Jeff B

Review of Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel

I gave it 1 star only because it's impossible to g...

I gave it 1 star only because it's impossible to give it less than that. From check in and forward this is one of the worst hotels I've stayed at in a while. Booked a Business Class king which includes a business lounge according to the hotel's site and paid a premium for this upgrade. Upon check in, was given a room with twins and had to resolve. Discovered that the business lounge is only available during weekdays yet they had no problem booked a premium business class room knowing that I'd be paying a premium without getting the benefit of the business lounge. There is no disclosure at time of booking that the benefits of the business lounge are not available on weekends. Misleading or fraudulent -- you can decide which it is. They gave us complimentary drink coupons for the bar but upon attempting to use them at the lounge the staff was unaware of the promotion and thought we were trying to scan them until we asked management to confirm the legitimacy of the complimentary offer. When does an effort to create value backfire? When the entire staff is not trained and informed and you treat your guest like a criminal. The free breakfast buffet with the business class room was in the general breakfast restaurant and for the entire hour we spent there, not a single person from the wait staff came by for water, coffee, etc. We had to hunt for water and it was then that we discovered another amazing tidbit of this disgusting hotel --- the same branded "pure still water" served in the restaurant was in our room, except that the room bottle has a cap that allows the bottle to be refilled. The taste of the room "pure still water" was absolutely dreadful as it tasted (and had an odor) that was unmistakably pure TAP water, not pure spring water as served in the restaurant. After a discussion with a manager at the hotel, it turned out we we correct -- they take the same water bottles used in the restaurant which contain real spring water and reuse them in their guess rooms still marketed as "pure still water" and fill them with the same tap water you'd find in their toilet!!! Wow, how classless is this? Apparently an accountant bean counter had been at the controls of the hotel until recently and thought that disguising tap water in bottles clearly marked as pure spring water was a good for cost containment and has no impact on guests. My guess is that the SA Health Ministry and whomever issues certificates for hotels and restaurants might find this illegal and fine them for intentionally attempting to mislead guests, except that tastebuds don't lie. All things being equal, this hotel overrated as it should be at the bottom of hotels in Johannesburg and Sandton and the convenience of its proximity to the train station is not enough to warrant staying here, as there are several nicer hotels at comparable price points even close to the rail station at Nelson Mandela Square. When presented to management, I kept hearing the phrases of how they are changing this and that as excuses for defrauding it's guests. Not a very good excuse. I asked the manager about whether he thought that a guest booking a junior suite and paying a premium for it would have a right to be angry if they were given a standard twin, just to overemphasize the fraud created when you book a business class room with its advertised amenities and don't receive them because they closed the business lounge on weekends to save money yet they still charge the same premium for the room. He was going to make the GM aware. I'm certain they already know exactly the fraud they create by misleading advertising and the profits they make by charging more for giving less. Huge disservice to customers and totally classless. Stay somewhere much nicer ... pretty easy to do in Sandton.