Shark Bay Hotel & Spa

We decided to do a day trip up west coast and had heard great reviews about this hotel so we stopped and decided to have lunch. The views across the lagoon are just superb. We met Rian who was awesome his service and his friendly manner was really a breathe of fresh air. We will go back just to see him doing clearly what he loves.

Our stay at the Shark Bay Hotel was disappointing for many reasons. Food hygiene was poor, we could not use the swimming pool and they took payment from our travel agent and then surcharged us for half board and accommodation. Food Hygiene. Breakfast is a buffet. The food was not covered and the meat ,fruit, cheese, pastries etc were covered in flies . We complained and the following morning they did attempt to cover items with cling film. This didn’t last. The flies were so bad we went out for breakfast and had superb food at Windtown and the Wonder Bar Half Board On arrival they explained that half board at SB is an allowance of R275 pp pn. When you look at the menu prices you find R275 does not cover a 3 course evening meal. No credit is c/f if you underspend or don’t take the meal. This meant our food choice was limited and of poor quality. We asked the manager (Alwina) to refund the R550 pn. At first, she said OK then changed her mind and said Planet Travel or agent would have to organise a refund. Fatima very kindly agreed to refund us the R550 pn and so we instead went elsewhere for our evening meals. We had fantastic food at the Farmhouse, Windtown and Noisy Oster. Accommodation They attempted to surcharge us for accommodation. We only discovered this by carefully checking and querying the final bill. They claimed they had been underpaid by the travel agent and were charging us the short fall. We refused the charge and the room surcharge was removed from the bill. I have never come across this before and wonder how many guests have not checked and fallen for this sharp practice. Swimming Pool We were unable to use the swimming pool for several days. Paint from jet washing flaky paint on outside walls filled the air, fell into pool, and spread all over the pool deck. Not a good idea to do such work while guests are using these facilities. In addition here are a few of the the properties many shortcomings - Bed linens are polycotton. No expresso maker in room. No secure luggage storage. No solar panels - relie on a generator during power cuts.

The negative reviews on TripAdvisor ALMOST made us book elsewhere but I am SO Glad we stuck to our gut and went with The Shark Bay! The views from this hotel are unparalleled to anywhere else in Langebaan. Watching seals play while flamingos fly passed every morning while eating the amazing breakfast will forever live in my memories. Our room (room 1), was very big with an amazing view. An aircon would have been nice but when we asked for a fan, the staff immediately brought us one and it was perfect. Food was great, wine and cocktails where all good too. The pool area and hotel surrounding is impeccably clean. The beach shak offers kayaks and sup boards and we loved exploring the bay during low tide. No litter anywhere!!! We spent 3 nights but I could have done a week easily. The location of the hotel is the best in Langebaan. Being in the wilderness we got to see buck, mongeese and so many awesome animals and bird life. Thank you Shark Bay for an unforgettable stay!

Popped in with the family from Australia for sunset drinks. Very disappointed with service. Waiter didn’t have a clue what we were ordering in spite of our order being from the drinks list. Then he forgot about one of the drinks. The barman was more concerned with chatting up the 5 female guests at bar counter. Took 20 minutes to get one cocktail. Beautiful view spoilt by poor service.

Unbelievably disappointed. We were here on our second stay (planning our third) as the first was absolutely beautiful. However the difference this time was a closer interaction with the hotel and spa. Our boys decided to swim but were reprimanded by the manager of the spa (Ronel) as they were noisy. We were sitting upstairs and the moment she looked up, she realized that we were observing her. She vanished. I decided to walk down to the pool and enquired from our boys what Ronel said. They mentioned that they did not hear her. Out came Andile with the posture of a spa bouncer (albeit a therapsit) Arrogant and rude. She said treatments were happening and that the boys made noise. I quickly referred her to the rules (photo hereto) which did not state “silence please” and etc. After Andile was put in place and threatened me with her manager (Ronel), she came to our table upstairs and with a very arrogant attitude confronted us about our children making noise. They weren’t excessively making noise by the way. You can’t mute a child in a pool either. We decided to cancel two full body massages as well as four pedicures as arrogant people will not have the privilege to touch us neither make more money from us. She had no respect for us as guests addressing us in the most disrespectful manner. Even after the fact, we walked past Ronel and she simply ignored us. This despite us having stayed in one of the villas twice in one month (at a substantial price obviously). Respect for guests is non existing. Having the view of the lagoon does not entitle you to treat guests with such disdain. If you have a family, do not dare to come here as you literally have to walk on eggs as to not make any noise at the swimming pool so widely advertised. The manager Alvina undertook to take this matter up and insisted Ronel will apologize. This did not happen. If you are a family, do not come here unless you want to face rebuke from over entitled personnel and a poor lay out in terms of spa and the swimming pool presumably for ALL hotel guests. Disgusting and arrogance are some of the words that come to mind. Terrible end to something that we thought had potential…

Unfortunately the reviews were true. We didn’t want to believe it and tried SB hotel anyway, to our disappointment. Undisclosed car park view, loud staff not caring about peace of visitors, unmaintained property, apathetic management. This place has so much potential, a pity it isn’t properly managed and maintained.

Dirty room, dirty sheets, no back up power, no usb or 2 point plugs, blue flies on food at breakfast, no airconditioning, they won’t make it cause nobody will go there again and can’t be recommended to friends , there are better places to stay in Langebaan

I booked a stay at the Shark Bay hotel after a glowing recommendation from a friend. Only after I booked, did I read the reviews (which were less than glowing). So I went in with a bit of trepidation as to what was waiting for me at the villa. I was absolutely blown away. The location of the hotel is magnificent with a breathtaking view. My friends and I stayed in one of the superior villa's and ate breakfast and dinners at the hotel. Our Villa was spotlessly clean and well appointed with everything we needed for our stay, with extremely comfortable beds. The villa's are a bit detached the hotel itself, so it is necessary to drive between the two but not anything to be discouraged by. The only downside was that our villa didn't have a view, unless we were sitting outside. We also enjoyed a spa treatment which was lovely and all the staff extremely professional.

Avoid the villas if you can. Very far away from the beach. No back up power. The villa was absolutely filthy. Beds and furniture have not been moved in months. In the week we stayed there, the daily cleaning service never once swept or mopped the floors. Utensils in kitchen are lacking. The unit slept six but only provided 4 coffee mugs. Outside umbrella was broken. Showers are full of mould and hair. An absolute disappointment for the amount of money!