Thaba Eco Hotel - Horrible experience and even worse response.

My wedding was held on 22nd September 2018 at Thaba Eco Hotel. The actual wedding planning process was thoroughly pleasant, however it prompted expectations of a service delivery that Thaba Eco Hotel failed to meet. As a bride, I had few requirements and made no demands in terms of service other than what was offered by Thaba itself. There were multiple problems that occurred on the day that were as careless as they were unacceptable; these have been listed below. Thaba Eco hotel is a beautiful but expensive venue and given its exorbitant rates, we simply require value for money.

It is not acceptable that there was construction outside our hall, even more so that we had not actually been informed of this matter. We only became aware of it because we had arranged to visit the venue (on our own accord) on 18th September for our wedding rehearsal. Had we not done so, we would have been faced with this problem on our wedding day itself. Management's response to our concerns regarding the construction was especially objectionable. On what basis is it appropriate to inform a bride that it is simply 'unfortunate' that she is the first bride of the season? This response added further stress to what is already a stressful time. While I realise that the construction may have been necessary, the oversight of its scheduling conflicts and of not informing us of its taking place reflects management's lack of communication and poor planning.

The bathroom of the honeymoon suite was in an unacceptable state upon our check in on the morning of our wedding. The floor was filthy and cleaning service had to be called to mop the floor so that we could dress. The suite had been booked in advance and the purpose of the space inside the bathroom is to capture photographs of the bridal party preparing for the day. The brides****s black dresses collected dust from the filth; I had to delay dressing so that the floor could dry once it had been mopped. Given the fact that we had made prior arrangements to procure the suite for the morning of the 22nd, it is utterly ridiculous that brand new dresses had to be dusted off simply because management had failed to ensure what is basic housekeeping and procedure in reputable establishments had taken place prior to new parties checking in.

Hosting two weddings on the same day does not allow for double standards to apply to the respective bridal parties. We were expressly told that if we ran late that we would forfeit the allotted time, but this rule did not apply to the wedding that took place before ours. Our pastor had intended to arrive at the chapel before our wedding was set to start, so as to prepare for the proceedings. He was made to wait while the earlier wedding was delayed and instead could only prepare for the ceremony as our guests were already arriving. This is unacceptable; the same policies must apply to all parties who make use of the facilities.

After the wedding ceremony, while guests enjoyed the bread station, several of the guests were forced to stand as there were insufficient tables and chairs allocated for the number of guests.

The requested “birdcage” for guests to safely place monetary gifts was not available and was only presented after a request was actioned.

Desserts were a major disappointment as expectations were high after the selections that were available from the previous servings.

As a father of the bride I cannot express my disappointment high enough in the casual approach that the centre approached the renovations to the entrance to the reception area; in that when the renovations were detected, the first response was that the area that was dug up would be concreted over and all will be as was. It later transpired that reed screening with freshly painted creosote was app**** and that guests and the bridal dress were expected to negotiate a narrow pathway over grass and extremely close to established flower beds to access the reception area. On any given day this would be unacceptable, but to place this on a wedding day with guests and bridal entourage wearing bridal attire would not under any circumstances be acceptable.

We very much appreciate the complimentary first round of drinks for our guests (although many were made to pay for their first round) and most of the meals were well prepared and enjoyable. However, there is simply no point in having a flawless taste testing if the meals that are agreed upon are not reproduced for the actual occasion that prompted the taste testing in the first place. The cheesecake that had been served at the tasting included salted caramel popcorn and toasted marshmallows. The description was listed on our wedding menu based on what information had been provided, only for the cheesecake that had been served at the wedding to be tasteless and not meet with the description. The Pavlova had been prepared too far in advance which caused it to crumble as it was served. The cannelloni should have been dipped in chocolate and filled with Amarula infused cream and drizzled with pistachio nuts. Instead, we were actually presented with a dry chocolate filled, over baked spring roll (please see attached photograph). Overall, dessert was thoroughly disappointing. Related to the disappointment of the dessert is that our cake knife went missing in the span of us leaving the venue at midnight and returning the following morning. We did follow it up that morning, as well as several occasions thereafter but it has still not been recovered.

Finally, there are a few minor areas that had been previously agreed to which were not met. We had been working with Linda, who was wonderful throughout the process. However, she was assigned to the other wedding party, which meant that we were assigned a coordinator who was unfami**** with our specifications. We are grateful for their help but unfortunately any oversights on their part were compounded by all the other problems that had been experienced throughout the day. These include the fact that the easel for our canvas was not positioned outside our venue. I had to ensure its positioning which is not my responsibility, given that we had been assigned a coordinator. Surely management would have realised the impossibility of Linda supervising the running of two different weddings?

Finally, after having requested a function sheet on 18th September, it was only received on 21st September (the night before the wedding). This level of disorganisation only allowed for the relevant parties to receive this necessary information on the eleventh hour. If the construction of the grounds is an attempt to attract future brides, management also needs to rebuild organisational and communication policies.

It is my profound hope that these concerns are acknowledged. Thaba Eco Hotel is in the service industry but failure to accommodate us on even the most basic provisions (all of which are actually part of the package that you offer) suggests that delivery needs to be re-assessed.

