Stayed two nights in a dated room, took two hours and three attempts to get an iron and iron board, by contrast room service was fast, inexpensive and very good food.
Used the hotel restaurant one of the two nights, food was of a good standard, service was ok rather than good, very expensive for what it was.
Couldn't see the Marriott connection.
This Protea hotel has real potential, which would be realized if
• There were 24/7 connectivity. There is not.
• The waitresses permitted you to finish your breakfast, without pulling the plate from your table while your back is turned. They do not.
• The reception knew that Protea accepts dollars. They did not, or only found out after I returned from the forex, local currency in hand. Two hours wasted.
• They had CNN on the cable. They don’t, so I missed the wall to wall coverage of the Franken resignation.
Strong points: excellent food, courteous if apologetic staff, nice grounds
I landed in Joburg at 3am and I called Protea before I booked. The reception told me there was a water issue affecting all of Sandton that would be fixed in the morning. When I got there, no water for my entire stay! Plus, neighboring hotels had water!!! They couldn't even warn me to try somewhere else just in case the water isn't fixed.
What was worse is their poor attitude towards me. They had an issue with running my credit card and they were extremely hostile, telling me my card is declined and I have to leave or pay for my full trip upfront. It was 4:30am in the morning and I'm a single woman who just landed in Johannesburg and they were ready to kick me out with no where to go. I couldn't help but feel this was racially motivated. Who pays for a nice hotel upfront? Couldn't they wait until the morning in case I had a problem with my bank? Am I going to run away at daybreak? I've been to many hotels where I've paid on checkout. After implying that I must not have money on my card and that it's my problem, someone got the bright idea to try another machine and voila, my card worked. I asked the receptionist to get the night manager again so that I could formally lodge a complaint against the night managers He was scared to do that, the look of fear in this guy's eye! I had to force him. Weird people.
Then, they didn't even clean my room the entire stay, or help get water so I could even take a shower. The toilet doesn't flush, no water, spotty wifi. I had a major presentation to make in Johannesburg and felt like I was living in the village. It was really horrible. I've been in hotels in over 12 countries this year alone. This was by far my worst hotel experience in the last decade of traveling around the world! This is also my first hotel review.
Dear “Vivian N”,
Thank you very much for your review on ‘TripAdvisor’, of your recent stay at our hotel. Your feedback is extremely valuable to our team. One of our key priorities is to provide the highest level of friendly and courteous service. While it was a pleasure having you here as our guest, your feedback regarding the service our TEAM provided on check in caught my attention. I am very sorry to learn that the quality of service provided by our front desk staff did not quite meet your or our expectations. Please rest assured that your comments have been shared with the TEAM in an effort to improve our arrival experience.
I am saddened to hear / read that you had such a disappointing stay. Please accept our apologise most sincerely for your unacceptable experience with regards to no water in Sandton that affected our entire hotel.
Should you wish to discuss this further, kindly contact Tessa Hovell, our GUEST relations Officer on tessa@balalaika.co.za.
Please be assured that your concerns have been taken to heart and have been addressed with the relevant departments, as this truly does not reflect the high standard of service we are usually proud to offer.
I, along with all other hotel associates, am passionate about offering the best possible experience to all of our guests.
I truly apologize that the service was not fully functional during your stay. I, along with all other hotel associates, are passionate about offering the best possible experience to all of our guests and are subsequently looking into ways to improve the reliability of our Internet service.
We trust you will give us another chance to welcome you back and show you true Protea Hotel by Marriott Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton Hospitality.
Kind regards,
Jὄrg Zwinscher
General Manager & TEAM
We stopped here overnight on our way to Safari after flying over from Cape Town. The hotel is a little dated but is very comfortable, with the very good Marriott mattresses which are always good for a restful night's sleep. The breakfast choice was excellent with plenty of options. The staff were very good and the price of beer in the bar was reasonable. Would definitely stay here again.
Only stopped for 4 days and it's a lovely clean and we'll run hotel .
Breakfast was a very good variety. Cigar bar very chilled . Staff very helpful .
Rooms all nice and clean .
The hotel organised a trip to Soweto and transfer to train station for our next journey to Cape Town .
Dear "Alan B"
Thank you very much for your candid review on ‘TripAdvisor’, of your recent stay at our hotel. Your feedback is extremely valuable to our team.
How wonderful that you got to enjoy our breakfast and Lords bar our “Cigar bar”. Thank you for the compliments on our helpful STAFF and the cleanliness of our rooms.
I, along with all other hotel associates, are passionate about offering the best possible experience to all of our guests.
In taking great care in our colonial hotel our aim is to offer a comfortable atmosphere with a touch of the past.
We look forward to welcoming you back again soon.
Kind regards,
Jörg Zwinscher
General Manager & TEAM
