Kings Lodge Hotel
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Rychlá fakta
Příjezd od: | 14:00 |
|---|---|
Odjezd před: | 10:00 |
Snídaně | Možnost snídaně |
Domácí mazlíčci | Domácí mazlíčci povoleni za příplatek |
Děti | V tomto hotelu vidí děti rádi |
Vybavení
Wi-Fi
Parkování
Bazén
Lázně
Restaurace
Kouření zakázáno
Více o hotelu Kings Lodge Hotel
Kings Lodge Hotel
Vykreslena v historii a stojí jako skutečný důkaz přírodní krásy matky přírody, krále LODGE HOTEL má venkovské kouzlo, které konkuruje nikomu jinému.
Hodnocení na 
Pár
Komentář přidán: 21. 8. 2024
Ubytován/a od srpen 2024
Value for money
Value for money stay, Brent excellent host he even helped us carry our bags, excellent selection of breakfast, which is included in the price. Menu not badly priced with a big selection they make very good pizza and a very good butter chicken. Rooms are clean, comfortable bed, good view and quiet.
The only letdown the rooms is small and old and not all the rooms have a standalone shower. Their alcohol is also limited for example they did not have red square or bernini.
The only letdown the rooms is small and old and not all the rooms have a standalone shower. Their alcohol is also limited for example they did not have red square or bernini.
Cestující ve skupině
Komentář přidán: 23. 6. 2026
Ubytován/a od květen 2026
Kings Lodge dissapointment
Attended a wedding at Kimgs Lodge on 29 May 2026. Substandard service and meal which can only be described as extremely poor....not recommenfed
Obchodní cestující
Komentář přidán: 23. 6. 2026
Ubytován/a od květen 2026
FROM "HERO' TO 'ZERO" - HOW THE MIGHTY HAS FALLEN - KING'S LODGE HOTEL, HOGSBACK, SOUTH AFRICA
This story may be a bit long, but if anyone is considering either organizing a Function of ANY kind or even planning on booking ACCOMMODATION at KING’S LODGE in HOGSBACK any time soon, it may serve as beneficial to read this through to it’s conclusion.
Having spent many, many enjoyable stays at King’s Lodge (and even often POSITIVELY posting on here, about the WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES I’ve had their over the past 4+ years, it pains me to now find myself having to post a negative review about the absolute DISGRACEFUL and DISINTERESTED and UNHELPFUL way we and our guests were treated by both Management and Staff AND the absolute disgusting state of the Accommodation we had booked there, on the occasion of my daughter’s Wedding held King's Lodge Hotel on Saturday, 30th May, 2026. The problems were however not ONLY contained to the treatment of during our “weekend HORRIBILIS”, but had already started to rear their heads a month prior to the wedding,which in restrospect, we should have seen as the first ‘red flag’.
Last year in October 2025 , when my daughter decided she wanted to have her wedding in Hogsback, she scouted various venue options in Hogsback, (as there are quite a few really lovely venues for Weddings on the Mountain), I suggested she use Kings Lodge, largely due to my always wonderful experiences of Professionalism, Precision Attention to Detail, Friendly and Helpful Staff, Cleanliness and everything on Point, to which I had become accustomed during my many previous stays there AND at functions I had attended there in the past.
Everything was planned and ready to roll, but then suddenly all communication from King's Lodge suddenly stopped about 4 weeks prior to my daughter's wedding date. On 8th May, 2026, with neither my daughter nor I being able to reach the GM, (whom my daughter had been dealing directly with throughout the planning process), I then sent a Whatsapp message to one of the Ladies on staff (whom I believed was the ‘acting Manager’ and whom had also been a big part part of the planning process from King’s Lodge side and whom my daughter was also dealing with) to check if everything was still on course for the wedding, ONLY to be informed that the Hotel had no details about my daughter's wedding, as they had a ‘system problem’ and seem to have ‘lost their emails’ and we should send all the details through to them again. At that point I lost it and phoned the hotel. After 3 attempts in a half-hour, the phone was finally answered. I asked to speak to the ‘acting Manager’ but was told she would only be in at midday and the staff member who had answered the call could give me no further information. When I asked to speak to the General Manager, I only THEN found out THEN that...and I quote verbatim, "She is no longer here. She doesn't work for Kings Lodge anymore" and that the Hotel was under new Management. I immediately called my daughter and informed her of the new developments. She then contacted King's Lodge and spoke to a lady, (whom I only found out was the NEW General Manager, when I met her on my arrival for my daughter's wedding over the weekend), who confirmed that they had ‘lost’ the emails and therefore had no details about my daughter’s wedding.
