Zest Boutique Hotel

My husband and I had business in South Africa. We had a few days down time for sightseeing and thought this might be a great location for the activities we wanted to do. We drove 6 hours to Cape Town, arriving at about 18:30 on the first of our 3 nights booked at the Zest Hotel. At that time we were met at the door and told to empty our car. We didn't understand at the time why they were so persistent. We later determined it was because of the lack of security around the parking area. There is a very large building being built adjacent to this hotel, which is generating a lot of noise and dirt. Once inside, we were told immediately that there was a load shed (electricity outage) scheduled for 20:00-22:00. We were told we would have bedside lights, but that the hotel had no generator. This was the first we had heard of no generator. (At this point we had stayed in 4 other hotels throughout South Africa, all wonderful with generators and no disruption to power.) We left to walk to dinner about 2 blocks away. After dinner we walked back to the hotel, with unlit streets. We did not feel safe, but walked fast and made it back to the hotel. Our phones were dead and didn't have any flashlights. The hotel lobby seemed secure, and was well lit. Our room was down a flight of dark steps to the pool deck - again, no light. I tripped and fell into the pool walking to our room. I hurt my hip and my shoulder, and was soaked. After struggling to open the one lock on the sliding door, we got into our room, which had no light at all. There was a chargeable flashlight, which they referred to as a bed lamp. This was our only light. We had to go through our luggage and get ready for bed with. While it was only a couple of hours, we felt very uncomfortable trying to navigate a new room, and a new area. Rather than risk getting hurt, we chose to check out the next morning and not stay our entire 3 days booked. Because I pre payed for 3 days I was told by the front dest that they would have to speak to management to refund me. The gentleman who I spoke to at the front desk was very understanding and apologetic. He said that this has been an ongoing problem for the hotel. He assured me that a refund would be no problem. I have called the hotel three times since leaving, including the reservations department and sent an email regarding the refund. No one has yet to speak to the refund. It was a significant amount of money for what I thought was a 5 star hotel. This was by and far NOT a 5 star experience. In addition to the load shed issue, the lack of lighting and dangerous walking conditions; the room was very very small, with no where to sit or relax other than the bed and one small chair. There are plenty of lovely hotels in the area, which do have generators and are reasonable priced.

The hotel was great - comfortable rooms and lobby, nice balconies and roof with great view. The location is very good - close to the v&a waterfront where you can find everything you need. The breakfest is great and most importantly - the staff is super helpful and nice!