Malagas Hotel — Hotel in Swellendam Local Municipality

Firstly I expect a response from the owner\management absolving themselves of all blame, a simple read through responses to negative reviews on all platforms reveals this nature. However, I will write down our experience. The hotel is situated on the banks of the Breede after a 40km drive on a dirt road after the N2 turn off. This is advertised on the website and cannot fault the hotel for this but my observation is that the road is not great, we drove a 4x4 through to Malgas and it was uncomfortable. Upon arriving we were greeted by a lady in the reception who asked us to sign in and provide our name. We duly did this and explained had a Hyperli voucher for our stay. At this stage the mood changed, she noticed our 6 week old baby and immediately said we needed to upgrade to a bigger room as the room we booked was too small. She quoted us R350 per night extra so a total of R700 for a 50cm baby. She then said she would show us both rooms and we could decide. She showed us to the booked room and we said it was fine for our needs. At this point she said that the hotel had a strict policy of "two bums per bed" which made no sense since the baby would be sleeping in the bassinet we brought with us. After a 4 hour drive, a hungry baby and no help with our bags I challenged her by asking "Why did you show us the room if we can't stay in it?" Either stunned by logic or not willing to engage in a debate, she turned and walked out the room without saying another word - excellent customer service!!!! They have now updated the fine print on Hyperli.

We thought we would cool down in the pool but when we found it covered in freshly cut grass we decided against it. To be fair to the hotel, the grass was removed by the next morning but the pool remained more green than blue.

On the first evening we went to the restaurant and ate off the pub menu. We both had burgers which were almost inedible due to being so tough. We overheard a couple at the next table complaining about their burgers too. The best part of the dining experience was the Castle Lite which was cold.

After that we resolved to eat out at all costs and had further meals at the Grunters Pub where the locals laughed when we told them about our experiences and explained that the hotel was well known for poor food and that the pub gladly received alot of business from their guests.

Overall the room was sub-standard and lacked little touches that would probably be expected in a...

PART 1:

8 of us booked the malgas hotel for one night and then the house boats for 2 nights (that's part 2, please see houseboat listing for that review) It was my husband's 50th birthday and he wanted to rekindle the nostalgia of a family houseboat trip that he took in France when he was a child. Being a special occasion, I wanted to make night 1 in the hotel excellent for him as that was his actual birthday. I spoke to Janine in advance and asked if it was possible for them to arrange a cake and the plan for that evening was flowing drinks, a delicious and plentiful meal, cake and more flowing drinks.

The staff were beyond friendly and hospitable. Janine was on site from check in and right through the evening looking after our rambunctious group. The cake had been arranged and it was beautiful and delicious. The staff also came out to sing happy birthday which was not expected at all but so nice. I can go on and on about the excellent level of service as well as the friendly and fun nature of all the staff. They really made our night! We also met the owners at the bar and they were so sweet and friendly!

The food was outstanding! We are foodies and one of our guests is a chef and we were so happy with the quality and variety of the dinner and breakfast. Really well done there, you won't leave hungry.

Reading some of the other reviews, is the hotel dated. Totally. But for us, the 80's aesthetic was charming and I didn't get Rick rolled once (ok that was slightly disappointing) the vintage vibe really works for this place!

Could the pool table be in better condition? Sure, If you're a shark. But, it kept our kids busy all night so we could party and frankly, I wouldn't let them play with nice stuff anyway. Five stars for a kid friendly activity.

There is also a 3 legged dog and seriously fat cat who I unsuccessfully tried to kidnap but, you might have more luck. (She's not fast, I was just drunk and slow)

This is a place for people that want a casual, friendly, safe holiday. It is not the four seasons and it doesn't pretend to be. This hotel is casual, vintage, honest and full of heart. Much like the breede community as a whole. We loved every minute there and will definitely be back ! (Mostly because I really...

We were asked for put on our masks before being greeted having run in from the rain. The rooms are outdated, stains in the carpets and worn out furniture. Our room had no warm water and we were given the option to move to another room and then requested to move back again the following morning. We could hear the room next door even though they were talking at normal levels. The breakfast the following morning took very long to arrive. Our food got cold while we waited for knives and forks. The cappuccino served are the Nescafe sachets for R10 and then sold at R24, not even properly stirred to dissolve. The orange juice is concentrated juice, not real orange juice. We were moved between rooms in the rain due to no hot water, we were clearly unhappy about our breakfast and nothing was offered as compensation, no help with luggage. The bar closes at 20H00 in the evening, even though it is the only place to eat or drive for quite some distance. We were meant to stay for another two nights but drove down the road to De Hoop Nature Reserve where we stayed between wild life in beautiful cabins, could eat and drink what we wanted when we wanted and were treated like guests for LESS MONEY. Read this review, do your research and save yourself the hassle. I recommend staying at the De Hoop Collection down the road. The review is not the only negative review. Malgas Hotel is outdated, the staff are friendly but have no idea what they are doing and the owner clearly has no intention of making any improvements seeing as none have been made since its origin in 1996. My wife and I are easy people to keep happy. We are polite and friendly. I myself have never sent food back at a restaurant before staying at Malgas Hotel. I am not known to give bad reviews, so I do not say these things lightly. Our one night stay at Malgas Hotel - R1800 for the room and R500 for fried drinner in the pub and the breakfast mentioned above. Our one night stay at De Hoop Collection - R990 (40% winter discount), R900 dinner (fine dining experience with trained waiters and a fire place) or the option to...