My daughter naturally was in a chronic state of anxiety, especially when being told by the wife of one of the OWNERS that they had contemplated CANCELLING my daughter’s wedding at King’s Lodge (and this with only 3 weeks to go…I mean who SAYS that to a Bride so close to her Wedding AND when the Hotel was ALREADY FULLY-BOOKED out by our Guests and ALL DEPOSITS ALREADY PAID), but they then decided to see it through. She was then again requested by the Owner’s wife, to forward all emails and details pertaining to her wedding arrangements, since all the emails at the Hotel were lost. After doing so, they then suddenly wanted to change certain things that had already been offered, arranged AND agreed to by the Hotel and accepted by my daughter, BUT because it had all been discussed with, arranged by and offered by the PREVIOUS GM, the Owners then wanted to retract. I advised my daughter to stand her ground, as I told her that ANY IN-HOUSE STAFF problems happening at King's Lodge, should be contained IN-HOUSE and should NOT in ANY WAY impact on what was already promised to her and agreed to and the basis on which she made her decision to hold her wedding at King’s Lodge. After much back-and-forth of email correspondence and finally a meeting, the issues were finally sorted out and her wedding at King's Lodge was finally back on track. However...this is where the wheels REALLY started to fall off in terms of King’s Lodge, as both a Venue for Events and an Accommodation establishment. (Whether by mismanagement by the new Management or by deliberate design of sabotage because my daughter stuck to her guns with what was promised, is anyone’s guess)!
Part of the ‘Wedding Package’ that was offered to my daughter (and which I have since confirmed with a few other Brides who had held their weddings there in the past), was that the use of the Venue would be FREE, PROVIDED the Bridal Couple booked out the entire hotel with their guests. Knowing from past experiences how well-run always used to be, we recommended to guests that King’s Lodge would be their best option and as such, it was ENTIRELY BOOKED OUT by Guests attending the Wedding...but sadly, it left us with ‘egg on our faces’ for recommending our guests book in there, as THAT'S where it all fell apart. (Bear in mind, this wedding was arranged with King’s Lodge since October 2025 already, so they had AMPLE time to sort out problems and check and ensure that everything was running like clockwork). Itemised here below, is the long and comprehensive list of problems we encountered, from arrival of ourselves and the first guests on Thursday 28-05, to the departure of the last on Sunday, 31-05)
1. MISTY (Self-catering Cottage)
A) When I and my family checked into this cottage on Thursday afternoon, I noticed that No water from taps in the kitchen, but water in the Bathroom taps. Although immediately reported on our arrival on Thursday afternoon, it was ‘sorted’ only late on Friday afternoon by telling us that the TAP and we must just keep turning the tap UNTIL the water appears).
B) Although 4 of us occupied the Cottage, there were only 3 Dinner plates, 2 Salad Bowls, 3 Soup/Cereal Bowls, 3 Knives, 3 Coffee Mugs and 2 Glasses. (There were however 4 of other crockery and Cutlery items).
C) The TOASTER kept TRIPPING the plugs. After the 2nd time of complaining about the problem, with no interest shown, we simply decided to forego having toast with our breakfast for the duration of our stay there, as nothing was done nor was the Toaster replaced.
D) Friday was a particularly cold and mostly overcast day on the mountain. We had no firewood requested for wood to be brought to us 7 times during the course of the day since, nothing materialized until 20.30pm, but only AFTER I messaged and complained to the owner’s wife. My point here is that the Hotel staff KNEW they had a FULLY-BOOKED Hotel, at the beginning of Winter, yet had made NO attempt to ensure that an ample stock of firewood was available, ANOTHER POINT to be made, is that at LEAST our firewood was finally BROUGHT to us after all my complaints, but other guests had to meander out in the dark to fetch their own.
E) The drain of the kitchen sink didn’t have any cover and when the scour sponge got washed down into it, we had to call the handyman to retrieve it, which cost him to go outside the cottage and open the drainpipe from there in order to retrieve it and toss back into the cottage through the kitchen window.
F) Being a self-catering Cottage, I took Frozen items with to make for evening meals, but as we ended up with alternative dinner plans for both Thursday and Friday nights and the Wedding on Saturday, I never needed to use any of the frozen foods I'd taken. I only realise that the FREEZER WASN'T WORKING and all my frozen foods had gone limp and soggy and some had gone off on Sunday when packing to leave. I brought it to Management’s attention and they sent a gentleman to our cottage, who simply turned the thermostat up, which SHOULD have been checked and done PRIOR to our arrival.
2. STARLIGHT (Self-catering Cottage)
A) Where the parents of the Groom stayed. When they checked in on Thursday afternoon, there was no Toilet Paper in the Cottage, a shortage of towels and no water at all. When the Groom's Father went to Reception to report this, they simply handed him 4 toilet rolls in a clear plastic bag and a Towel which he had to take back to his Cottage himself, instead of doing the PROFESSIONAL thing and sending a Staff member with the items. The water issue was only sorted on Friday afternoon.
