We (father & teenage son) spent 3 nights here, having made all arrangements for Durban through the hotel. It turned into a real debacle - the first transfer from the airport to the hotel didn't turn up (though later claimed that he did); the hotel had the booking but claimed it had not been paid for; the return transfer to the airport turned up but again claimed not to have been paid for. All the money had been transferred from Australia to the hotel and receipt acknowledged weeks before, but on arrival they insisted that I pay for the hotel again. What can you do?
The actual hotel bill was ultimately worked out and I was refunded before I left. That was an experience in itself - for some reason, they couldn't refund it back on the credit card which I had used to pay the second time, so I had to be paid in Rand/cash (lucky it was not our last night in South Africa), but reception had insufficient cash so I had to wait another day for it. I have since been refunded for at least one transfer, but suspect not the other, and have given up.
The hotel itself was not too bad - a bit run down, but you get what you pay for, and I've stayed in much worse. TV, desk, coffee/tea, ensuite, ok beds; quite a large room, very light (not dark and dingy). Some staff were helpful, others were more interested in tips, but overall the staff were not unpleasant. It is well located along the Golden Mile beachfront. I've stayed in that area before and seen real violence, so you should be careful, but it was uneventful this time. We had a good view of the beach from our room. Breakfast was pretty good - your usual hot & cold breakfast buffet, with eggs made to order. We had a couple of drinks at the bar.
We spent time at the nearby (short taxi ride) Suncoast Casino complex - some good restaurants and some average restaurants; lost money at the casino and saw a new release movie there. We also ate at McRib, just a short walk up the road from the Tropicana. The Tropicana is also reasonably accessable to uShaka Marine World, and we visited Gateway (the huge shopping mall), but needed a cab to get there and back (arranged by reception).
I'm not sure I'd stay here again - whilst the location is familiar, my experience with the hotel in terms of organisation left me disappointed to say the least.
