Arabella Tsogo Sun a total disaster

In March 2021 my husband Anton vd Westhuizen booked two double rooms for 2 nights at Arabella ( in 16 out 18 July 2021 ) and paid a 50 % deposit. Subsequently, on 7 June we received notification that our booking had to be amended to a different date due to a block booking.

No apology was offered to which I took great exception as we have stayed at Arabella at least 4 times over the past years and I have 25 years of hospitality experience and would not have handled the bumping of a client in this unprofessional manner. I took this up with the res team and was offered new dates. I insisted on a room upgrade to make up for the inconvenience.

On Friday 30 August we left home at 12 pm to check in at Arabella for the weekend, confirmed reservation and invoice in hand reflecting 50 % deposit.

Imagine our surprise and shock to be told by security staff at the boom that the hotel was closed due to a block booking.

The security staff contacted hotel reception and were put through to the GM, Michael Phillipson who spoke to my husband. He was apologetic but insisted they had no record of our booking and would have to search the system. My husband felt that we were treated with a sense of disdain as if we were in fact in the wrong and told the GM that we would forward our correspondence and confirmed booking as soon as we got home.

On the drive home we contacted Tsogo Sun HO to advise them of the situation as we were furious and highly disappointed at how this situation was handled. Michael also called and said that the reservations agent who was working from home was just checking that he had not sent us a notification of the block booking. We supp**** our reservations reference numbers to the GM telephonically.

On our return home I forwarded our confirmation to Michael and my husband checked all our email accounts to search for any correspondence we may have missed.

I was very angry that no attempt was made to assist us and to make up for the mess at the time we were at the gate. Michael explained that they were under strict lockdown due to Covid. No attempt was made at that point to placate us or to offer an alternative or a relocation option, so we drove back home.

Not only were we disappointed that our long laid plans had been thwarted and our weekend ruined but we had also incurred expenses other than the hotel costs to be able to get away.

My daughter's cat was put up in a cat hotel, we had paid a house sitter to take care of our pets and my husband had taken half a day's leave to be able to check in at 14h00 and we drove over 150km's in vain.

Furthermore, I had been working in the UK for the past 8 months and am home for a total of 6 weeks only to be with my family. Already the first change in dates necessitated the amendment of our travel plans. The rest of my vacation has been planned and dates are therefore limited and besides, this has left us with an incredibly bad taste in our mouths and we would not wish to return to a place that made us feel so cheated although it used to hold great memories.

The GM called a few times to advise us that they were searching emails to see if we did not miss any notification from Tsogo Sun but had to eventually concede that our booking was overlooked. After we had returned home the GM offered to put us up elsewhere in Herm**** or even Stellenbosch ( our daughter lives in Stellenbosch so this was not tempting at all ). Unfortunately an attempt to make up for this was sadly too late as we were not prepared to travel a further 150 kms.

What is possibly the MOST upsetting and disappointing for us besides the loss of a highly anticipated weekend is that we have loved our stays at Arabella in the past and have always praised the hotel greatly. Sadly now we no longer wish to ever return to Arabella and would appreciate it if we could please be refunded our deposit as soon as possible.

We have been left feeling very deflated and at a loss for having missed a special part of our planned vacation through no fault of our own.

Although we have been in communication with the GM we are very surprised that no one from Tsogo Sun's customer services has made any attempt at contacting us. The GM has sent us an email to offer an apology in person at our home. We however feel this is pointless as the damage is done and we do not wish to rehash the situation. It has always been my opinion that chain hotels lose the sense of hospitality for FIT's as the only importance is the bottom line. I am sure a block booking such as the Lions team's reservation is a godsend during these trying Covid times but it is very sad that individual travellers suffer the consequence.

We have now been offered a complimentary stay for 2 rooms for 2 nights - a total cop out as this is the least they could do to make up for this immense stuff up !