Emakhosini Boutique Hotel — Hotel in Morningside

Dear Emakhosini Boutique Hotel Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am writing to formally express my frustration and disappointment regarding the lack of assistance I have received from your establishment following a recent booking and subsequent cancellation.

I had booked three rooms at your hotel via Bookings.com (Reservation Booking: 5898) and contacted your team telephonically to inquire about the process for including dinner in the reservation. I was advised accordingly and sent banking details via WhatsApp, after which I made a payment of R2,700.00 to cover dinner for the three rooms over the course of three nights.

Unfortunately, upon arrival at your premises, the three gentlemen who were meant to stay at the hotel requested to be moved to a different establishment. As a result, I had to cancel the booking and was advised by your reception desk to process the cancellation through Bookings.com, which I did. On Monday 06 October 2025, I contacted your hotel to request a refund of the R2,700.00 paid for dinner. To date, I have not received any assistance. Each time I call, I am either told that Mr. Peter Kweyama (the manager) is not available or that I should contact the accountant directly, which I believe is not my responsibility as a customer.

I am extremely disappointed by the lack of accountability and follow-through from your team. I trusted your establishment to handle this matter professionally, and the continued delays and lack of communication are unacceptable.

I kindly request that the full amount of R2,700.00 be reimbursed without further delay.

I trust that this matter will now be treated with the urgency and professionalism it deserves.

Kind...

So, I decided to wait a bit before posting this review because, at the time, it was a really upsetting experience. So here goes: As a staff, we opted to go to eMakhosini for our year-end lunch. We contacted the place in November and made a booking. We were told we had to pay a deposit, to book our table as the place was going to be very busy that day... and we did. We were also told that we would only be able to order from the christmas menu, and we had to select a menu option beforehand, which we did. The waitress that we were in contact with was not very responsive, and we had to keep following up. On the day we arrived at the hotel, nobody knew we were coming.. apparently, there was a "miscommunication." We then had to wait for approx 45 mins for our table to be sorted... mind you, there were no other guests at the restaurant. At this point we were starving... but we still had to wait half an hour to 45 minutes in between each course. Everything was overcooked... starter, main and even desert (the hardest brownie I've ever had). The seafood was like rubber, and the presentation of the food on the plate was terribly underwhelming... The flavor of the overcooked food was bland. Further to this, the dessert options of the menu we selected were not available, but we still had to pay the full price of that menu. The waitress who attended to us had a very dull demeanor and was not pleasant at all. It appears that there were preparations being made for an evening function, so we were made to feel like we were in the way. I can not recall a time when I received such bad service. Definitely would...

So myself and a group of friends reserved a table on Friday. When we got there the waitress informed us that they had a private function booked and therefore hadn't made a table for us. She then offered us a table outside which we accepted. Half an hour later the table had not been made, but a manager came up to ask us why we declined the table inside the restaurant. We attempted to explain the mix up to her, but she chose instead to insist that she had set up a table for us inside but as we had declined the table they had proceeded to break it up and set up outside. After a further ten minutes she took us to a table outside which was not set (as in it hadn't even been wiped clean) and left to fetch menus . Two waitresses placed napkins on the table and then took them away with no reason. The manager then returned and asked why we hadn't ordered anything and we told her that it was because we still hadn't received the menus. She then offered to bring us menus but we stated that we'd rather leave. She then asked if we were "a bit disappointed" and then kindly offered to give us a bill for drinks that we had already paid for.... As we were about to leave a second manager appeared and offered an apology and a private room but it was too little too late. I don't think that I will ever go back there and I certainly can't see myself recommending this...