B) Half of the lights in the cottage didn't work and neither did some of the plugs, yet no effort was made by Management or staff to attend to that,
C) One table in the unit was also broken and had to be ‘angled’ to prevent it from falling over and one of the chairs was falling apart at the seams. Again, no interest shown by staff.
3. SHADY (Self-catering Cottage)
A) Although the Fridge was switched on, the guests deicoveeered the temperature had been turned right down and the Fridge was hot inside.
B) There were no glasses at all in the Cottage.
C) WORST OF ALL HOWEVER, the free-standing fireplace was broken at the back and within minutes of them lighting a fire, the entire Cottage was overcome by smoke, causing them to run outside coughing and choking and needing to leave all the windows and doors open on a freezing mountain night, to get rid of the smoke. The smell permeated their entire cottage and their clothing right up until check-out on Sunday. When someone went to check on the problem on Saturday morning, again nothing was done about the problem and the guests were simply told to 'rather not use it again". (These particular guests have also been loyal and regular guests at Kings Lodge, going there at LEAST 4 times a year and never had a problem until now, but have vowed to NEVER return there again).
AND NOW…THE WEDDING!!!
1. On Thursday and Friday, the Bride and Groom and their entourage and some guests, worked tirelessly to set out the tables in the Dining-room without one staff member offering ANY assistance whatsoever.
2. We had chairs brought in from East London as the Hotel didn't have enough chairs for the number of Guests attending, and because my daughter wanted all the chairs to be the same, she hired the required number of matching chairs from EL. As her ceremony was held outside on the grounds of Kings Lodge, with the Reception being held inside in the Dining-room, said chairs had to be moved to the Ceremony area outside and then back into the Dining-room for the reception. NOT ONE SINGLE staff member offered any help with this task. The Bridal party and guests had to set them out on the grounds and the guests had to then carry their own chairs back up to the Dining-room and set them out for the Reception.
3. The Groom asked Management if he could use a small table (which stood just randomly inside the dining-room) as the Communion Table for the Ceremony and was told a flat-out NO. He then had to run around to all the Cottages to see if he could source one suitable to use, which he fortunately did.
4. Having obtained permission from the Hotel to provide our own Canapes for the Cocktail hour, the trays of canapes were brought up from EL on Saturday morning. The guest who brought them asked if she could leave the trays in the Hotel kitchen for the 4 hours prior to being set out on the deck and she was refused permission and told to leave them out on the deck (in the sun). She eventually left them in a section of the Bar..
5. With it being a Cash Bar provifed a whole host of more problems The Barman was clueless and kept mixing up orders and prices and most people were over-charged. The card machine was not operating due to ‘not having Wi-Fi’...so those who didn't have Cash ran a tab and paid at Check-out on Sunday. (This was also a problem for Guests who had booked into other establishments when King’s Lodge was booked out, as if they didn’t have Cash they naturally couldn’t run a Tab as they weren’t staying at the Hotel and therefore had to rely on booked-in guests to buy drinks on THIR tabs and then EFT that guest the cost of the drinks}. We had one particular VIP guest (a renowned British Surgeon in the Medical profession) who flew in from the UK just for the weekend to attend the wedding. He was buying rounds for everyone and then when his tab got to a certain amount, as he had Cash on him, he would pay... then run the cycle again. However, when he checked out on the Sunday, a lady who has been at the Hotel for years and acts as ’Assistant Manager’ tried to charge him an exorbitant amount for his tab. When he told her that was impossible as he paid the tab at intervals, she became very belligerent with him and heatedly insisted that he pay the full amount. FORTUNATELY, he kept the proof that he had paid most of the tab during the course of the evening and after calculating what he had already paid, the balance he only had to pay was an astoundingly less amount. No apology was forthcoming from her and he actually and rightfully stated, that she was trying to scam him and that he was not impressed. Not good International PR for the Hotel.
6. Shortly after the Wedding Reception had commenced and the speeches were underway, Management approached the MC and asked him to announce that all the guests must switch their WIFI off as it was strangling the functionality of the bar and Hotel. Seriously???
LAST BUT NOT LEAST…THE WORST OF ALL...THE FOOD!!!
1. The Breakfasts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were way below par. The Bride was served half raw egg. The Groom's Mother waited over an hour for her Savoury mince on Toast. The coffee took forever to be served and was cold and really bad tasting. They also ran out of coffee as well as coffee cups.
