Food poisoning; poor stay etc. at The Palace of the Lost City

My ********** stay at The Palace of the Lost City

Good day, I have had a ********** experience at the Palace on both my "1st" and "2nd" check in.

On my 1st check-in, 07/01/19, I was welcomed with somewhat a disdainful receptionist, whose attitude was one of annoyance that I dare ask to stay in same room for y two bookings which ran concurrently. She then conceded to agree for us to stay in the same room, despite my email trail on 19 December to bookings to enquire. At that point in the emails, I was told not to worry, we could stay in the same room. I was surprised that no note was left on the system as to this. We were then directed to room 303 for our stay. On arriving in the room I was surprised as there was no usual welcome. There was no letter welcoming us to the Palace, no bottle of wine or even a fruit bowl. I had wondered then if your procedure had changed, but how is it that a 5 star hotel was acting like a 3 star??

The night of 07/01/19 went along OK, as we were both exhausted from working through December, that it was the first time we could relax. We ordered in, which took an hour to get here. I was not advised of why there was a delay at any point. It was as we were about to call to enquire that it arrived. We left a privacy sign on the door, and when turn down service arrived, I asked for water for the room. From my past experience, I am used to nougat's or chocolates being given as well, this time nil.

The morning of the 08/01/19 went along without incident and we spent the day wondering around the resort and at the pool. Turn down service on 08/01/19 was a rose petal on our pillows, and slippers to the side of the bed, nil gowns or nougats or chocolates, etc. We slept that night well until we both woke after 02:30am on 09/01/19, dying from heat, as for some reason our air conditioner stopped working! Admittedly, there is a fan in the room, which we switched on, but was so noisy, we could not use it. I then called reception at 3am, to advise of our problem. I was then told “oh sorry, it can only be attended to in the morning”. No alternate arrangement was made for a standing fan either, which was to be quieter than the ceiling fan. Needless to say, we did not get much sleep further that morning. Then miraculously, at 07:30 our TV switched itself on, and suddenly our air con was working.

When we went down to breakfast, I had to check out and in again. I queried the aircon with reception, who said they would look into it. I had asked about the check in procedure and turn down service. They were surprised to hear that we had no letter,wine or fruit bowl, etc., or any turn down service as they also thought we get nougat or something. The lady said she would look into it.

THIS IS NOT THE 5 STAR SERVICE I EXPECTED TO PAY FOR. Nor was it the treat I was looking forward to for my health success of my brain tumour shrinking! Thanks for a 3 star experience.

The day of the 09/01/19 was spent mostly poolside, trying to get some colour, as I am stuck indoors at 1 Discovery Place. I must admit, we found it hard to sleep as there is constant noise of what sounds like large air conditioner engines or generators outside our doors that you still hear even though the doors are closed. At the pool, apart from drinks, we had a snack of boerewors sticks, marinated olives and cashew nuts. I ate the olives, he did not. Around 17:30 we retired to the room and I said to my partner that I was not feeling well. I tried to sleep, but could not. We then ordered dinner in. Once it arrived, and I smelt it, all hell broke lose!

I had started projectile vomiting, violently, and could not stop. My partner called reception and car was organised to take me to the clinic. At this point, I was violently ill every 20 minutes. The clinic sister was useless, firstly found with feet on table watching TV, slow to get up and respond, asking feebly “how can she help”. As a Registered Nurse myself, I advised her of my chronic conditions ( esp brain tumour which affects my sugar levels, also a cardiac condition), I was appalled at how she could only offer me a valoid and was not willing to call the Dr. After the valoid, I vomited it right out, I then demanded she get me the Dr. I was still projectile vomiting every 20 min, losing precious fluids, when she came back to tell me that the Dr would take about 40min to get there, but he said he would not be able to do anything, except write a script and we would have to get it from the pharmacy the next day! Incomprehensible, but she said she had told the Dr herself not to come through, to leave it. At this point, she then started worrying about my fluid loss, and decided to try to drip me in a boiling hot room with no open windows or working air conditioners. So, she tried and wriggled around. Unsuccessfully…. TWICE. All through this, I had to go back to lay on the cool floor in the passage, with my partner having to clean up all my vomitus and bring me a pillow and wet paper towels for my neck. It was then I demanded an ambulance as I honestly felt like I was going to pass out and thought this “nurse” would watch me lie here and literally die. She conceded. I was relieved. I will be taking further steps with regards the clinic. I would not suggest it stays open, as if there is a serious emergency, they cannot even help you with that. I would not even offer that they do any procedures.

When the paramedics got there, they managed to drip me whilst lying on the floor still vomiting, and then transported me to the Medi Care Private Hospital, via a very long route. My partner in tow in his car, they raced me through red robots and all, as I even threw up in the ambulance, violently. My Blood pressure was dangerously unstable due to fluid loss. Eventually, we arrived at the Hospital. The Dr at the Hospital assessed me and did bloods, depending on those results I might have needed an ultrasound. Heaven be praised that they gave me IV medications which eventually stopped my vomiting, rehydrated me with fluids and gave me some electrolytes via the drip as my sugar levels were very low.

Finally, after my bloods showed no abnormal values, the Dr deduced food poisoning from the olives I had at the Palace Pool Side. I was discharged with a script (attached) and we left the hospital at 02:40am on Thursday 10/01/2019. We eventually arrived back at the Palace at 03:25am where we collapsed into bed. I was ill in bed the entire day on Thursday, and had to feed my man, so ordered in for dinner. I let him eat both, as all I could stomach was Coke and water. I was still ill on the morning of check out. As you would note, we did not even attend breakfast on Thurs or Fri.

On arriving home on 11/01/19, I was flat in bed, living on soup and dry toast. On the 12/01/19, once strong enough to sit up and type, I contacted them via email to Sun Share and the guest relations manager, Francois Du Toit. To date, no response has been received yet them, showing a total disregard for any complaints sent their way. On had givens reasonable time to get a response and had advised if not responded to, I would come to Hello Peter, where it seems they only respond!

This honestly was not how I imagined my Health success treat to go, nor the money I spent to stay there for a week. My entire experience of the Palace has not met the standards they previously lived up to, and the food poisoning was the cherry on top. I have always championed it to others, but now, I am not going to even suggest it to my international guests. I hope that a Health Inspector will go see what happens in the kitchens, how food is kept etc, to ascertain if the food contamination was physical, chemical or biological. I am not sure if The Palace will ever see me or any of my friends ever again. If I wanted a 2 or 3 star, I would have paid for it, not 5 star. I will be forwarding my medical bills incurred from this as well!