Baobab Hotel — Hotel in Matabeleland North Province

Well before arriving here some member of our group who had stayed here before warned us that it was not the most luxurious place. They were not wrong. ||So arrival at the hotel is quite "impressive". To the reception area. Well not to bad. The check in went fairly well. It seemed that most of our group was in what I called the "B" block and to get to this we had to walk through a building site where they are rebuilding some of the area!! the B block has 2 floors. I was on the ground floor.||So the room. First impression was - not to bad. I have stayed in worse. The room is basic. Lets start with the bed. Yes there was a bed and not to bad I slept well. The bedding was clean. There was / is a nice big fridge there. A work / dressing table and chair provided. A couple of comfy chairs also provided. Wardrobes 2 of them and big. Plenty of space to put cloths etc. Also there is a safe and yes it was bolted to the wall. there is a kettle and tea / coffee stuff provided. It was very evident that there is ongoing refurbishment work taking place and this was brought home to me when I tried to turn on the TV. It did not work. problem was that it was not plugged. Simple me thought. Plug it in. Yeak OK. Plug on the end of the lead was a round pin plug and the nearest wall socket just happened to be a square pin one. And the nearest round pin socket was to far for the lead to reach!!! So a trip to reception and some time later the maintenance gentleman provided me with an adapter lead. ||So to the bathroom. All the usual. Wash basin, toilet and shower. And everything worked. The shower was OK and hot, well at least mine was. Other members of our group had showers that did not work properly, shower head falling of the wall and no towels.||So to the food offering. The restaurant if you could call it that was 2 big rooms with table and chairs and not very inviting. The first night there they were doing a BBQ. this was good, all food cooked well. The second night the group ate in the restaurant and ordered from the menu. I had all ready decided not to have dinner and I am glad that I did not as the service was slow, very slow. many in our group waited for over 2 hours. it seems that most hotels just cannot cope with a large group all at the same time.||But guess what. There was free wifi in the rooms and the grounds. So my room was OK. Others not so.||Would I stay here again. All depends on what I am doing. If in a group then yes, if on my own NO.||O must not forget....

Well before arriving here some member of our group who had stayed here before warned us that it was not the most luxurious place. They were not wrong. ||So arrival at the hotel is quite "impressive". To the reception area. Well not to bad. The check in went fairly well. It seemed that most of our group was in what I called the "B" block and to get to this we had to walk through a building site where they are rebuilding some of the area!! the B block has 2 floors. I was on the ground floor.||So the room. First impression was - not to bad. I have stayed in worse. The room is basic. Lets start with the bed. Yes there was a bed and not to bad I slept well. The bedding was clean. There was / is a nice big fridge there. A work / dressing table and chair provided. A couple of comfy chairs also provided. Wardrobes 2 of them and big. Plenty of space to put cloths etc. Also there is a safe and yes it was bolted to the wall. there is a kettle and tea / coffee stuff provided. It was very evident that there is ongoing refurbishment work taking place and this was brought home to me when I tried to turn on the TV. It did not work. problem was that it was not plugged. Simple me thought. Plug it in. Yeak OK. Plug on the end of the lead was a round pin plug and the nearest wall socket just happened to be a square pin one. And the nearest round pin socket was to far for the lead to reach!!! So a trip to reception and some time later the maintenance gentleman provided me with an adapter lead. ||So to the bathroom. All the usual. Wash basin, toilet and shower. And everything worked. The shower was OK and hot, well at least mine was. Other members of our group had showers that did not work properly, shower head falling of the wall and no towels.||So to the food offering. The restaurant if you could call it that was 2 big rooms with table and chairs and not very inviting. The first night there they were doing a BBQ. this was good, all food cooked well. The second night the group ate in the restaurant and ordered from the menu. I had all ready decided not to have dinner and I am glad that I did not as the service was slow, very slow. many in our group waited for over 2 hours. it seems that most hotels just cannot cope with a large group all at the same time.||But guess what. There was free wifi in the rooms and the grounds. So my room was OK. Others not so.||Would I stay here again. All depends on what I am doing. If in a group then yes, if on my own NO.||O must not forget....

The hotel is conveniently located in Hwange, and could offer a great stopover site for tourists and business people. The emphasis is on COULD.|There are many areas needing attention at this hotel. |1. The building itself could be brought into the 21st century: fix pealing plastering, sort out outdated window panes and doorframes..., a lick of paint all round, public toilets need a complete overhaul. Curtains in the conference room could be taken to the furnaces at the coal mines and your customers will NOT miss them!! The rooms are alright, but the shower cubicle makes you think twice before showering. Shower cubicles are tiny, minuscule, or any other such adjectives. The nightmare would be a client falling out of the shower cubicle and having to endure the disgrace of calling for help whilst lying naked on the floor covered in soap, maybe with a broken coccyx!... it was a recurring scenario in my mind as I showered in the tight space |2. Staff - all are pleasant but could benefit from extra training |3. Management - first stop - get a physical customer review book to help with monitoring and evaluation!|4 . Food - training staff will sort out this area! Currently, food is bland, with the occasional dirty tablle linen as unwelcome extras!|5. Pricing - incongruent to services proffered, and general quality. |6. Residents parking bay could benefit from paving. Currently drivers have to negotiate a snarling ground iron pipe just as you turn towards the parking. That pipe is a hazard?||Rooting for the hotel to improve - it has...