Regards Kirstin Senekal

REPLY FROM THABA ECO HOTEL:

Dear Kirstin We at Thaba Eco Hotel were so pleased to receive the complimentary WhatsApp from your Father the day after the wedding, yet so disheartened to receive your e-mail dated 25 October 2018. While saying this, we do appreciate feedback and constructive criticism from all our guests. Although we fully understand your disappointment with having renovations in progress in the surrounding area, we must point out that in this industry there is no perfect time to do renovations, and at certain times we have no option but to go ahead immediately and unexpectedly. Our Sales Team were advised of these plans a few days prior to your wedding and regardless of whether they in turn advised you, the outcome would not have been any different. However, Thaba Eco Hotel Management did make every effort to ensure that the area looked good for the day of the wedding by ensuring all the slats were laid in time and were painted, and by placing extra pot plants on the outskirts of the slats to make it look nice. With regards to the smell from the paint, we had to make a choice of not painting the slats or painting and having the smell. We felt that we made the right choice by doing what we had agreed on. Our Senior Housekeeping Manager was on duty and has confirmed that the Honeymoon Suite was cleaned thoroughly prior to your arrival. We suspect that the bathroom floor was dusty due to the number of people who were walking in and out of the room while preparing for the wedding ceremony. The Manager has assured us that they re-cleaned the bathroom on request and at the time this was not seen as a complaint, but merely an additional request. The bridal couple who booked the church prior to you did in fact arrive late and they were therefore restricted to a 15-minute ceremony. The church was prepared and ready for your ceremony at 13:28 and you arrived at 14:21 which did allow adequate time for the Pastor to prepare. The reason we can comfortably confirm these times is that we operate using WhatsApp Groups where Management are continuously communicating throughout the day. We really do strive to create life-long memories for all our guests and in this case, we chose to manage the situation that would benefit both parties. We provide a limited number of tables and chairs in the Tswana garden area for all weddings, however in a further attempt to enhance this area for your wedding specifically, Management decided to arrange additional garden furniture as well as wine barrels.

We acknowledge that that it was our responsibility to display the ‘birdcage’ and we did not do so. This should have been checked by both the Sales Coordinator and the Banqueting Manager and both have been addressed for not doing so.

The guests were directed through the main entrance of the conference centre, down the stairs to Tswana Kraal instead of walking through the gardens close to the newly-painted slats. Once again, this decision was made with your best interests at heart. The Management and staff at Thaba Eco Hotel will never take a casual approach to a situation such as this and will put every effort into assisting guests with their requests.

The complimentary round of drinks provided by Management was a gesture of goodwill. It is general practice to serve Welcome Drinks, included in the package, after the wedding ceremony with the bread-station and for the bar to be opened once all guests are in the venue and seated. We agree that our Banqueting Manager should have checked your time preference prior to serving the complimentary drinks and apologise for this lack of communication.

The Executive Chef in Banqueting cannot offer a reason for the different taste of the Cheesecake as the same kitchen staff prepared the same Cheesecake using the same recipe - the only difference was the shape of the Cheesecake. The Meringue was said to be old, crumbly and falling apart – this is certainly not our standard, not by a long shot, as we use only the freshest ingredients and produce available to us and we regret that this was your experience. The Executive Chef offers his sincere apologies for the oversight from their side regarding the Cannoli as the incorrect item was written on the kitchen notes. The Executive Chef has had counselling done with the Pastry Team and he will personally conduct menu training with them to avoid this reoccurring.

Once the wedding cake was reported as missing, the entire team attempted to find it but failed to do so. We will gladly replace this for you even though it may not have as much sentimental value to you.

It is customary for the Wedding Coordinators at Thaba Eco Hotel to attend to two weddings at the same time and do so with ease. The procedure is for the Coordinator to hand over the Function Sheet to the Banqueting Manager at least 3-weeks prior to the wedding date to allow time for thorough preparation, and for both the Coordinator and the Banqueting Manager to check that every request has been attended to. This was clearly not done by either of them on the day of your wedding and we take full responsibility for their neglect to do so.

We certainly do appreciate you taking your time to give us such detailed feedback and as our aim is always to improve where there is room for improvement, we address our shortcomings, re-train our staff and Management discuss the feedback in-depth.

We do hope that the good memories of your special day celebrated at Thaba Eco Hotel will remain with you for many years to come. Kind Regards Thaba Eco Hotel Management.

I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THE FOLLOWING:

With reference to the bathroom in the honeymoon suite, I literally walked in and hung up my dress - the next occupants in there were my brides****s to get ready. Can one person traipse in weeks of accumulated dust? I think not.

I was told at 2 o' clock that I was to wait as my guests were still being ushered into the chapel due to the prior wedding and as a result we carried on taking photos to fill the time. When I questioned my coordinator regarding the punctuality I was told "its good to be fashionably late".

If the same chefs are preparing the food for the tasting as the actual wedding reception, then what happened to the desserts?There was nothing wrong with the "shape" of the cheesecake - it was missing ALL its toppings!!!