2. BUT... where the Breakfasts were bad...the Wedding Dinner provided was nothing short of ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING....and that's putting it nicely. My daughter had in-depth discussions with the previous Chef during the initial planning of the wedding and they agreed on a meal that she wanted served and he very kindly gave her a very good discounted rate. In the interim, we heard he had left the Hotel when the new Chef contacted my daughter to assure her that he would honour the arrangements she had with the prior chef and that both the meal and the price he quoted her. HOWEVER... the food that was served was not only unpalatable, but certain elements were totally INEDIBLE. The original meal decided on was Roast Beef, Stir-Fry Vegetables, Gravy and Caramalised onions, for R150 per plate. What was SERVED however, was a half plate of Mash, 2 strips of Bell pepper, about 3 'caramalised' Onions slices, 2 'stir-fry' style strips of Carrot (which half of the guests never even got), about a tablespoon of gravy (also not on all the plates) 1 single floret of either Brocolli or Cauliflower that was so hard you could shatter bullet-proof glass with it and a miniscule block of-thick, dried-out ‘alleged’ Beef (the jury is still out on what it ACTUALLY was, as very few could eat it). That tiny, thick piece of meat was so unbelievably tough that one couldn't even rip it apart with their teeth, never mind cut it with a normal dinner knife. It was dried out and totally inedible. Most of the guests returned their plates, having eaten the only really edible thing on the plate, which was the Mash, as that wasn't too bad. Neither I nor a few of the other guests were even served meat. All we got on our plate was a fist-sized helping of pure, gooey FAT. i also returned my plate to the kitchen, along with the other guests and so did the Bride and Groom, who both said the food was terrible. The plating and presentation was unappetizing too. It looked as if it had just been tossed onto the plates, as if the servers were just slopping it out in a hurry at an Ethiopian Aid Tent for the starving, with no finesse considered.
3. With ALL the food that was returned to the kitchen, mostly untouched, not ONCE did Management approach anyone, not even the Bridal Couple, to ask what the problem was, nor apologise, nor even offer to replace the food with another plate. in fact, the ONLY time we saw ANY staff at all, was when the 'waitresses' came and dropped the plates in front of everyone and then reaching across the tables in front of the guests seated there, to collect plates and also just dressed in their normal clothing. HOW DID this Restaurant ever manage to get awarded 4-star status??
ONE FINAL POINT
On the Friday afternoon, when one couple arrived for Check-in, the ‘so-called Assistant-Manager’ flat-out REFUSED to hand them their room keys, as she stated they had ‘not yet paid’. When the Bride (who had booked all the guests accommodation and was in possession of all the receipts) was called, said ‘acting Manager’ MIRACULOUSLY FOUND the payment on the system and then loudly and in front of other guests checking in, proceeded to blame the previous GM for having ‘filed’ it in the ‘wrong place’, until my daughter reminded her that she had made the booking with HER directly. THEN, at check-out on Sunday, said ‘acting Manager’ ONCE AGAIN ACCUSED ANOTHER GUEST of leaving ‘without paying’, until the Bride once again, proved that payment HAD in fact been made. NO APOLOGY WHATSOEVER was made to the guests by the staff member. UNPROFESSIONALISM in it’s WORST form, and THAT from someone who has been at the Hotel for a good few years already and SHOULD have known better.
Fortunately, my daughter's Wedding itself was beautiful and a resounding success...despite Kings Lodge staff trying their very best to sabotage it...as ALL they DID succeed in doing, was toss the once flawless reputation of King’s Lodge into the wind. The words that floated around the most from departing guests on Sunday, when thanking the Bridal couple and families for an awesome wedding, was, (and I quote), "1st time at this Hotel...and the last"/"Been coming here for years, but never again"/"shocking"/ "terrible service"/"run down" (unquote), with some of the guests actually even APOLOGISING to US that the FOOD, BAD SERVICE and STATE of the ACCOMMODATION was such a LET DOWN to what was otherwise a really beautiful Wedding.
What is MOST disturbing and even MORE unprofessional though, is that even though a number of ‘post-wedding experience’ emails of complaint were sent to both the owner and his wife( with whom the Bridal couple had dealt), to date no receipt of any of our emails of complaint has even been ACKNOWLEDGED, nor any follow-up, explanation or apology forthcoming to the Bride and Groom, from ANYONE connected to King’s Lodge whatsoever
.
Sorry King's Lodge...you went from HERO status to ZERO status in a very short space of time. How incredibly sad is that! Once again the question begs to be asked…was the horrendous experience we and our guests endured during our weekend at King’s Lodge by DEFAULT…or by DESIGN??
Having spent many, many enjoyable stays at King’s Lodge (and even often POSITIVELY posting on here, about the WONDERFUL EXPERIENCES I’ve had their over the past 4+ years, it pains me to now find myself having to post a negative review about the absolute DISGRACEFUL and DISINTERESTED and UNHELPFUL way we and our guests were treated by both Management and Staff AND the absolute disgusting state of the Accommodation we had booked there, on the occasion of my daughter’s Wedding held King's Lodge Hotel on Saturday, 30th May, 2026. The problems were however not ONLY contained to the treatment of during our “weekend HORRIBILIS”, but had already started to rear their heads a month prior to the wedding,which in restrospect, we should have seen as the first ‘red flag’.
