Zebula - not fit to be a Protea hotel

RE: Zebula lodge

I would like to bring the following to your attention regarding experiences that I have recently had at Zebula Lodge. I firstly would like to really exaggerate that the below matters are not being brought up due to receiving anything back in return but more on to bringing the actual customer experience at your facility to light. On every occasion to Zebula by myself of my family we have had exceptionally bad experiences at your Lodge and I cannot phantom how Zebula lodge can ever be rated above a two star rating or be part of the Protea hotel group. I am writing this complaint not because of the lack of quality compared to the amount of money spent at your facility but to magnify that your facility really does leave a sour taste to all the good Memories and occasions that we wish to have at your facility such as birthdays and special New year’s eve dinners with our families. Once again on the 31st December 2018 we gave your facility the benefit of the doubt and booked again but once again we were disappointed more than ever resulting in me writing this letter about our past experiences once again. 1. SPA FACILITIES AND CUSTOMER SERVICE During the week of the 1 – 5 October 2018 I booked two massages at the spa on the 6 Oct 2018 at 16:00 for myself and my mother to enjoy as a Birthday treat for myself to spend quality time with my mother.

On arrival the receptionist at the spa informed us that they booked one massage for me at 16:00 and another for my mother the next day at 16:00. That was definitely not what I booked and we were told that the spa is very busy and that they cannot make a plan to attend to my mother. I was disappointed immediately and told my mother that we should go but she insisted I have my massage and she will wait for me. When I got into the locker rooms the locker did not have any keys in them and the locker doors where broken and hanging skew. I then took my clothes in a locker without being able to lock it at all and then went to the toilet. The toilet door was also broken and could not be closed properly and since the other toilet was occupied it left me to use that one. After my treatment I went back to the changing room only to find that none of my clothes where in the locker. I manage to find my the****** and she went to go and find my clothes in the office where it was kept due to the fact that the lockers could not lock.

I cannot believe that Zebula spa can be proud of this facility and that this is ever so what acceptable. Your rates are not cheap at all, the treatments are quite average and the facility is absolutely embarrassing. I do not want to know what international guests must think of this as this is below 3rd world country standards.

2. RESTAURANT, RECEPTION AND CONSERVATION FEE Once again we decided to give Zebula the benefit of the doubt and booked for the New Year’s Eve party at the restaurant. As the confirmation stated that payment should be in advance my mother took the liberty to drive to Zebula lodge and pay in cash the amount of R3040.00 (R380 x 8 delegates) as per usual she was given a pink slip to enter with the conservation fee of R50.00 on to pay when she leaves. After paying for the New Year’s Eve dinner in advance in full she asked the receptionist to please sign her pink slip so that she can exit and the receptionist refused and insisted that my mother pay the R50.00 conservation fee. My mother explained that she was only there for 5 minutes to pay the money for the New Year’s Eve dinner and that she did not make use of any of the facilities but the receptionist refused. My mother then spoke to the lady by whom she paid the dinner bill too and this lady told my mother that she understands and that she does not have to pay this fee. This lady then went to the receptionist and told her to let my mother exit without payment but this also resulted in an argument between the two ladies in front of my mother. Never the less, on the 31st December 2018 our family arrives at Zebula for the New Year’s Eve dinner. Our waiter is friendly and the dining room looks impressive. About an half an hour after sitting down a gentleman with a list approaches my mother insisting that she shows him her proof of payment for the dinner, which she then does show him and he leaves. We all go off to have starters and because the we are spending about 5 hours there waiting for 12:00 we did not rush eating our food. Two delegates from our table went to dish up dinner and returned saying that they could only dish up a few left overs and that the food was finished. As a Manager in the hospitality industry myself I thought to myself let me wait before dishing up food as the chefs will surely come in shortly and top up the bain marees with more food. I stood up to go and have a look at the desserts and all of the sudden chefs came in removing all the chafing dish inserts and leaving. Another guest said that they have removed all the food and that there are not food coming out again. Shocked I went to the first waiter that I saw and asked him if they can please bring food as our table has not eaten yet. Nothing came from that and the restaurant manager that was there earlier on was nowhere to be found. My partner then managed to speak to a floor manager (by the name of Switch) and confronted him in the kitchen. He said they will put the food back into the bain marees and return it to the dining room. My partner insisted that we get fresh food and not cold left overs as this poses a huge food poisoning and contamination risk and switch said he will make a plan. I then went to go and look for my partner as he was gone a long time and I walked into the kitchen only to find it dark empty with no one inside. I then realized that we will not be getting food. My partner then told Switch that we insist on getting a refund as we have not had any dinner at all and Switch said he will pay the money back on the 1 January 2019. We were fine with this arrangement until we saw all levels of management (off and on duty) at the bar and having a party outside not phased about any customers or clients whatsoever. We went to switch and insisted to speak to Miguel Farinha which was apparently the GM. We explained to him the situation and he claimed that he is off duty and that this does not actually concern him. I then asked him but as a GM whether you are on or off duty you are still a representative of your company and should still make sure that customers are taken care of by the Manager on duty (which was nowhere to be found). We then insisted on getting a full cash refund immediately as we were not willing to drive to Zebula the next day pay the conservation fee just because Zebula staff was enjoying their New Year ’s Eve and was not concerned about the guests at all. This was just unacceptable. We told Miguel and Switch to sort this out and come to us with a solution at our table as it was about 10:30 we were hungry and wanted to return back to our home as this has now become a very unpleasant evening. Miguel and Switch did not approach us with a solution after about 30 minutes my partner then went to confront them again to ask what was going on and found them speaking in the office trying to figure out what to do. Eventually after unpleasant confrontations with Miguel, Switch arrived at our table at 11:30 with an envelope with our money in and we could leave your facility. We paid the Alfred our waiter R200.00 as he was a good waiter at least and left. This was once again Good memories that was turned into a bad experience due to Incompetence from your GM, your Restaurant manager and your head chef which we will never forget and I hope that one day your facility can eventually measure up to the star rating and that your guests can be treated like “Royalty” as per your slogan.