Hotel berhampiran Westville Eco Trail, Durban

My wife and I stayed at the Royal Hotel overnight, during March, 2022. We used an elevator to get to our room, and noticed a large dead cockroach lying at the entrance to one of the three elevators. The entrance carpet of our room was damp, and the other carpets and easy chairs were shabby. The curtains were not ironed, and the windows were smudgy. The bathroom basin had a good share of mould around the top of the basin. The room fridge was totally empty, and after our trip to get to the hotel, we were thirsty, but there was no water bottles in the fridge. We complained at the front desk,and afterwards one of the staff brought us two small bottles of water and charged us Twenty-Five Rand per small bottle. There was a kettle in the room, with tea/coffee making facilities. The bedside lamps were strange, and were not matching at all. The shower and toilet were in good working condition. We took the elevator at about 09h30 the next morning to check out, and the cockroach of the night before, was still in front of one of the elevators. We decided to order coffee and scones at the coffee shop. The picture on their website displays a cake stand, filled with a variety of delicious cakes. The cake stand was empty. It seems that the regular business lounges were closed. The tragedy of this experience is that The Durban Royal Hotel has always been, over many years, one of the most famous and popular hotels in Durban, that was regularly used by businessmen and international travellers to Durban. It appears that there was a great lack of care or concern for guests at this hotel during our stay. This hotel is located in the central gardens square of Durban, and could be unsafe to walk around outside the hotel? Numerous tramps and beggars hang around. Sadly, we will not be staying there again.

I'm sorry but this place may look nice on pictures and superficially nice but everything is cheap and service is quite poor. The plastic wood everywhere is tacky, windows are so thin you hear all the traffic on the roadside while on the yard side there is LOUD partying til very late. The staff assured me it would stop at 23, but this was not true, it continued til 2 am. The staff in reception seems truly clueless at most things, this is probably because they have no training and hardly any salary. The poor manager on duty seems to constantly have to rush and make right the various mistakes made, she seems to do nothing but apologise all day to costumers. The owners of the hotel clearly prioritise their own pockets over providing service. A few examples of cheapness: 1.No folder with information in the room - I am referred to the website. The tebsite says iron and ironing board in your room. I looked and looked, couldn't find it. I called reception and they said I can fetch it from the lobby (another hotel would have brought it to my room...). I went down to lobby, carried the ironing board up in the elevator etc. to my room and then found the iron to be old and dirty, it dirtied my blouse and the steam function didn't work properly there was just a lot of water coming out, leaving water stains on my other top.... Just replace the iron when it is old? If a guest calls, deliver the iron and board to the room? Change the information on the web... not so difficult things if you want to make a good impression.. 2.My collegue had a paid and booked transport to the airport that had been forgotten by the staff despite that he reminded them a few hours before and they ensured him it was settled. Once it was due - no transport. He nearly missed his flight. The poor manager lady had to book an uber for him and give him cash... 3. I gave them laundry one morning, thinking it would be finished by the evening or the next day, like all other hotels. By next evening it was not finished (it was 3 small items, no dry cleaning). They seemed to be looking for it as if they had lost it. When I was checking out 2 days after handing in the laundry, the woman in reception admitted one of my tops had been lost... When I complained about this and point 4 below, they did offer compensation, but I had to send a recepit of a new top and fill in forms etc. hassle. 4. After a long week of work staying at this hotel I was looking forward to sleeping 8 hours until leaving on Saturday. The Friday partying however started already at 4 pm with a DJ. I had the room facing the courtyard and asked the manager how long the partying would continue. Oh we have a curfew at eleven in Durban, she said, it will definitely be quiet after that! I’m not from South Africa so I believed her and felt OK I can sleep from 11 to 8 am, that’s OK. My room turned out to be just above the party and it felt like it was IN my room. I was trying to finalise my work from 21.00 to 23.00 with the boomi

I would love to book the hotel once more next time, I felt at home. The waiters and the cleaners were welcoming and kind to me and my colleagues so I am sure they also enjoyed a stay there. There was a guy there who was excelling in serving us food, he is light skinned and short both in height and hair cut; if had my way I would promote him, he is so patient and kind serving with no complain.

Loved the pool section, the hotel is closer to the beach 🏖, it was so convenient for us to go to the beach at anytime, breakfast was the best, room service was always on time, check in and out was quick. Best experience ever 😊😊

The hotel is beautiful and its location is very convenient because it’s walking distance to the beach, restaurants and entertainment. I mostly enjoyed the breakfast buffet. I kept going back for me. Great service.

Hotel ini ok dan semuanya tetapi tempat letak kereta sangat kecil dan terhad. Saya terpaksa meletakkan bakkie saya di tempat letak kereta di seberang jalan tetapi ada pengawal 24 jam

I first stayed here in 2013. I revisited this hotel in 2022 as I needed a last minute accommodation to attend a colleagues wedding. I was surprised to find that hotel hasn't changed much. We booked family room, we had a beautiful view of pier though, staff was friendly. However we were cautious not to walk around freely in the area as it's been known to be in an unsafe area. As soon as you step out of the building or even cross the street, you're in an unsafe zone. Even in daylight you aren't safe there. Food was good but limited for vegatarians. Breakfast packs are provided on checkout, which is ideal for those returning to work that day. No candles and matches in rooms and this is concerning during loadshedding or power outages. Hotel is currently upgrading their parking but still hotel is placed in an unsafe area so one needs to be cautious.

As always, the Southern Sun hotels are great. On the beach front, walking distance from Marine world, and not expensive, with under cover, secure parking; what else do you need for a perfect breakaway or workaway? The people working at reception were very friendly and assisted every request or question politely.

We stayed in apartment 408 and it was disappointing. Firstly the photos on the website and the actual furniture and decor are not the same. In fact, some of the photos are misleading. The unit accommodates four people, but there are only three seats provided in the lounge area, so one of has always had to sit on the patio. The one toilet seat is broken, and even though we reported it, nothing was done. The patio door lock doesn't lock, so we felt a little bit uneasy at night. The main bedroom door leading to the patio, which is a nice feature, could not be used because there isn't a key for it. And the windows definitely needs some cleaning. Whist the view from the patio on the channel leading to the harbour is great (there is no view on the main harbour as implied) the netting covering the patio is bit of an irritance. But this is understandable as it is advertised as a per friendly apartment, but it is something to be aware of before you make your booking. The net in no way disturbs the view but it will definitely give the patio a more open feeeing if there is not net. So my advise, unless you're visiting with pets, look for another apartment in PWA. The area and location is great.