Leopard Walk Lodge — Hotel in The Big Five False Bay Local Municipality

Starting with the positive: The enthusiasm, friendly demeanour and helpfulness of the general operations and FOH staff was very welcome. The staff could not be more ready to help guests as best at they were able (remember the latter for later).

We stayed in one of the Buffalo Thorn rooms which is exactly what we paid for. It was clean, had all the needed amenities, strong wifi and a good air conditioning unit. The rooms were also well serviced and replenished every day. The only major criticism for the room was that the ceiling could have done with a lick of paint.

For the Lodge as a whole the general buildings, design and overall site were well appointed and it was pleasant to have all of the animal, reptile and bird life around.

Unfortunately there were several glaring negatives:

Firstly, while very willing and helpful, the staff were quite obviously not fully or effectively trained in hospitality operations and guest service. By no fault of theirs, this is a management/operator problem. A small amount of good, experienced and effective training would go a long way to enabling such enthusiastic staff to shine. Also some hands on quality control from management would go a long way in ensuring that the trained staff maintain a high standard. One of the managers quite proudly mentioned that the staff were left up to their own devices to "be able to express themselves", while a good notion... No good without some training and at least a bit more owner/manager/supervisor quality control.

Segway on to the root issue, management... In a sentence: somewhat clueless and absent almost always. On check in the manager on duty was not at all aware that the deposit payment had not been received despite our telephonic follow up before leaving on our trip. This is however surprising as there seemed to a general tone of petty money saving focus that we encountered on several occasions during our stay. We were asked to pay cash for ice-creams instead of signing them to the room and were almost inadvertently encouraged NOT to pay a gratuity if we were going to pay it by credit card, citing "increased turnover and tax" as a reason for not paying the staff their deserved gratuity if it was not in cash. Not great for customer service!!! The mind boggles...

Of a morning at some stage one of the memebers of management would come into the breakfast room, talk quickly to only a few of the guests, got to reception, have a chat to staff in the BOH areas and then dissappear before the breakfast service was done. We seldom saw any management present during the day and they were not seen for the dinner service at all. To my previous point, a bit more presence would go a long way to ensuring service QA and staff confidence.

Lastly, the food. While it was clear that the cook put together the menu and the products well to the best of her ability and her enthusiasm and pride was such a pleasure to behold, it was clear that much more training was needed to get the food up to the standard potential of the lodge. The complement of food was obviously pieced together from a very tight budget, which is all fine but the fact that if one did not rock up to the buffet exactly on the start of meal time you may be disappointed to find very little to no lamb, chicken pie, bacon or potatoes left, much akin to a hostel feeding hall. Surely a slight loosening of ingredient volume shaving would allow the cook more leeway to produce enough food for seconds and allow enough food to not have your guests feeling all "back of the queue" should they decide to go to dinner or breakfast a little later than when the proverbial gong is sounded.

The lodge has potential as do the staff, most certainly, but there is a need for an improvement at management and or...

An awful experience from beginning to the end. A day prior to arrival I called the hotel and spoke to Dale who had no sign of my booking which I had made and paid a 50% deposit for a month in advance. All he could say was not to worry the hotel is fairly quiet I have a room available. On arrival we were checked in by Sinenhlanhla who had almost no knowledge about the establishment when we asked basic questions. During breakfast the next morning we waited more than an hour for a simple scrambled eggs, bacon and mushroom breakfast after being the 2nd or 3rd couple in the breakfast room. Upon check-in we were told that there is a manager that will have a chat with us regarding activities that we could do in and around the area. This manager spoke to every other guest in the breakfast room except us. We approached other guests to find out about activities to do in the area and only then did he feel the need to rush over and give me a few pamphlets. The standard of food is below average. Really is a waste of an amazing establishment due to the kind of service offered.

I personally felt that once money is received they don't care about the service offered there after. The manager on duty during my weekend away only paid attention to guests that are either frequent or there for a long period of time and I gathered this by over hearing conversations.

Really unhappy and don't expect anything from this lodge to compensate me as it will be a...

Horrible honeymoon Experience, be warned. My wife and I went on honeymoon to the this lodge, They really only care about your money. 1: we had to pay upfront without even being shown to our room after a 50% deposit was made, this greeting was not very welcoming. 2: The food is sub par, I would rather go for a burger elsewhere, service is appalling. 3: For the money you have so many other choices. They truly don't care about your stay! The rooms are amazing though, but forget about any service as they are ill maintained.

Update# The owners response is false, we paid a 50% upfront and prior to even escorting us to our rooms they demanded that the payment be settled. No hotel does this anywhere.... Furthermore there were no threats made, the owner asked me if we enjoyed our stay and I was frank and honest with him that the service of the establishment is no where near on par, the food was horrible, you are better off at wimpy, they just plain claim what they are not. Not once did i ask for a refund. I stated that should this have been a first class establishment like they claim they would have taken better care of their patrons and treated them better. But the owners dishonest response should show you who you are dealing with. And yes I will admit that I am sour about the experience because it was...