rny321

We used almost all of our points before the 2 4 1 and 50K max rate ended. My wife and I have Radisson cards that each issue 40K in points each year which I am glad to utilize. It's when people say both enjoy the room service menu and say it was cheap which makes your review especially helpful. I appreciate the time you have taken to offer suggestions!

I have two two-night reservation on different dates for 87.5K per night and the confirms and website say it is a 2 BR.
Radisson Rewards Family Award-2 Bedroom Suite
ROOM:Book Now

ROOM DESCRIPTION:

+/- 110 square metres with Balcony - Free Wi-Fi - Bathrobe, slippers included and in-room Nespresso® machine - Sea-facing - Two bedrooms and two bathrooms - Separate lounge, balcony and kitchen - Separate shower and bath - 15% VAT is included - Tourism Levy of 1% is excluded from rate

ellie_nz

I stayed in the the North wharf for 8 nights at Christmas. We were three adults and a baby and the one bed was spacious.. We had a master bedroom, narrow kitchen with dishwasher, washing machine etc, dining table and living area / 2 sofa beds.

I really liked the property although preferred the more central waterfront locations (we stayed at the breakwater before, prefer the location but not the hotel and especially not the family rooms in the old prison part!)

I quite easily spent 7 nights but we had an 8 week old so I reckon we were on about 50% capacity! We went up Table Mountain, out to Robben Island, day trip on the Cape of Good Hope, another to Muizenberg, Chapmans Peak and Boulders Beach (go to the beach part as well as the boardwalk side, entry covers both), afternoon tea at the Mount Nelson, Street art in Woodstock and Old Biscuit Mill Market, Sunset at signal Hill, hiking including Lion's Head for sunset...it depends on your pace and what you want to see but we had quite short days working around our newborn.

For shark diving, I'd stay in Gansbaii as it would be a long day from Cape Town but anything we priced included the transport from Cape Town so it's definitely doable. I also preferred to stay in the wine lands (there are Marriott options but I didn't stay in them) but there are day trip options also.

We've had a rental any time we've visited Cape Town and it's easy to get around and find parking. It can get a bit chaotic occasionally (like the tiny road to Signal Hill at sunset!) but I like having my own transport.

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bhrubin

Happy

@ms321

On Waterfront's website you can see the description of each type, just move the picture and the description below changed.

https://www.radissonblu.com/en/hotel-capetown/rooms

Family Room
Approximate room size: 55 m2
Maximum number of guests: 2 adults and 2 children under 12 years, or 2 adults and 1 child 12 – 17 YearsOur ground floor Family Rooms, offer the amenities of a Standard Rooms plus several extras. Look out over the lawn to the Atlantic Ocean on your private terrace, while you enjoy a hot drink from the in-room Nespresso® coffee machine. These rooms also have a sleeper sofa to accommodate children.

Please enjoy

• Free high-speed, wireless Internet
• Nespresso® coffee machine
• Private terrace
• Super Breakfast Buffet

Junior SuiteWe have NO CLUE there was a breakfast buffet included. FD also did not mention that. However later someone told me they were put into the Suite during the time when we were put in the tiny standard room because when they arrived at 11am, the suite was the only room available.... versus we arrived around 5pm... the FD struggled a long time to find us that tiny room because we had 4 days (2 accounts at 2-4-1).
So make sure you enquire about the brekkie benefits because a lot of properties do not extend this to award bookings (Radisson at Amsterdam Dam's Square location specifically put a note card on the table in the room - Business room from upgrade DOES NOT include free breakfast.)

Watch the weather - the first chance you have good weather without wind, go up Table Mountain because the cable car can stop service when wind speed is high. If you have what it take, you can hike up too but pay extremely careful attention to safety.
Earlier this year there was a very tragic accident that a guide and a rock climber fell to their death, and another climber was injured, stranded for hours before being rescued. People inside the cable car literally watched what was happening. The guide was a very experienced one, and the 2 female rock climbers also were experienced - the climbing was the main goal of their trip. Speculation was some equipment failures caused this tragedy.
Hiking up though, you do not have sheer up rock face, but the trail has some areas require both 4 limbs to use in order to get up.
Around the Table Mountain top there are many hiking trails, again, the wind would make huge difference - dont hike when it looks like it would become foggy! Trails would be invisible! They would send out fire alarm like alarms when conditions worsen to warn people.
@ellie NZ

Agree on the evaluation of the hotels. Breakwater has super location, within stone throw from Radisson Waterfront, but the set up IS BAD.

Agree on Signal Hill drive. On our first visit in Jan 2015, the day we went up to Table Mountain for the sunset (it was during the annual several weeks at 50% after 6pm for sunset view), weather suddenly changed to super windy. For safety reason they decided to shut down the service much earlier than closing time so everyone was sent down in short order. Many, incl us, drove up Signal Hill - THAT has caused a huge traffic issue because the earlier goers parked on the side of the winding road as the lot at the top already full.
We went up again in Aug 2016 in morning time and hiked a little bit the loop around the top - you can see the stadium and Radisson Waterfront from the hill top. Nice hike. Lots of handgliding activities from the top, made it a good spot to take great pictures.
We did not go to Robson Island or Old Biscuit Mill (not our cup of tea). Only visit Winelands once because husband does not drink. We always visit Cape Peninsula on each trip, and hike a little bit. Cape of Hope can be super windy. I could not stand up on the rocks further towards the sea in one year.

