Karoo View Cottages - Prince Albert Accommodation, Karoo — Hotel in Prince Albert Local Municipality

We regularly stay in Prince Albert. I am sorry to say that the Karoo View House, a new addition to the properties offered by Karoo View, is by far the worst place -- but also by some distance the most expensive place -- we've stayed in in this town. We were going with friends, and the booking was made late in the year this time, in Nov, for 3 nights over New Year. (We got 2 quotes, 2 weeks apart, in Oct and Nov, first for 2 nights, then for 3. In the 2nd quote, the price per night mysteriously increased by R1000 per night. According to the owners, they increase prices annually in Nov. Why would one suddenly have a big annual increase on a property that had been priced and introduced to the market only a few weeks before?). The pictures didn't look promising, but nothing else was available by now, and the other properties offered by these owners, and their reviews, seemed great. So we booked. A big mistake. Karoo View House is an old property, in which only the barest repairs have been made. It's filled with a mishmash of very unattractive and saggy throw-out furniture -- hardly usable. The Karoo garden is messy and neglected, with an old bath and a non-functioning old jacuzzi. The building is incredibly drafty and the wind that blows every afternoon howls like a gale right through the house, even with all doors and windows closed, in part because one outside door has four panes of broken glass (exposing sharp edges that provided a hazard for 3 small children). The cramped and dysfunctional kitchen is woefully equipped -- no tea towels, dishwashing cloths, oven dishes, bread knife or salad bowls. There's a dishwasher, but it's disconnected, with no socket to plug it into. Only 4 knives and forks were available for 7 people for the entire period we were there, requiring constant dishwashing, even during dinner. There is a minute little waste bin without a bag to line it. The house was advertised as 2.5 bedrooms, but the .5 bedroom turned out to be an uninhabitable lean-to that was locked. A positive was that the beds and linen were reasonably comfortable (although with some staining on the linen -- it clearly wasn't very new). And there is working air conditioning. I'm sorry to say that this smacks of the owners quickly throwing together some leftovers from a store room in a property that isn't actually fit for letting to make a quick buck over the high season. It was unpleasant, unattractive, uncomfortable and barely functional. The price charged is easily double what it should be in this market. If one leaves reasonable customers feeling cheated, and wanting their money back, then your position in a competitive market become a precarious one. Marion did ask us, on one occasion where I was present, whether everything was okay. But what does one say if almost everything is wrong, and you've been wildly overcharged? We weren't going to spend the 2 days we had there debating this matter. And they couldn't, in any event, fix the fundamental problems in a day or even a month. The owners know, or should know, that this place is unacceptable. They also offer the Karoo Masterclass house, which is clearly of a really high standard. If the Karoo View House, which is the opposite, had been priced properly, we would have been more tolerant of the poor quality and not have felt...

There was something special about staying at Karoo View Cottages. We were initially worried about travelling during these uncertain times, especially during a second wave of covid, but Karoo View has gone the extra mile to make you feel extremely safe. Extra precaution has been taken to ensure that everything is sanitised and contactless. The host, Howard, went out of his way to make sure our stay in Prince Albert was an amazing first experience. In terms of the cottage itself, we had everything we could possibly need during our stay. It was super clean and comfortable, and the view from the veranda was really, really beautiful. We brought our dogs. When we arrived, Howard had arranged for pet fencing on our veranda and when we weren’t using that, they were free to roam in the enclosed area outside, which they loved. There’s a really nice walk you can do right outside the cottages which we did every morning, which also added to the experience of our stay. The tranquility and beauty of Karoo View has made me want to definitely...

In Nov24 we made a booking at Karoo View Cottages 24-26 Dec and shortly there after my husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I informed the establishment 9 Dec that we would no longer be making use of the booking and was informed that they would leave it as a credit for later use. In March25 I informed them that my husband was not doing well and would rather prefer a refund as travelling for us was no longer an option. Howard informed me that we would only be refunded half of the amount that was paid. Despite the fact that this is not the normal “excuse” and out of our control, giving them enough notice to make use of our booking for others, I personally feel deeply disappointed as we’ve supported this local business as often as possible, referring new business and buying products from them in the past. Unfortunately our lives have changed dramatically and do not expect people to understand. But this was just a gut punching experience I never expected. Good luck to you and your business Howard. We only wish the...