Last year in October 2025 , when my daughter decided she wanted to have her wedding in Hogsback, she scouted various venue options in Hogsback, (as there are quite a few really lovely venues for Weddings on the Mountain), I suggested she use Kings Lodge, largely due to my always wonderful experiences of Professionalism, Precision Attention to Detail, Friendly and Helpful Staff, Cleanliness and everything on Point, to which I had become accustomed during my many previous stays there AND at functions I had attended there in the past.
Everything was planned and ready to roll, but then suddenly all communication from King's Lodge suddenly stopped about 4 weeks prior to my daughter's wedding date. On 8th May, 2026, with neither my daughter nor I being able to reach the GM, (whom my daughter had been dealing directly with throughout the planning process), I then sent a Whatsapp message to one of the Ladies on staff (whom I believed was the ‘acting Manager’ and whom had also been a big part part of the planning process from King’s Lodge side and whom my daughter was also dealing with) to check if everything was still on course for the wedding, ONLY to be informed that the Hotel had no details about my daughter's wedding, as they had a ‘system problem’ and seem to have ‘lost their emails’ and we should send all the details through to them again. At that point I lost it and phoned the hotel. After 3 attempts in a half-hour, the phone was finally answered. I asked to speak to the ‘acting Manager’ but was told she would only be in at midday and the staff member who had answered the call could give me no further information. When I asked to speak to the General Manager, I only THEN found out THEN that...and I quote verbatim, "She is no longer here. She doesn't work for Kings Lodge anymore" and that the Hotel was under new Management. I immediately called my daughter and informed her of the new developments. She then contacted King's Lodge and spoke to a lady, (whom I only found out was the NEW General Manager, when I met her on my arrival for my daughter's wedding over the weekend), who confirmed that they had ‘lost’ the emails and therefore had no details about my daughter’s wedding.
My daughter naturally was in a chronic state of anxiety, especially when being told by the wife of one of the OWNERS that they had contemplated CANCELLING my daughter’s wedding at King’s Lodge (and this with only 3 weeks to go…I mean who SAYS that to a Bride so close to her Wedding AND when the Hotel was ALREADY FULLY-BOOKED out by our Guests and ALL DEPOSITS ALREADY PAID), but they then decided to see it through. She was then again requested by the Owner’s wife, to forward all emails and details pertaining to her wedding arrangements, since all the emails at the Hotel were lost. After doing so, they then suddenly wanted to change certain things that had already been offered, arranged AND agreed to by the Hotel and accepted by my daughter, BUT because it had all been discussed with, arranged by and offered by the PREVIOUS GM, the Owners then wanted to retract. I advised my daughter to stand her ground, as I told her that ANY IN-HOUSE STAFF problems happening at King's Lodge, should be contained IN-HOUSE and should NOT in ANY WAY impact on what was already promised to her and agreed to and the basis on which she made her decision to hold her wedding at King’s Lodge. After much back-and-forth of email correspondence and finally a meeting, the issues were finally sorted out and her wedding at King's Lodge was finally back on track. However...this is where the wheels REALLY started to fall off in terms of King’s Lodge, as both a Venue for Events and an Accommodation establishment. (Whether by mismanagement by the new Management or by deliberate design of sabotage because my daughter stuck to her guns with what was promised, is anyone’s guess)!
Part of the ‘Wedding Package’ that was offered to my daughter (and which I have since confirmed with a few other Brides who had held their weddings there in the past), was that the use of the Venue would be FREE, PROVIDED the Bridal Couple booked out the entire hotel with their guests. Knowing from past experiences how well-run always used to be, we recommended to guests that King’s Lodge would be their best option and as such, it was ENTIRELY BOOKED OUT by Guests attending the Wedding...but sadly, it left us with ‘egg on our faces’ for recommending our guests book in there, as THAT'S where it all fell apart. (Bear in mind, this wedding was arranged with King’s Lodge since October 2025 already, so they had AMPLE time to sort out problems and check and ensure that everything was running like clockwork). Itemised here below, is the long and comprehensive list of problems we encountered, from arrival of ourselves and the first guests on Thursday 28-05, to the departure of the last on Sunday, 31-05)
1. MISTY (Self-catering Cottage)
A) When I and my family checked into this cottage on Thursday afternoon, I noticed that No water from taps in the kitchen, but water in the Bathroom taps. Although immediately reported on our arrival on Thursday afternoon, it was ‘sorted’ only late on Friday afternoon by telling us that the TAP and we must just keep turning the tap UNTIL the water appears).
