SW1 Lodge

My husband and I recently got married and we were doing a mini honeymoon in Cape Town. We booked this hotel but unfortunately had a death in his immediate family and we had to urgently come back to London which meant we could not stay at the hotel. We were staying at another hotel at the time and they were so gracious and compassionate but I certainly cannot say the same about SW1 Lodge. We explained the situation and were told that they would call us back once they had spoken to management- of course this did not happen and given that we had booked through *******, we escalated it to them. ******* spoke to the hotel and their feedback to us was that the hotel said they would not refund us - ******* told us that they were unhappy with the response from the hotel and were going to escalate it on their side as this is a situation that we could not control and having some compassion to such a situation is what was expected from them too. We had stayed at another hotel (Atlantic View in Camps Bay) which we also had to cut short and they were incredibly kind and refunded the remainder of the stay due to the circumstances but SW1 Lodge did not and this is just unacceptable - I know a lot of people who go to Somerset West and I absolutely would never recommended such a place to anyone given the situation.

Fantastic place . Better than a hotel. Would recommend this to anyone a special treat .

Absolutely nothing to complaint. Just a little advice: increase the variability of the breakfast.

This place is absolutely incredible. I’ve heard a lot about it and was very pleased they had availability. The property is surrounded by a beautiful garden (with a pool), the rooms are exceptionally clean, new, and comfortable, and have everything you can ask for (it shows that this place pays attention to details). The staff is professional, helpful, and very kind. The breakfast was one of the highlights —amazing selection of fresh baked breads, fruits, and many other goods. I absolutely loved this place and will definitely stay here again when I’m back in Cape Town. Cannot recommend it more.

I'm torn about this place. Our stay was great overall: good breakfast, clean & wonderful room, secure property not impacted by load shedding. However, 2 things happened that made me lower my rating: 1. When I called to arrange late-night check in, I was told the service fee is R350. The SW1 website states the fee is R300. My South African partner called another time to inquire and was told it is R300. Thanks for adjusting it on my bill, but either update your site, inform your staff of the accurate price, or maybe just don't take advantage of "foreign" guests. 2. I left my gym shoes behind in our room's armoire. When I called a few days later, I was told housekeeping did not find anything. Listen, it's a boutique hotel with less than 8 rooms. If this was the Hilton or another large chain hotel with hundreds of rooms I could buy that answer. The manager who answered my call recognized my name & remembered the room I stayed in, which means it's a small enough hotel where the staff notices things. With 5-7 rooms total, your cleaning staff most likely did find my shoes, didn't report it (or did - who knows), and kept them. I'm familiar with how South Africa works. It's my own fault I left the shoes. The hotel isn't responsible for my belongings, but they are responsible for their staff & general conduct. The lack of principle here is bothersome: clearly taking advantage of a "foreigner" & the general dishonesty in conducting business. Don't think I'll return.