Turned away and **** too when requesting to book.

A heads up whem requesting a booking :

We were on Holiday in Cape Town, we've heard reviews about a stunning hotel called "The one and only at v and a waterfront. I Did some research and instantly took interest, i checked availability online, they had plenty rooms available. I called the hotel with regards to bookings, a male staff member informed me, i can come through and make a booking. We packed out bags and made our way to the hotel, got to reception, spoke to a female receptionist named, Mamichiwa, advised her, we here to make a booking from tonight, can we view the 2 types of rooma available so we know which 1 to take, she INSTANTLY said, We are FULLY BOOKED. We were shocked, i advised her, i just checked online around 30minutes ago, i called and spoke to a guy, and he advised me to come through. Her reply, unfortunately we cant help because we are fully booked, our rooms get booked out fast. (Due to not having a local sim card, i was unable to get onto the internet). We sadly left, however we knew she blatantly ****, she just judged us and turned us away. We got back to the hotel we originally booked, logged onto the wifi and checked, they had rooms open available.

I called to speak to the manager the next morning, unfortunately all managers were in a meeting. I called the next day, the manager wasnt available. I eventually logged a complain with the manager, even advised him of exact times for him to follow camera footage, if need be.

Please see the managers reply below: Trust this email finds you well. Thank you for the time taken earlier to convey the disappointment felt during your enquiry into the One&Only Cape Town during your South Africa visit. I am firstly extremely sorry for the lack of professionalism you felt and treatment experienced which is far from the standard we uphold.

I have investigated the matter and my colleague was coming from a place of stress and feeling of being overwhelmed as she wasn’t able to make reservations herself or show rooms due to limited staff around on the weekend. As you are aware the flu hit our team rather badly which increased the strain on the team at hand considerably. She does recall your interaction and it was never her intention to be brash or rude and feels extremely sorry that that was your lasting impression of the hotel.

I have addressed the matter with her to ensure it doesn’t happen in future and we will continue to monitor scenarios such as this when enquiries come in.

I sincerely appreciate the feedback given to me and the opportunity to rectify this immediately. Should you ever be back in Cape Town, please don’t hesitate to reach out and I will try and accommodate a different One&Only memory for you and your friends/family.

Enjoy the remainder of your time in South Africa and safe travels.

Kind regards, Kyle

A clear conclusion, the managers reply is full of excuses for a staff member that was lazy, and full of judgement blatantly turning us away. If she didnt want to assist us, or she was unalble to due to being overwhelmed with work, she could have advised us to book online, but she chose to lie, being FULLY aware of it. Being stressed or overwhelmed is no excuse to lie. Sadly we have been compromised from visiting this beautiful hotel due to *********** staff.