B) Although 4 of us occupied the Cottage, there were only 3 Dinner plates, 2 Salad Bowls, 3 Soup/Cereal Bowls, 3 Knives, 3 Coffee Mugs and 2 Glasses. (There were however 4 of other crockery and Cutlery items).
C) The TOASTER kept TRIPPING the plugs. After the 2nd time of complaining about the problem, with no interest shown, we simply decided to forego having toast with our breakfast for the duration of our stay there, as nothing was done nor was the Toaster replaced.
D) Friday was a particularly cold and mostly overcast day on the mountain. We had no firewood requested for wood to be brought to us 7 times during the course of the day since, nothing materialized until 20.30pm, but only AFTER I messaged and complained to the owner’s wife. My point here is that the Hotel staff KNEW they had a FULLY-BOOKED Hotel, at the beginning of Winter, yet had made NO attempt to ensure that an ample stock of firewood was available, ANOTHER POINT to be made, is that at LEAST our firewood was finally BROUGHT to us after all my complaints, but other guests had to meander out in the dark to fetch their own.
E) The drain of the kitchen sink didn’t have any cover and when the scour sponge got washed down into it, we had to call the handyman to retrieve it, which cost him to go outside the cottage and open the drainpipe from there in order to retrieve it and toss back into the cottage through the kitchen window.
F) Being a self-catering Cottage, I took Frozen items with to make for evening meals, but as we ended up with alternative dinner plans for both Thursday and Friday nights and the Wedding on Saturday, I never needed to use any of the frozen foods I'd taken. I only realise that the FREEZER WASN'T WORKING and all my frozen foods had gone limp and soggy and some had gone off on Sunday when packing to leave. I brought it to Management’s attention and they sent a gentleman to our cottage, who simply turned the thermostat up, which SHOULD have been checked and done PRIOR to our arrival.
2. STARLIGHT (Self-catering Cottage)
A) Where the parents of the Groom stayed. When they checked in on Thursday afternoon, there was no Toilet Paper in the Cottage, a shortage of towels and no water at all. When the Groom's Father went to Reception to report this, they simply handed him 4 toilet rolls in a clear plastic bag and a Towel which he had to take back to his Cottage himself, instead of doing the PROFESSIONAL thing and sending a Staff member with the items. The water issue was only sorted on Friday afternoon.
B) Half of the lights in the cottage didn't work and neither did some of the plugs, yet no effort was made by Management or staff to attend to that,
C) One table in the unit was also broken and had to be ‘angled’ to prevent it from falling over and one of the chairs was falling apart at the seams. Again, no interest shown by staff.
3. SHADY (Self-catering Cottage)
A) Although the Fridge was switched on, the guests deicoveeered the temperature had been turned right down and the Fridge was hot inside.
B) There were no glasses at all in the Cottage.
C) WORST OF ALL HOWEVER, the free-standing fireplace was broken at the back and within minutes of them lighting a fire, the entire Cottage was overcome by smoke, causing them to run outside coughing and choking and needing to leave all the windows and doors open on a freezing mountain night, to get rid of the smoke. The smell permeated their entire cottage and their clothing right up until check-out on Sunday. When someone went to check on the problem on Saturday morning, again nothing was done about the problem and the guests were simply told to 'rather not use it again". (These particular guests have also been loyal and regular guests at Kings Lodge, going there at LEAST 4 times a year and never had a problem until now, but have vowed to NEVER return there again).
AND NOW…THE WEDDING!!!
1. On Thursday and Friday, the Bride and Groom and their entourage and some guests, worked tirelessly to set out the tables in the Dining-room without one staff member offering ANY assistance whatsoever.
2. We had chairs brought in from East London as the Hotel didn't have enough chairs for the number of Guests attending, and because my daughter wanted all the chairs to be the same, she hired the required number of matching chairs from EL. As her ceremony was held outside on the grounds of Kings Lodge, with the Reception being held inside in the Dining-room, said chairs had to be moved to the Ceremony area outside and then back into the Dining-room for the reception. NOT ONE SINGLE staff member offered any help with this task. The Bridal party and guests had to set them out on the grounds and the guests had to then carry their own chairs back up to the Dining-room and set them out for the Reception.
3. The Groom asked Management if he could use a small table (which stood just randomly inside the dining-room) as the Communion Table for the Ceremony and was told a flat-out NO. He then had to run around to all the Cottages to see if he could source one suitable to use, which he fortunately did.
4. Having obtained permission from the Hotel to provide our own Canapes for the Cocktail hour, the trays of canapes were brought up from EL on Saturday morning. The guest who brought them asked if she could leave the trays in the Hotel kitchen for the 4 hours prior to being set out on the deck and she was refused permission and told to leave them out on the deck (in the sun). She eventually left them in a section of the Bar..
