Kilima Franschhoek — Hotel in Stellenbosch Local Municipality

We spent a wonderful 2 weeks in South Africa, however, our 2 week stay was marred by the 3 nights / 2 days in Franschyhoek at the guest house Kilima from 1st - 4th December.||||Eugene Swanepoel, the CEO of the management company responsible for Kilima, harassed us when we raised concerns. ||||Key points about our treatment and experiences at Kilima guest house, owned by the Schutte family:||||Initial concerns raised over the phone and via email which were escalted to Eugene Swanepoel which include:||- no one staying at the guest house apart from us - no management or supervisor of some kind.||- no accurate internet access codes for external communication (and no phones in rooms) ||- no management on site at all||- the helpful maid was only there for breakfast and to show us our room the night we arrived.||- this was supposed to be a special treat / highlight as we paid approximately €500 per night to include breakfast.||- breakfast of a poor quality||- pool not cleaned and so had algae and contained cumbersome and cleaning equipment in the pool and so rendering the pool unfit for use||- dusty cupboards. My clean clothes were initially unpacked onto dusty shelves.||- We had to perform tasks normally completed by staff, such as locating keys to close shutters at night. We felt exposed without the shutters closed.k||||Situation deteriorated with intervention of Eugene Swanepoel:||||- during my first call with him he insisted I tell him what the solution was, albeit I suggested this was really his role to find a solution. Accordingly, I suggested that the price should be reduced to €350 per night. We would never have selected to stay in a foreign place in an empty guest house with the issues we were facing.||- Eugene Swanepoel was clearly very angry that we had not paid upon arrival. I confirmed to him both verbally and email, that we would pay our bill but needed to know how to make the payment. We realised when checking our Booking.come reservation it stated to pay at the property. Eugene Swanepole advised we should have paid at our arrival. How could we have paid the maid was responsible for checking us in and as it was approximately 9.00pm she needed to be with her children and made no reference to payment. This was not our responsibility or failing. We later came to understand there was a credit card machine stored in a room in the guest house.||||- I advised Eugene Swanepoel that we would glady pay by credit card and this would be most efficient. He was very agressive as he wanted us to transfer funds electronically, which made no sense as this would take 2 or 3 days to arrive because of the foreign currency exchange for the remittance.||||- Eugene Swanepole later called for a second time to advise that the Schutte family would not accept our suggested solution of a rental reduction of €350 per night. The full amount was required in spite of the poor experiences and our negative feedback and dirty pool.||||- It was now evident he wanted us out of the property. He appeared to have convinced himself that we were going to leave without paying. It had become self evident to my wife and I that he was completely obsessed that we were not going to pay and we found his behavior becoming one of harassment.||||- the second call was on our last evening. That evening the the maid then unexpectedly turned up at our room apparently expecting us to hand over the keys to the room and premises. She had understood that we were leaving to which I advised that this was absolutely not the case. She also appeared very scared. She had travelled with her three year old daughter. ||||- the maid went back downstairs and shortly afterwards my wife overheard her speaking to Eugene Swanepoel as the maid had her phone apparently on speaker. He was advising her that she had to be on standby as they had a “situation”.||||My wife took the phone on the maid's request and sought to speak with Eugene Swanepoel he initially would not let her have her say. She tried to explain that she had understood he was going to throw us out in the dark with nowehere to go. Eventually he threatened to have her thrown into jail and then put the phone down on her. The maid seemed shocked by what he said, but not shocked by his tone or voice level.||||- My wife was very distraught. We were already running late for our very expensive dinner reservation at L’Epice restaurant that we had looked forward to so much.||||- needless to say, our evening at L’Epice was completely ruined as we could not enjoy our meal. My wife was not only shaken by Eugene Swanepoel’s very aggressive and allegedly harassing behaviour, but we were also concerned that we would return to find ourselves evicted and therefore without accommodation late at night.||||- The following day the maid advised we had to be out by 10.00 a.m. Although there were going to be no guests for several days. She also produced, to our surprise, a credit card machine. I fail to understand why this was not used earlier and this would have avoided us being subjected to alleged harassment and agression my Eugene Swanepole. Initially no printing facility was available to provide us with a proof of payment and confirmation of amount we had paid.||||- It was not sufficient for Eugene Swanepole to have us pay with our credit card. But he insisted the maid take a photo of the payment confirmation and email it to him. This rediculous situation with him on the phone instructing the maid and her nervous behaviour, I have all captured on video. It makes for a very sad and unacceptable sight.||||- I would strongly suggest that Eugene Swaneplow and the Kilima guest house be banned from the hospitality industry in SA unless Kilima reforms itself. But, regardless, I would strongly suggest Eugene Swaneploe should not be authorised to work in the hospitality / tourist sector. It became self evident there was absolutely no interest in our experience but it was all about maximizing revenue and minimising cost.||||- we had planned to request our suite cases be left at the guest house until about midday so that we could visit the museum. I was hoping to do some quick research for a friend in Geneva whose family arrived in Franschhoek as Huguenots. Instead we simply caught a taxi to Cape Town at 10.00 am. We arrived in CT too early to check in.||||- I relayed our terrible experience at Kilima to the taxi driver en route to CT and he was absolutely livid. For, as he very rightly suggested, people like him were making every effort to provide a great service and experience, to endure that us tourists would have a great experience and wish to return. However, he fully recognised, that one person such as Eugene Swanepoel, can undo the hard positive efforts of all others in the service chain. He quite correctly felt let down as we could not wait to leave and will never return to Franschhoeck. This experience of ours will inevitably be repeated many times as we recount our visit to Franschhoeck.||||- the Kilima property is an impressive physical residence, but having a positive experience is far more important than bricks and mortar.||||- The Schutte family should not be authorized to use the property as a guest house without proper onsite management and professional overall management. Guests should not be frankly ripped off, subjected to aggression, harassment and threats of being put in jail. If the Schutte family cannot arrange for someone to take our credit card upon our arrival, this should not be weaponised against us. There was a credit card machine onsite the whole time we were there. Why did Eugene Swanepole not just get the payment taken early on? This was his full responsibility and failure. We might have then had at least an improved experience in Franschhoeck. May I duggest thst his own incompetence and unprofessionalism is responsible for our poor experience and ultimately mistreatment. Kalima has a book with the values and visions of the Schutte family - regrettably these were not reflected in our experience.||||- The Schutte family should not be allowed to have Eugene Swanepole treat the maid in the manner he did. Witnessing her fear and have her come out in the evenings, for our late arrival and the last night when it appeared we might be evicted, was a struggle for her. She even had to bring her 3 year old daughter out. We were frankly shocked to see a maid being mistreated like this in modern South Africa. This was wholly unacceptable, as she was also apparently expected to be waiting for his phone call and instructions all night, with littel respect for her right to a work/life balance.. She was doing her very best under the circumstances and without supervision. She was expected to assume the roles of management, maid, cook accountant and customer relations - particularly as management did not even seem to be remotely contactable at times. To what extent Eugene Swanepoel's treatment of her and us reflects a systemic problem with Kilima management we cannot comment, but it seemed to be that the maid was not unfamiliar with it. She did, however, seem be shocked, that he went as far as to threatening to throw my wife into a...

