Premier Hotel Cape Town — Hotel in Sea Point

Our four day experience here was nothing short of dreadful.

To start with, "free wifi" as displayed on their advertisements isn't very honest, given what they really mean is that wifi is given out in one code per guest, giving them access to 500MB of internet. Which is not particularly much, not enough to stream anything with any hope, especially for a 4 day stay when the codes have a 24h clock - you can ask for more, and the reception gave us stacks of them when we'd asked, but it's unbelievably unclear that that's the protocol, cause it's clear from the wifi login page that the hotel theoretically wants you to pay for more data. Only when we were brave enough on our second day to just inquire about rates were we handed a stack of vouchers. On top of that, they seem to reuse vouchers or codes, because several of them had run out of data or were half empty by the time you entered them yourself. And this is all not to mention how frustrating it is to have to re-enter a code every little while, and not know if the wifi is just slow or you've run out. I was tempted to up my review a star, because when we told a manager that members of our party had university class selections to do while we were staying, and that 500MB that could cut out randomly just wouldn't do, he signed us into an Admin Account that had access to 3.5 GB of data. But honestly, my problems just mounted as time went on, enough to negate the second star.

When we arrived, the room key I was given wasn't working, and so I was told that another would be brought up ASAP. Exploring my room uncovered that the phone there was broken - I couldn't call anyone, let alone reception. I waited an hour for my key and didn't get one, and couldn't really leave my room without a key to get back in. Nor could I call another member of my party for rescue! I ended up waiting until someone in our group came asking for something, which they then annoyed reception to fix my phone and bring my room key.

The cleaner they use in the rooms while you're out is an assault on the senses: lemon and chemical fills your nose till you choke. As if dumping the chemical everywhere will do the cleaning for them, little else is done other than making the bed. Members of my party and I ran out of toilet paper, soap, towels, and more. And none of the maid staff seemed to speak very much English. We had to ask twice to get toilet paper for two rooms - two times per room, so four all together. The rooms also are hit or miss as far as outlets go - Some members of our party were fine with the placement and use of them, others had a problem or two, but at worst there were rooms with only two outlets: one beside the desk, which when anything was plugged into it wasn't enough to use (discovered this unhappily when I woke up to my phone a percent lower in life than when I slept). The only other plug was actually behind the bed - the heavy mattresses and even bed base had to be pulled out to access it, as the only plug in the room that would charge anything. I couldn't keep my lights plugged in when I was using it to do anything else, so I just went without and let my room look like a distaster due to the mattress pulled out (which the maid staff would promptly push back in and remake, tossing whatever I was charging or using onto the desk).

Two hubcaps from our car were stolen in the hotel parking lot/garage.

The dining room was mediocre - all the staff seemed to ignore you unless you dragged their attention away. I ordered room service one night - and had to call twice. The first time, I asked what an item "of the day" was, to hear laughter and indignation over the phone before being told they would check and call the room back. I waited half an hour or more and never got a call back. When I called again, someone else answered and I was able to order - he knew the items of the day offhand, so I can only assume the first person I talked to simply wanted to get me off the phone.

I could rant longer, but I think my message is clear. This is not a 4 star hotel. Take your...

We opted to hire a few rooms for our annual meeting, with people flying in from various parts of the country and abroad. The brief was short, arrange a hotel that could accommodate our group within walking distance of the beach, could facilitate meetings including to share a few meals together, breakfast and the likes. Finding a hotel with availability in high summer in the Atlantic seaboard was no easy task, although we did have sufficient time to plan, and the Premier Hotel was able to assist with the required room matrix, at a reasonably fair price considering other hotels I’ve visited.

On arrival the service was efficient and check in seamless. The rooms were clean, and in hindsight, the rear building without sea views were the better fit as they were shaded in the high summer afternoons, keeping the room cool, which in our case was absolutely necessary, due to the ailing air-con units that sounded like jet engines about to give up the ghost. We eventually requested to have it repairs after 2 nights, only to have another installed that even worse, I have to give it a good nudge every hour or so, as it rattled off it hinges, that got so loud, I thought I was on a runway with a jet engine roaring in my ear. On day 3 I bumped into the serviceman who did the repair, he looked at my shyly and asked ‘how’s the AC?’, my response was is not working and very loud, his response was absolutely showroom, ‘yeah, I figured, it’s missing a pipe, will only get here on Monday (four days later or two days after I’ve checked out). What could I do, went to reception explained the story, and got the good ol’ shoulder shrug of confusion, saying the hotel was full.

The show goes on… it was by this stage we had realised the pool was under repair, but was informed the green pond will be revitalized and functional by day 3 which was when the AC hit the critical mass, aka the deadzone! So we really needed to cool off from the afternoon heat by this stage, and thank goodness the pool mechanics had all their pipes 🫠

The afternoons were rather vibrant with recliners and umbrella’s, while waiters served cocktails on the deck. Incidentally the WiFi also worked fine on the deck, and around the hotel got reasonable range with a 20mg download speed in most places.

Going back to the room, and speaking of pipes, we noticed the basin had poor drainage and requested to have it cleared as we could barely perform our daily oral hygiene protocols in good measure, alas this was rectified when the room was serviced. The shower worked well with a more than fair provision of soaps and washes daily. In general the room was clean and serviced well every day. Linen was crisp and clean, with of the most comfortable pillows I might add. The small fridge was suitable for a few small items, but the freezer was over frozen and needed to be defrosted. The small kettle worked with tea and coffee refilled daily. We did get some extra fresh milk as the sachets provided were not my cup of the preverbal tea. The last thing worth mentioning, is the television - channels were of poor quality, and reception, well think grainy and snowy, reminiscent of the 80’s when the weather came in beating the analog aerial on the roof. That being said the TV units must have been some of the first edition flat screens, as old as my adult teenagers, so no internet connection activity, and far from smart.

Lastly the food - the breakfast buffet is well rehearsed and on point. From croissants to omelettes and everything In between. Dinner is different approach, with a small À la carte menu available on certain nights which I found really sub-standard for the price, while buffets on alternative nights, which was well received by our colleagues. Although the city is littered with superb eateries, so we ventured out more than most. Try the Mojo market just up the road, followed by a sunset walk on the promenade.

All in all my experience was pretty good, bar the aircon & not so smart TV.

Viva La Sea...

We recently had a very disappointing and frustrating experience at Premier Hotel - Sea Point. Not only did I have a terrible stay, but I also had items stolen from my room, and the management's response was extremely unprofessional and dishonest.

The room itself was far from satisfactory. It was dirty and poorly maintained, with stained carpets and outdated furniture. The bed was uncomfortable, and the bathroom was in desperate need of renovation. The overall cleanliness of the room left much to be desired, and I found myself questioning the hotel's commitment to hygiene and guest comfort.

To make matters worse, I discovered that some of my jewelry had been stolen from my room, even after I asked that no one enter, but they did. I immediately reported the incident to the hotel management, expecting them to take swift action and address the issue. However, their response was shocking. Instead of taking responsibility and conducting a thorough investigation, they tried to brush off the incident and suggested that I must have misplaced the items myself. It was clear that they were more concerned with protecting their reputation than with resolving the situation and ensuring guest satisfaction. I would also like to note that this hotel outsources their cleaning staff.

I was left feeling violated and disrespected by the hotel's lack of accountability and empathy. It is unacceptable for a hotel to ignore the theft of a guest's belongings and attempt to cover it up. This experience has left a lasting negative impression, and I would strongly advise against staying at Premier Hotel.

I hope that my review serves as a warning to other potential guests and encourages the management of Premier Hotel - Seapoint to address these serious issues and improve their standards of service...