Protea Hotel Dorpshuis & Spa Stellenbosch

It is a hotel with mixed heritage and is rather rambling property. There seem to be rooms in heritage building but also in newer buildings. It is a bit of a rabbit warren, rooms spread all over the place. We arrived late in the evening after a long flight into Cape Town and then driving to Stellenbosch. The main entrance is difficult to find as it is on a side street and the name of the hotel is rather difficult to find. On-site Parking is quite limited. We were verbally recognised as gold Marriott member but no benefits were offered. We were allocated a room on the 1st floor but there were no lifts and heavy suitcases had to be lugged manually, very difficult and tiring. The room itself was not what we expected so we rang reception and they said to check in the morning and an upgrade may be possible. We then had a different person at reception in the morning and as usual the standard response was, “sorry, we are fully booked”. When we explained again that we were reassured about an upgraded room did the receptionist consulted with her manager and we were given a proper loft room with a separate living area in addition to the loft bedroom. The breakfast room is quite nice with nice original plaster ceiling. Buffet breakfast is ok with egg station if you want. The hotel is close to many restaurants on the Main Street of Stellenbosch as well as the historic buildings, some dated from 18th century. I would label it as a 3 rather than 4 star hotel.

The hotel rooms are spacious and comfortable. I like small hotels and this was it for me, and felt homely. Good spread of breakfast. Nice size pool. Can you possibly consider making it a heated pool. It was summer, but it was still very cold, The good thing is that it’s partially covered by trees and this is great in summer, but doesn’t get enough sun to warm it up a bit. Food at the restaurant is fine, not much variety, but agin it could be inspired by the size of the hotel. Service could be better, on arrival they watched us from reception with suitcase, we had to ask for assistance, before they could move. It wasn’t a good first impression. Besides that, the experience was generally good.

I would like to start by saying that I am a Platinum level Bonvoy member, and have visited six different Protea hotels, on our last two trips to Africa - four in SA. While the Protea chain is not at the top level of the Bonvoy chain, prior to this visit, we have enjoyed our visits to all of the properties. The property in Stellenbosch has both positive and negative aspects. The positives are they have very friendly staff, the property is well taken care of, the beds are comfortable and the pool area is a nice spot to relax. On the negative side, this hotel does not treat their tier members with the same level of recognition as other Protea properties that we have visited or that of any other Bonvoy properties that we have visited around the globe. That is the reason for this review. I think this must be an oversight from the management at this hotel. All of the Protea hotels prior to our visit to this location met or exceeded our expectations. This one did not! We asked about breakfast upon arrival, and we were advised that nothing was offered as we had booked the room on points. After check in, I logged into Bonvoy and opened the Bonvoy website to confirm what should have been offered. I approached the desk to query this and was then advised that that is not what I asked when checking in. I then pointed out that this is what is to be offered, and if it is not, then the member is to be compensated. I did not want the compensation, just the breakfast. I was then handed a card giving us a continental breakfast for the duration of our stay. I then pointed out that the website says breakfast, not a continental breakfast. They were firm on their offering, and that was what we had every morning. No bottled water in the room - another first in Africa, and a guaranteed late check out of 4 pm was met with rejection, due to the fact that the hotel was fully booked the evening of our departure. I again showed the staff the benefits of platinum and they then allowed us to stay until 2 pm. It is unfortunate to see this in a Bonvoy property, but in our experience, it is unique. I would not recommend this property, until management addresses these issues, and I hope that they do. I would wait for further reviews.