Nice but the house/service definitely needs attention.
The location of the house is perfect. It's not too far from the sea, and the view is beautiful. It's also very quiet in the area, even over a long weekend.
The beds are very comfortable, which is a big plus because you really need a decent night's sleep. The only thing I would suggest is a better second set of pillows. There are two pillows per person, but the top pillow is more like a decorative pillow with a very hard cover—definitely not one to sleep on.
There are no warm blankets, just throws that don't give off much heat. The house has a smart TV, which is nice because you can subscribe to everything.
One strange thing is that there is no mention of WiFi details anywhere, even though the listing on the website shows that there is WiFi. We had to contact the agent to get the details. It would be good if it was also put on the fridge along with the rest of the information.
The indoor braai is nice and in a good central position, near the kitchen and between the dining room and living room. There are charcoal tongs, but no extra tongs for meat—who uses just one tong for both charcoal and meat? We had to go buy extra tongs.
The plugs are a bit strange. The airfryer wouldn’t turn on. So we used a different plug, but it still didn’t work. Then we plugged it into the oven’s power outlet, and then the airfryer worked—strange. The original plug doesn’t work at all.
The light switches, or maybe the lights themselves, are very strange. In the middle of the night, various lights turned on and off by themselves. The kids’ bedroom light came on at 7:00 in the morning, waking them up. The three pendant lights above the dining room came on at around 4:00 on two mornings and then turned off again. Another night it came on just after midnight and then turned off again. Whether it's a ghost or something wrong with the wiring is very uncertain.
The hot water is definitely a big plus. Even with almost a full house, no one ever had cold water.
As for cleanliness: the downstairs bathroom shower was blocked—we had to take out the bowl (it was full of hair) to let the water drain, otherwise the whole bathroom would flood. It needs to be checked regularly. Most of the plates, knives and forks were dirty, which shows that they are not being checked properly. You can't assume that previous guests washed them properly, especially when they charge an R800 cleaning fee.
It looked like the place had been empty for a long time, because the outside area had so much sand that you could almost build a house with it. It looked like a sandpit on the stoep. We had to sweep and move a heavy outdoor table for about half an hour to get everything clean, as well as remove cobwebs. Again—what is the R800 cleaning fee for if the place is not clean?
The kitchen is mostly well-equipped, but there was no extra toilet paper in the cupboards—we had to go and buy our own. The cupboards could also be tidier; some have open food items like sugar and rice lying around.
The curtains are a big problem. They are completely transparent and too small. No curtains close the windows properly, and they don’t hang properly. You basically wake up with the sun.
In the rooms, it is especially a problem. The children’s room, kitchen and front window have blinds, but nothing else. Both large rooms only have makeshift curtains that were clearly hung quickly.
The master bedroom also doesn’t have a door between the room and the bathroom, so you have to be careful, otherwise someone could see you—not that it’s a problem for everyone, but not everyone is comfortable with it.
Honestly, I don’t think the house is quite finished yet. It seems to be being finished as money becomes available—such as not all the windows having blinds, curtains that are hastily put together, no built-in wardrobes in some rooms, one bathroom cabinet handle still inside the drawer, and no bedside tables or bedside lamps.
A final note for older people: the stairs do not have non-slip tiles, so be careful—maybe bring a non-slip mat.
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