5. With it being a Cash Bar provifed a whole host of more problems The Barman was clueless and kept mixing up orders and prices and most people were over-charged. The card machine was not operating due to ‘not having Wi-Fi’...so those who didn't have Cash ran a tab and paid at Check-out on Sunday. (This was also a problem for Guests who had booked into other establishments when King’s Lodge was booked out, as if they didn’t have Cash they naturally couldn’t run a Tab as they weren’t staying at the Hotel and therefore had to rely on booked-in guests to buy drinks on THIR tabs and then EFT that guest the cost of the drinks}. We had one particular VIP guest (a renowned British Surgeon in the Medical profession) who flew in from the UK just for the weekend to attend the wedding. He was buying rounds for everyone and then when his tab got to a certain amount, as he had Cash on him, he would pay... then run the cycle again. However, when he checked out on the Sunday, a lady who has been at the Hotel for years and acts as ’Assistant Manager’ tried to charge him an exorbitant amount for his tab. When he told her that was impossible as he paid the tab at intervals, she became very belligerent with him and heatedly insisted that he pay the full amount. FORTUNATELY, he kept the proof that he had paid most of the tab during the course of the evening and after calculating what he had already paid, the balance he only had to pay was an astoundingly less amount. No apology was forthcoming from her and he actually and rightfully stated, that she was trying to scam him and that he was not impressed. Not good International PR for the Hotel.
6. Shortly after the Wedding Reception had commenced and the speeches were underway, Management approached the MC and asked him to announce that all the guests must switch their WIFI off as it was strangling the functionality of the bar and Hotel. Seriously???
LAST BUT NOT LEAST…THE WORST OF ALL...THE FOOD!!!
1. The Breakfasts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday were way below par. The Bride was served half raw egg. The Groom's Mother waited over an hour for her Savoury mince on Toast. The coffee took forever to be served and was cold and really bad tasting. They also ran out of coffee as well as coffee cups.
2. BUT... where the Breakfasts were bad...the Wedding Dinner provided was nothing short of ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING....and that's putting it nicely. My daughter had in-depth discussions with the previous Chef during the initial planning of the wedding and they agreed on a meal that she wanted served and he very kindly gave her a very good discounted rate. In the interim, we heard he had left the Hotel when the new Chef contacted my daughter to assure her that he would honour the arrangements she had with the prior chef and that both the meal and the price he quoted her. HOWEVER... the food that was served was not only unpalatable, but certain elements were totally INEDIBLE. The original meal decided on was Roast Beef, Stir-Fry Vegetables, Gravy and Caramalised onions, for R150 per plate. What was SERVED however, was a half plate of Mash, 2 strips of Bell pepper, about 3 'caramalised' Onions slices, 2 'stir-fry' style strips of Carrot (which half of the guests never even got), about a tablespoon of gravy (also not on all the plates) 1 single floret of either Brocolli or Cauliflower that was so hard you could shatter bullet-proof glass with it and a miniscule block of-thick, dried-out ‘alleged’ Beef (the jury is still out on what it ACTUALLY was, as very few could eat it). That tiny, thick piece of meat was so unbelievably tough that one couldn't even rip it apart with their teeth, never mind cut it with a normal dinner knife. It was dried out and totally inedible. Most of the guests returned their plates, having eaten the only really edible thing on the plate, which was the Mash, as that wasn't too bad. Neither I nor a few of the other guests were even served meat. All we got on our plate was a fist-sized helping of pure, gooey FAT. i also returned my plate to the kitchen, along with the other guests and so did the Bride and Groom, who both said the food was terrible. The plating and presentation was unappetizing too. It looked as if it had just been tossed onto the plates, as if the servers were just slopping it out in a hurry at an Ethiopian Aid Tent for the starving, with no finesse considered.
3. With ALL the food that was returned to the kitchen, mostly untouched, not ONCE did Management approach anyone, not even the Bridal Couple, to ask what the problem was, nor apologise, nor even offer to replace the food with another plate. in fact, the ONLY time we saw ANY staff at all, was when the 'waitresses' came and dropped the plates in front of everyone and then reaching across the tables in front of the guests seated there, to collect plates and also just dressed in their normal clothing. HOW DID this Restaurant ever manage to get awarded 4-star status??
ONE FINAL POINT
On the Friday afternoon, when one couple arrived for Check-in, the ‘so-called Assistant-Manager’ flat-out REFUSED to hand them their room keys, as she stated they had ‘not yet paid’. When the Bride (who had booked all the guests accommodation and was in possession of all the receipts) was called, said ‘acting Manager’ MIRACULOUSLY FOUND the payment on the system and then loudly and in front of other guests checking in, proceeded to blame the previous GM for having ‘filed’ it in the ‘wrong place’, until my daughter reminded her that she had made the booking with HER directly. THEN, at check-out on Sunday, said ‘acting Manager’ ONCE AGAIN ACCUSED ANOTHER GUEST of leaving ‘without paying’, until the Bride once again, proved that payment HAD in fact been made. NO APOLOGY WHATSOEVER was made to the guests by the staff member. UNPROFESSIONALISM in it’s WORST form, and THAT from someone who has been at the Hotel for a good few years already and SHOULD have known better.
