We purchased a Groupon for a three night stay at the Premier Hotel - The Moorings in Knysna and travelled down on Wednesday, 29 Aug. On the flight down, I jokingly mentioned to my husband that if it was a dump, we would have to just grin and bear it.

We arrived and realised that we weren't going to have bear anything - the staff are ultra friendly and helpful, the walk to our room was through a tropical garden passageway, the suite we stayed in was huge and beautifully decorated with masses of cupboards and had a massive bed which was very comfortable. The suite has two big flat screen televisions (one in the sitting room area and one in the bedroom). I could not stop grinning, but because I was so pleasantly surprised.

We were there in their off season, which meant we pretty much had the hotel to ourselves for the first 2 nights, with more guests arriving on our last day. Even though the hotel was quiet, the staff went out of their way to make us feel welcome, without ever intruding on our "quiet" time.

The Salmon Restaurant serves delicious food (room service food was hot when it arrived) and the breakfasts are well appointed (although there was no sign of the continental buffet on the first two mornings, when we were the only guests there - which we felt was understandable).

All in all, we fell in love with both Knysna and our hotel and cannot wait to return. I have heard that Knysna can get pretty hectic during the peak season, but for us our little mini break was just perfect and we will definitely return to the area, and stay at this hotel again.

A lovely spacious hotel. We stayed in the deluxe bedroom which was well equipped and comfortable. The hotel has lots of amenities, and the hallway to the rooms had a beautiful rain forest feel.
The service was very good. We had to leave early (at 4am) to catch a flight and the service we received was amazing. The manager initially tried to get us a place closer to our destination (in view of the time) however, in the busy season it was difficult hence they arranged for an early checkout and also packed us a huge breakfast.
Location wise - its a 5-10 minute drive to the main harbor in town or the viewpoints on the eastern head.

Our visit to the Premier Hotel Knysna.

While on honeymoon and looking for a good place to have dinner in Knysna, we came across this hotel. My wife and I was very delighted to find the Premier Hotel Knysna perfectly suited for an out of this world dinner.

I want to thank the General Manager and staff for making our short but sweet visit an absolutely unforgettable experience. And with a special thanks to our friendly waitron, Charles.

Kind Regards

Wikus & Grethe Conradie

Stayed in this 4star hotel on a weekend (friday to saturday) for one night mid of March 2012. Shortly after check-in at 04:00 p.m. we were told that there was a water pipe burst in George Rex Drive and hence there was no water at all at our room (not even to flush the toilet). So we had to leave for dinner without having the opportunity to freshen up a little. When we returned to the hotel at 10:00 p.m. we were told that the pipe burst was fixed. However, there was still no water at all at our room. So I had to run around with the night portier till 10:45 p.m. until we found a room on the ground floor that had running water; finally we ended up in moving from our top floor room to a room on the ground floor.This was lot of fun late at night after a nice evening in Knysna. As there was only one more couple in the hotel and regarding that the hotel management was unable to accomodate their guests appropriately, they should have closed the hotel for this night and book their guests to another hotel.

The next morning (saturday) there was a meeting of a ladies club in the breakfast restaurant. There was a breakfast buffet that was open to the four(!) hotel guests as well as for the ladies. When I lined up at the buffet with a couple of ladies I was invited by one of the ladies to help myself at the buffet, which was included in my rack rate - how bizarre.

At check-out the front desk manager insisted on payment of the full rack rate, which I - of course - refused. So she called the hotel manager who was very unfriendly, had no understanding at all and was not co-operative. When I told him that they were unable to handle the pipe burst and, as it was a 4star hotel, I would have expected that they book their four guests to another hotel, he answered that Knysna in total was concerned by the pipe burst. However, this was not true. At the restaurant in Knysna, where we had dinner, they did not even know that there was a pipe burst at George Rex Drive.

After having argued for a couple of minutes the hotel manager reduced the rack rate by 25% with a sore face and without any excuse for the inconvenience we had. The rack rate reduction did not help us much further, this was the least the hotel management could do - and our stay was spoilt anyway.

It is my imression that there is still a lot to learn for the hotel management on what is standard in the hotel business and how to handle customers. I would not come back.