YOU’LL FIND KILIMA IN A QUIET RESIDENTIAL AREA WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE TO THE MAIN STREET IN THE QUINT SMALL TOWN OF FRANSCHHOEK WHERE THERE’S PLENTY TO DO||KIRSTIE, THE MANAGERESS,|WARMLY WELCOMED ME & FROM CHECKIN TO CHECKOUT, I WAS BOWLED OVER AT THE METICULOUS ATTENTION TO DETAIL IN EVERY ASPECT ||I STAYED IN THE ELEGANT HONEYMOON SUITE COMPLETE WITH TEA, COFFEE, WATER, FRESH FLOWERS, AN ARRAY OF FRUIT, NUTS, BILTONG & PRETZELS||YOU CAN PURCHASE EXCELLENT WINES FROM THE HONESTY BAR…..||THE HIGH THREAD COUNT BED LINEN FELT SO SOFT & LUXURIOUS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO GET OUT OF BED BUT THE THOUGHT OF A HEARTY BREAKFAST WAS CALLING||THE TABLE IS BEAUTIFULLY LAID WITH FRESH FLOWERS, CANDLES, SPODE WILLOW CROCKERY & CRISP WHITE LINEN & WHEN THE MORNINGS ARE CHILLY, THE FIRE IS LIT WHICH ADDS TO THE DRAMA & AMBIENCE OF THE SETTING ||KIRSTIE HAS A WAY OF SPOILING YOU AS SHE EVEN PEELED MY BOILED EGGS!||PATRICIA THE MAID WAS EXTREMELY CHARMING & EAGER TO PLEASE ||WOULD I RECOMMEND KILIMA??? YOU BET AS I SO CANNOT WAIT TO RETURN ||THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, FROM AN EXTREMELY SATISFIED...

One word - EXCEPTIONAL! Our stay truly was exceptional.

A world-class 5-star property that is glamorous and beautifully furnished with exquisite views and gardens. Art lovers will appreciate the abundance of art adorning the walls and various spaces. Ideally located near the main road but far enough away that you are actually in the country.

Kirstie, Nandi & Patricia made us feel so welcome from the moment we arrived. The FRP Suite, aka the Honeymoon Suite, was luxurious and romantic, with thoughtful touches throughout. Loved the super comfy bed, breathtaking views, plush gowns and fabulous bath.

Breakfast was an indulgent affair with freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee, fresh fruit, a variety of breads and preserves, as well as a cooked breakfast - the perfect way to start your day in beautiful surroundings.

It's a 10/10 for me! Would love to return during the summer months. For a 5-star luxury stay in Franschhoek that will wow you, seriously considering booking your next...