasure with their entire process so far. I am hoping the rest of my stay is uneventful however these inefficiencies do...

I stayed at Protea Fire & Ice Menlyn for about a month and I have mixed feelings about my experience.

I booked a suite for most of my stay. The unit was clean and well-kept, but the thin partition-style walls meant I could hear neighbors if they were loud, which really compromised privacy. For a 4-star hotel, I expected proper walls. Also, no kitchen was available in the suite. At almost ZAR 5000 per night, I personally feel that should have been included.

For dining, I initially went with the half-board option that included halal packed meals from a third party. They charged about ZAR 1200 per day for a fixed menu with no choice, which honestly felt like poor value. Later, I switched to their in-house halal-friendly meals, which were much better and something I would recommend. Breakfast from their kitchen was also very good.

Service overall was average. Housekeeping staff sometimes knocked even with a “Do Not Disturb” sign up. On one occasion, a restaurant staff member was unnecessarily rude when I made a simple request, which is not the attitude you expect from a 4-star property. Another disappointment was that the amenity kit was not provided upfront, and when I asked, they charged me for it. Food deliveries were also inconsistent. Sometimes they arrived on time, other times I had to call and remind them daily, which was frustrating.

I also had a frustrating incident with the WiFi being down for a full day. Despite several follow-ups, it was not resolved until late, and the reception staff initially responded in a dismissive way. Eventually, they did offer a small ZAR 500 refund for the inconvenience, which I appreciated.

That being said, there were positives. The hotel is modern and secure, front desk staff were generally friendly and welcoming, there is underground parking, and the property is unaffected by load-shedding, which is a big plus.

Overall, I would rate my stay 3 out of 5. If this were a 2-star hotel, my expectations would have been met, but for a 4-star, it fell short in key areas. I would recommend it for short stays where you might not encounter these issues. For long stays, I would...

The room layout is terrible fir an executive suite. The closet is minuscule at best, the bathroom is way too small and the layout of the shower causes water to cover the floor and the countertop. To close the blackout drapes in the salon, I had to stand in the sofa. The overly large round table in the salon obstructs opening the refrigerator. Terrible design. The hotel looks very nice on first glance. We couldn’t stand being in the bar because at about 5:00 they blast music throughout the bar and lobby. I ordered a bottle of white wine in the bar and it came out at room temperature. When I complained the waiter offered to bring us some ice for the wine. We refused the bottle. The manager came over snd he told us that all the bottles of white wine were warm. He offered to put the bottle on ice and he offered a complimentary cold glass of wine while we waited. We didn’t have the time for the wine to get cold. We had a glass of cold white wine. That made no sense to us. They could pit cold glasses if wine yet they did not have any cold bottles of wine. We did get a bill for the wine anyway even though the manager offered us a complimentary glass of wine. I guess we had to wait for the bottle. At checkout, the manager charged us for breakfast despite the note in the file in which the breakfast was included. The first day was charged and credited back to our account t. The second day we got charged for the first and second day. I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone , despite my loyalty to Marriott. We left after 2 days snd are spending an additional 12 nights at a comfortable...