There are a lot of upscale B&Bs at the "corridor" from Hermanus towards Ganbaii. Many of them concentrate at De Kelder, the tiny tiny neighborhood before you reach Ganbaii. Plenty are bookable on booking.com which I recommend as more than once their CS demonstrate they really care for their customers. The corporate culture from their days when the company was founded in Netherlands, seems to stay, despite it is being bought by Priceline for many years by now. Far better customer service than Expedia when you really need help.

rny321

I noticed the "family room" description which is very different from the "family award" one which is the same as the suite description. Although it may be a mistake rate, both confirms state the reservation is for a 2 BR. My wife is fine with either the standard room or the suite but not at the same price.

Happy

If the reservation shows as Family Room, chances are you would get the Family room which is still a one bedroom set up, on the ground floor. I believe the clerk at check in would only go by the room type, and not the room description - that looks like a mistake on the central booking site.

rny321

The reservation states that it is a 2 BR and doesn't mention Family Room. I spoke with a rep who said that a family award is not the same as a family room. She insisted that we booked their nicest room and that it is a 2 BR suite and not a family room. I told her I believed the rate is a mistake but she was convinced that we booked a 2 BR. I asked her to add notes to my account that state that we booked a 2 BR.

I appreciate that you took the time to point out that the advertised award is a mistake. Since the stay is months away, I am not going to worry about it for now.

rny321

My wife is mostly interested in one of the lodges in Sabi Sand. Since the Protea Hotel Kruger Gate is an order of magnitude less expensive expensive than some of the lodges in that private reserve, I thought it might be a good choice for at least part of the stay in and around KNP. I believe there is only one company, Elephant Herd Tours & Safaris in Hazyview, that is allowed to take guests who aren't staying in Sabi Sand on safari drives. When staying at the Kruger Gate location, did you utilize the hotel arranged drives?

Since the hotel at Kruger Gate was mentioned previously in this forum, I decided to ask my question here instead of resurrecting a different discussion.

Happy

No, we had our own cars on both trips. Therefore we did our own driving inside the park. Personally we did not see any value of the safari drives done by the various services / resorts. They go to the SAME places any of us self-drive folks go if it is inside the public areas of Kruger. They do NOT have some secret spots. They rely on their walkie talkie to communicate to each other (regardless of companies) on where something is spotted. Meantime you are on the safari car with other people AND no air conditioning due to the set up that the seating area is not enclosed. Most safari drives use either Jeep or Toyota modified SUVs with complete open top. We much prefer the airconditioned environment in a private car. Toyota Corolla is very popular rental car type in South Africa. We have rented from Avis at least 5 times in 3 trips, they are all Corolla. We took it to Mountain Zebra NP, Addo Elephants NP and Kruger NP - no problem at all. The big camps all have gas stations. One has a car wash facility where we used it each time on the last day - needed that else you would be charged cleaning fee at return - cars would become Very Dirty after even just a day in Kruger.

On N4 there is a big facility with the usual restaurants, gas pumps AND a little zoo with the exotic animals found in the park. You could have the car wash there too.

I found this site quite useful for planning the visit.

Johannesburg International Airport to Kruger National Park Drive

The private reserves have their own little areas that are adjacent to Kruger but not part of the NP, and without any barrier - they can then drive in those areas at early morning or late evening hours. But as far as Kruger NP itself - where they go you can go just as well and often you are better off due to you dont have a schedule to keep and you dont need to please others, like the fellow customers on the same safari drive.

The Kruger camps have safari drives one can book if staying at the camp. The morning drive probably is better value as you leave in the dark and then return after sun rises, versus the evening drive basically is in the dark shortly after you are out and about.
However from what I have read from different sites on people's trip reports, it really is not worth the money to have "guided" game drives.

In 2016's trip we passed a spot under trees fairly close to road side, where a pair of lions were resting with the male got up to mate several times while the lioness could not care less but continued her afternoon nap. It was fairly comical to be honest! We first spotted a couple private cars stopped by the road side and then we saw what they saw. Until we left we did not see any game drive car passed by. On another occasion we passed an area where someone at the camp told us they saw 6 lioness the day before. Sure enough we saw a group of lioness scattered around, all having naps and occasionally turned over. Not even a passing car stopped when we were watching quietly. Then one day at lunch at Lower Sabi Camp when I checked the board of sightings (yesterday and today), a couple told us they just came back from watching a leopard caught a kill then finishing it on the tree. They said the kill was pretty good size so the leopard probably was still eating. So we skipped our lunch and headed towards the direction, the sighting was about 2 to 3 kms in a side dirt road. When we arrived there were like 1/2 doz private cars and 2 safari drive cars were there watching. The safari drive cars had to leave as well as a couple private cars. We then were able to get into a spot that was very close to one side of the tree with a great angle of the leopard resting on the branch - yeah, it had finished its feast and resting now. Then the best high lights were 2 sightings of wild dogs which are supposedly very rare considering you are encouraged to report the exact locations of the sightings so the park could keep a tab on them.
One was a family with pulps. Again only a few private cars were watching quietly. The other time was when we were on our way towards the gate to leave the park near closing time - there were almost a doz of them wondering across the road and scattering on both sides of the road. It was due to that sighting when we finally left we drove at a slow pace - there was speed guns right at the road side just out of Skukuza camp, on the direction leading to Kruger gate - multiple cars were caught but we were fine - the lady cop waved us to pass...