Fortunately, my daughter's Wedding itself was beautiful and a resounding success...despite Kings Lodge staff trying their very best to sabotage it...as ALL they DID succeed in doing, was toss the once flawless reputation of King’s Lodge into the wind. The words that floated around the most from departing guests on Sunday, when thanking the Bridal couple and families for an awesome wedding, was, (and I quote), "1st time at this Hotel...and the last"/"Been coming here for years, but never again"/"shocking"/ "terrible service"/"run down" (unquote), with some of the guests actually even APOLOGISING to US that the FOOD, BAD SERVICE and STATE of the ACCOMMODATION was such a LET DOWN to what was otherwise a really beautiful Wedding.
What is MOST disturbing and even MORE unprofessional though, is that even though a number of ‘post-wedding experience’ emails of complaint were sent to both the owner and his wife( with whom the Bridal couple had dealt), to date no receipt of any of our emails of complaint has even been ACKNOWLEDGED, nor any follow-up, explanation or apology forthcoming to the Bride and Groom, from ANYONE connected to King’s Lodge whatsoever
.
Sorry King's Lodge...you went from HERO status to ZERO status in a very short space of time. How incredibly sad is that! Once again the question begs to be asked…was the horrendous experience we and our guests endured during our weekend at King’s Lodge by DEFAULT…or by DESIGN??
Cestující ve skupině
Komentář přidán: 30. 3. 2024
Ubytován/a od březen 2024
Scenic beauty beyond imagination
Hogback a small village high in the Amatola mountains EC South Africa . It is tranquil, charming & scenic. Incredible hikes and waterfalls in the area. Throughly enjoyed your stay at the King Lodge hotel self-catering friendly staff, especially Brent. Their food are excellent, especially thanks to their chef
Cestující rodiny
Komentář přidán: 15. 1. 2024
Ubytován/a od leden 2024
A delicious, value for money meal for our family.
We had a delicious Lunch at the Kings Lodge in their pub. Everything did what it said on the box! Hogsback has very few eateries these days (the plight of the rural tourist town!) and although the menu offered simple classics, everything we ordered was very tasty. Service was friendly and relaxed. We live locally and haven't been there in ages, but after hearing good reviews about recent new chef, decided to give it a visit. We will go back for more!
Velmi dobrá lokalita
6 Main Road, Hogsback, 5721, Jihoafrická republika|0,21 km z centra města
Příjezd a odjezd
Příjezd od:
14:00
Odjezd před:
10:00
Užitečné informace
V tomto hotelu vidí děti rádi
Kvůli podrobnostem ohledně přidání přistýlek se obraťte přímo na hotel.
Kvůli podrobnostem ohledně přidání přistýlek se obraťte přímo na hotel.
Domácí mazlíčci povoleni za příplatek
Možnost snídaně
Možnosti snídaně
Kontinentální snídaně, Anglická snídaně, Bezlepková snídaně, Halal snídaně, Košer snídaně, Veganská snídaně, Vegetariánská snídaně
Cena snídaně
156 Kč (≈ 120 ZAR) za osobu
Vážení návštěvníci, tento region je momentálně zasažen extrémním suchem. Vezměte prosím na vědomí, že některá ubytování musí splňovat místní regulace spotřeby vody. Z důvodu situace týkající se koronaviru (COVID-19) toto ubytování zkrátilo provozní dobu recepce a služeb. Informujte prosím Kings Lodge Hotel o svém předpokládaném čase příjezdu předem. Tuto informaci můžete napsat do políčka pro zvláštní požadavky při rezervaci nebo se obraťte přímo na ubytování. Kontaktní údaje jsou uvedeny v potvrzení rezervace. Hosté, kteří ještě nedovršili věku 18 let, se mohou ubytovat pouze s rodičem nebo zákonným zástupcem. Je vyžadována záloha na případné škody ve výši ZAR 1250 Hostitel Vám bude zálohu účtovat 14 dní před příjezdem. Záloha bude vybrána prostřednictvím kreditní karty. Částka Vám bude vrácena do 14 dnů po odjezdu. Záloha vám bude vrácena bankovním převodem v plné výši, pokud ubytování při kontrole po vašem odjezdu nezjistí žádné škody.
Hotel přijímá následující platební metody:
Cash
Kings Lodge Hotel: Často kladené otázky
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