Portland Manor — Hotel in George

We stayed at the Portland Manor for 5 days and it was not pleasant. The only thing this place has going for it is the scenery/location. The staff are not friendly nor trained. The only person who was professional, friendly and helpful was Annie. We stayed in the old building for the first few nights. The rooms were not serviced. Towels were not changed. The bedding was never changed in 4 days. The one room had water leaking from the ceiling down the roller blind and onto the floor profusely. We were given one toilet roll for the entire stay. There is a coffee machine in the one lounge which hardly ever had water in nor were the cups replaced which means we had dirty cups and saucers. The rooms could not lock from the outside. My son and his wife stayed in a room that had a porch but the owner frequented the porch a lot which was very creepy as their door which was glass was right there. My daughter in law did not feel comfortable being in the room with him right outside. There were bicycles, canoes and fishingnrods but it was a pain to get anyone to give info as to utilize or access these facilities. We moved over to the new building and our shower was blocked. I told the receptionist but she had such an attitude like she was doing me a favor. She shouted at someone to call the maintenance guy but nothing was done and we were left to shower standing in dirty water. The restaurant setting was nice enough but there was a problem with flies and no measures were taken to eliminate this issue. The food was horrid. We ordered chicken burgers but were given beef instead. This was brought to their attention but we then saw the waitress removing the beef patties with her bare hands wanting to replace it with chicken. The cheese was old, hard edges and partly moldy. The chef was just down right unpleasant and moody. Everyone looked like they did not want to work. Our dirt puled up in our rooms and we had to remove it ourselves. Housekeeping was abhorrent and they kept complaining. We certainly will not be returning to this place. I read people's reviews which were similar to ours a while ago which tells me that the owners do not take their guests complaints seriously even though we are paying.

Sorry Portland Manor but it's...

From the Rheenendal road, after a 3km journey into the unknown, you suddenly see this old historical Manor, dating back to 1863, in the foothills of the Outeniqua Mountain range. Although the restoration is on-going, they have done a remarkable job thus far and it is worth a guided tour.||||Our standard room was in the Hotel part of the property on the first floor with a small balcony overlooking a giant old tree and the back of the Manor House.||||The room is spacious enough for 2 but the bathroom is a bit small and needs some hanging space and a shelf for clothes etc. We could see that they want to keep the bathrooms as close as possible to the originals of it's time but if you are into a large modern bathroom, this is not for you.||||We had very good service from the staff and the food was also very nicely prepared and presented.||||There is a +-5km walking trail that took us around a large dam, where you can also water-ski, and through a forest where we saw baboons and antelope. A good 80+ minute hike to build up a sweat that we treated with a G&T and a cold beer on the terrace afterwards.||||The real plus for us was the peace and quiet. To wake up with the sound of birds right next to our bedroom window and no urban noises. This is an ideal place to escape the hustle end bustle of urban life for a well...

Portland Manor is slightly off the beaten track about 3km down a single track but the Manor house when approaching is something else. The moment you arrive you notice how quite it is apart from the birds and the odd plane going over. The rooms are huge we had suite 2 but if I had any negative comments it would be the bathrooms they are quite outdated and as my partner was recovering from a broken leg it was difficult to climb into a high bath shower. They also don't have double beds only single not sure if that is something that can be requested. Service in the restaurants was very good make sure you have the pizza one night the flies can be a bit of a nuisance but they have table copters to try and keep them away. I found sitting inside better. Wiifi was general good apart from the TV we struggled the whole time to connect so we could watch something. Pool area was great just to sit for an hour or two and read a book. Knysna was only about a 20 minute drive away so very close. Overall we had a great time and would certainly recommend the property foe a.long...