In 2017 the high light was when we watched a leopard feasting on its kill on a tree - the whole process... In the morning we passed a place where my husband spotted a kill was hanging high up on the branch. We waited a while in hope to see the leopard. No luck. We moved on. In the afternoon on our way out we made a point to check the same area again - there it was, just started feasting. Then I saw a hyena was waiting at the bottom of the tree for droppings. Then another hyena came, and the first one drove the second one away. The second one seemed to have suffered some wound in the past and was cripple. It did not leave far but quietly wait... The whole thing was surreal. There was not a single safari drive passed by the whole time.
Also watched huge herds of Cape Buffalo, like over 200 of them, resting and wondering along the bank of Sabi river. Big herds of Giraffe and again elephants on the other side of Sabi River right across from the restaurant at Lower Sabi camp. Rhinos by the road side no more than 4 to 5 feet away...
Basically it is a lot more freedom and fun doing the drive yourself. South Africa is probably the ONLY country that allows one to do self-drive on a safari trip. I would take advantage of that.

An FTer who posted often on various forum, went in Spring of 2017 - he showed me a pix of a lion family - 3 lioness and a few cubs, spotted right when he turned into a dirt road just after entering Malelane gate. He was the only car there the whole time until the lion family got up and walked into the bushes. So on our return trip, also entering from Malelane gate this time as we came up from KZN, we went to check that little dirt road out (it was a loop) - no lion but we saw a dejected hyena walked towards us that it passed the side of the car soooo close that I felt I could pat its head... also a pair of Cape Buffalo just staring at us at close up...

You would have a lot more fun doing the drive yourself. It is very easy. We did not venture into the dirt road much in 2016 due to the road conditions were very poor because of prolong drought. But in 2017 driving on the dirt roads was much easier after Kruger received lots of rain in Nov 2016 and the Park was able to do some road maintenance / improvement. The Corolla handled it just fine. Be sure to buy the detailed Kruger "map" that is more like a magazine style book - it has the details information on the roads both main, paved ones and the dirt, unpaved ones. It also gives description on each "zone" inside the park, and explanation on the animals you would have a chance to see in each "zone". The book is available at the gate entrance.

Finally while Kruger is fun to visit, after 2 consecutive years we now would take a break, and look into Tanzania instead.

rny321

Happy, that was an amazing review. Thank you very much for taking the time to provide such a detailed analysis.

Unless there is a compelling reason to use a guide or engage in a group outing, I prefer making my own travel arrangements. Sometimes the cost is so minimal, as is the case in some parts of Asia or South America or Peru, or the road side scenery is so compelling that we do hire a guide or driver. Unless I am mistaken, with one limited exception, the only game viewing options in Sabi Sands require staying in that private reserve.

I stayed at the Fairmont in Masai Mara in Kenya, which was fantastic, but I haven't been to Tanzania.

Since the costs were commonly the same for shared and private vehicles, we only shared a vehicle once in Kenya. I agree that spending time watching what you want and not having to compromise to accommodate group interests is more enjoyable. While we were there, a couple of other guests were sharing a vehicle when a pack of hyenas attacked a wildebeest. Another wildebeest prevented the hyenas from killing the injured one. As they were admiring the loyalty and determination of a fellow herd member, a lion attacked the injured wildebeest. It's one thing to hold off hyenas, but the lion changed the dynamics sufficiently that both the uninjured wildebeest and the hyenas departed. Since the couple they were sharing the vehicle was shocked watching a lion eat another animal (They are not vegans.), the guide left the scene earlier than our acquaintances would have liked.

SHLTP

Anyone have this issue...? The African Pride Autograph and almost all other Protea in Joho won't let me book a room for wife and under 12 kid (won't even allow me to pay for kid).

I caled autograph because Marriott does not have email addresses (got disconnected 6 times)... And they said I need to book two rooms. No way in Joho am I letting wife or little stay alone in a room .

I am finding same rules in Cape Twon excpet for Westin, a legacy Starwood. Other chains like Hyatt and 4 Seasons will let me book 2 adults and 1 kid, some charhe extra some do not.

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But all Protea and legacy Marriott won't let me book. Is this true? Or tech glitch but Auto did say true when I caled.

Can't be govt rules as other chains allow (oh and we have done it 2 previous trips with out a problem). Thanks for suggestions.

SHLTP

Update... Called numerous times and talked 3 people. Supervisor at Autograph African Pride told me he would let my kid stay for free and even give free rollaway bed. Let's see if that holds. I booked room.

makin'miles

NotJustDreaming

NotJustDreaming