Garden Court Kitwe — Hotel in Copperbelt Province

Restaurant: Service is consistently slow, and not only does it often take an hour for your food to arrive, but it’s usually bland, lukewarm, and not even the correct order. The fries are soggy and oily, and don’t expect any special requests to be honored. Room service is convenient but equally unreliable. For better food, try Mukubu or Indish at ECM—both offer better quality and faster service.

Facilities: The ice machine on the 2nd floor works intermittently, and when it does, the ice is often gone. Room service will take a long time if you request ice, so your best bet is to ask the bar directly for an ice bucket. Also, keep in mind that items may go missing—when I asked for ice, no one seemed to know where it went.

Room Maintenance: The rooms are small, which isn’t a big issue for a short stay, but after nearly two months, it starts to feel cramped. Despite putting up a "Do Not Disturb" sign, housekeeping will still enter your room for reasons unknown. One time, I came back to find my AC turned off and my bathroom mat missing. They also like to leave random things in your room, like apples on the desk and a Fanta in the fridge, which is confusing.

AC Issues: The AC in my room stopped working for several days. After some back and forth with staff, a fan was provided, but it wasn’t a real solution. The next day they fixed it, but it broke again soon after, and I was given a swamp cooler as a temporary fix, which lasted all of 6 minutes. If you're on the second floor near the elevator, double-check your AC—it’s likely still problematic.

Shower: The water temperature fluctuates from freezing cold to scalding hot without any adjustment on your part. Several times during my stay, it felt like I was getting whiplash from the temperature changes. There was also black moldy-looking material around the shower sealant, likely due to poor drainage. I had to put a towel down every time to prevent flooding in the room.

Wi-Fi: The Wi-Fi works fine if you’re near the elevator, but farther rooms have poor connection. It also goes down randomly, which is frustrating if you’re trying to get work done. On top of that, the password changes every week, which can be inconvenient if you have multiple devices.

Positives: The staff are friendly and always willing to help, even if there’s a bit of a language barrier. The hotel is conveniently located, with two malls (ECM and Mukubu) nearby. Mukubu is about a 6-minute walk, while ECM is closer. ECM also has a grocery store, which is a nice perk. The area also offers several pharmacies and is near a hospital, giving a sense of safety with the manned gates.

Overall: The experience at this hotel will vary depending on your expectations. It’s the best hotel in Kitwe, but improvements in service, room maintenance, and dining are necessary to reach true 4-star quality. If you lower your expectations a bit, you might have a...

The hotel is okay, not great. Pros: the rooms are reasonably sized, well appointed, clean and comfortable. The hotel is conveniently located and has extra amenities like gym and pool. Cons: the staff aren’t well trained. The reception staff were not welcoming - one was dealing with a client when I arrived, the other was just standing behind the counter - didn’t greet me or let me know that he was not working (I’m guessing). The breakfast was busy and chaotic around their small servery- not well organized. I ordered fried eggs and was told they would be brought to me - 20 minutes & 2 reminders later I still had no eggs (pretty slow for a business hotel). Left without them. The chicken strips tasted a lot like pork/beef sausages- I’m guessing they’re cooked using the same pans and utensils - not great for those of us who don’t eat beef or pork. The food is overpriced for what you get. I ordered chicken wings for room service. They tasted okay but had lots of small feathers still in them - not nice. Surely the price one pays for the wings covers complete removal of the feathers. There is a bit of a stench from the drains in the bathrooms and outside by the pool. The lift (only one) was really busy and slow in the mornings and the stairs are hard to find, which was annoying. Although there is a pool it’s more of an aesthetic feature - small and overlooked by the bar and restaurant. If you like to swim to work out, it’s not the...

I had a six day stay here and it was a mixed experience. First the good: the rooms are very stylish, the internet is relatively fast and the bed was comfortable.

It has been designed as a great hotel. The issue I had is the managing of this hotel. For instance, on arrival my shower didn't work. But it was fixed promptly but still not so cool. Then only one of the aircon vents was functioning. I came down to breakfast and the filter coffee machine wasn't functioning and when I asked, hadn't been for over a year. So, instead of filter coffee (which is normal a 4 star hotel) there were sachets of instant coffee. When I asked if there was any other option I was told the bar could make me a cappuccino.

The bar had a similar problem in the evening. There were 3 taps for draught beer all lit up and inviting. But when I asked, all three taps were not functioning and hadn't been for a month.

I ordered a fillet steak from the restaurant and it was meant to come with a cognac cream sauce. Instead, this had been swapped out for some powder-based source. I would have been fine to have a burger but my expectations had been set by the fine dining menu that I was offered - and then disappointed.

The culmination of these issues smacks of neglect or possibly a poor approach to cost-saving. It was these little things that took the shine off what was almost a...