This hotel is absolutely excellent! I have spent a wonderfull time there. The people are so nice and the hotel is very well designed. The bathroom is so nice.

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We stayed at this hotel for 4 nights following a safari with the intention of relaxing by the pool and maybe taking in a few of Johannesburg's sights. The good points of the hotel were:-

Great lobby, bar, restaurants, terrace, pool area.....in fact the whole hotel is very well designed and feels quite luxurious.
Good food. From the breakfast, to lunch, to dinner; every meal we had at the hotel was of a good standard.
Great service. The bar staff, restaurant staff and concierge staff were all excellent.
Location:- The hotel is about 40 mins from the airport and is located in a complex featuring a casino and a rather disney-like indoor shopping mall with many restaurants. This area was nice to stroll around at night, but the restaurants were fairly mediocre and i would recommend eating at the hotel as a first choice.

Bad points:
Check In: Unfortunately the check in staff were not very efficient, and were not aware of the procedures for Ambassador members. So we had to change rooms, have the bill ammended and also had trouble getting our 4pm standard check out. However, everything was sorted out fairly quickly.
Swimming Pool: Whilst i really liked the pool area, the pool itself was quite dirty at times with bits of rubbish and feathers from the ducks which kept flying in for a dip!

Overall i would stay at this hotel again, as it was perfect for our needs, and the friendliness of the staff made me feel very welcome.

We stayed at the Palazzo for one night in November 2006. We found it to be a good hotel. Nothing outstanding, but it was a good five star property.

We were met at the airport by one of their drivers, who whisked us to the hotel in a new Mercedes. Check in was fine, despite how busy the lobby was. The room was fine, if a little on the small side. You’d expect this size of room in London, New York or Hong Kong, where space is at a premium. But you don’t expect it in somewhere like Johannesburg.

The room may have been small, but it was perfectly formed. The bed has huge and very comfy, while the mini-bar had a good selection. The bathroom was a good size, with a separate walk in shower and a bath. I’ve noticed a couple of people comment about the cleanliness, but our room was clean and comfortable.

The style of the hotel is mock-Italian. It tries its best, but it does come across as a little Disneyesque.

We didn’t try the restaurant, but the room service was good and arrived quickly. The breakfast was good (particularly as we’d just flown in from a tent on the Maasi Mara), there was a good range and it was all good quality.

The pool was excellent. Free juice to keep you hydrated, little tubs of sunscreen and papers to read.

All in all, not the best hotel we’ve stayed in, but by no means the worst.

Mum and I stay at this hotel 7 times from the day it first open. Coming from our home in the Seychelles we loved our 2 week experience twice a year at the Fabulous Pallazo.
Breakfast food and service had been sensational, the African and Italian theme blended perfectly and the staff could not be faulted in any shape or manner, basicly it was managed perfectly!!

2005 we started to notice the down grading of this fabulous property, breakfast standards dropped, no more could one get the extra's on the buffet or the high level of service and the special touches like being welcomed by name, being served by the same staff who remembered your favourite toast and beverage. Group tours swamp the buffet, the food is now less appealing and the atmosphere is lost.

The rooms rate's started at ZAR 599 per night and climbed by ZAR 300 each year to now be at ZAR 2000 plus per night. This has taking away the shine compared to staying in other buzing cities.

The bar next to the reception once offered a sparkle to the evening with the bar man offering fully attentive service, remembering what you like to drink, always offering recommendations and as soon as you order a drink that bring over a choice of drink snacks. This has now finished. The staff are not happy and as Mum and I stayed there so often the staff remembered us and told us to complain to the management who they said are down grading all departments to control cost.
We ordered drinks and had to ask for snacks, the bar man promised the snacks but we never got them and the bar was not busy.

Another shame is the Manager has placed a cheap looking Thai Massage bed in the lobby of the hotel, the Thai Massage lady has also set up her table to includes figures of Buda and burning incents. Mum and I so surprised, we guessed it must be a personal friend of the manager.

Our room we received was dirty, we have a dirty sock in the cupboard, mums bed was not made and the bathroom had used cotton buds and other toiletries not taken away. This gives the impression that the whole room is dirty and that you are paying for something very second hand.

We have stop staying at the Palazzo, the new management is not that good and has taken away something very special.

The location is great but the hotel is now just average and not worth the US$400.00 plus per night.