Review, Protea Hotel Fire&Ice Durban Umhlanga Ridge

General Impressions:

For the property:

For the staff:

Details:

Duration of stay: 1 night / before Safari

Check-in / Check-out:

Check-in Process:

Check-out Process:

Concierge Service: N/A

Staff @ Front Desk:

Bonvoy recognition:

At Check-in:

In General:

From Protea Hotels:

Posting of points & nights:

Room / Bathroom:

Bed, quality of sleep:

Bathroom, Shower:

Room Atmosphere:

WiFi / Internet:

Housekeeping general:

Cleanliness:

Food & Beverage:

Breakfast:

Bar:

Restaurant:

Lounge: no lounge

Staff:

Paul‘s Mix:

Pool, Spa:

Hotel Location:

Mojito Rating :

General Customer Care:

Staff attitude, interaction and responsiveness:,

Social media interaction:

General Info:

The hotel is located north of Durban in the Umhlanga Ridge area. There are many restaurants and shops around the hotel which can easily be reached by foot and also the big shopping mall is just next to the hotel.

There is no public transport so you will need a rental car to move around.

The Hotel has a Total of 205 rooms including suites.

Check-in:

The check-in was great. The staff was super attentive and friendly. She interacted with us all the time and was talking us through the process.

Check-out:

Check out was fantastic too. We had a lovely chat with the staff and are looking forward to be back in two weeks.

Staff at frontdesk was always helpful and friendly.

Everytime we passed the frontdesk they always had the time for a chat and or asked if everything was okay.

The bell boys are amazing and always lend a helping hand for everything.

Marriott Bonvoy Recognition:

At check-in the Hotel adhered to all Marriott Bonvoy procedures and all benefits received automatically.

We were asked which benefit (points or breakfast) we would like to have and they upgraded us to the junior suite which is their Lofts.

For the first time in all these years no more card or welcome amenity in the room.

A huge and massive down turn with the Marriott Bonvoy program is how Protea Hotels by Marriott and Marriott International are treating its most loyal customers.

At Protea Hotels you will only get an Elite Night Credit for every second night and only 5 base points per dollar spent.

If someone stays 150 times for a single night at a Protea Hotel he/she will receive 0!!!!!! Nights credited to her account. This person will not even be platinum whilst a North American Member can buy a credit card for 650US$ and is Platinum.

Eligible nights and points:

The points, nights as well as the qualified spend was posted to my account 24 hours after my stay. Unfortunataly it is the 4th year in a row that the hotel does not post it correctly. They only post the amount for the room rate but never for the F&B spend. Every single year we have to request the Marriott Bonvoy team to correct our balance. Would be nice, if the hotel would get some training in correctly posting points and revenue.

Room/Suite:

The entire hotel still is in amazing shape and the team and maintenance does an amazing job in keeping up the property.

The Theme they have chosen throughout the entire property is beach / surfing.

The junior suite we got is absolutely fantastic in size and has a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

The suite is held in blueish colours with lots of wood and many small and bigger surfing accessories. The room felt super comfy and the huge ceiling to floor window let in a lot of light.

As said the Junior Suite is their Loft, which is over two floors. On the entry level you will find a kitchenette, a full bath with shower and a beautiful living room. I love the modern furniture, decoration as well as the plants used. It is these elements which make the room homey.

On the upper floor there is a smaller bedroom with a king size bed, sort of a walk in closet with a desk and the full bathroom.

Careful the rooms facing to the street are really noisy, so if you want to have a more quiet one you can ask for one facing the Courtyard.

Bathroom:

The junior suite has 2 bathrooms. The master bathroom on the upper floor is equipped with a shower and bathtub and the one on the entry level of the suite is a little bit smaller with a shower only. The bathrooms are modern and both have a rainfall shower with awesome pressure.

Housekeeping:

Housekeeping does a great job and the rooms were always tidy and impeccable clean

F&B:

The bar has a great atmosphere and super friendly and efficient staff. It is a very modern and inviting bar.

For the second or third time already it happened here, that if you order Mojito, which is on their bar menu, you get the answer that there is no mint. So if you are not able to provide it, simply take it down from the menu.

(strange thing, dessert had mint leaves on it)

Breakfast is served in the Restaurant on the first floor. It was again simply amazing.

The quality of the food is great, everything was fresh and tasty. The presentation of the food is done with love and is beautifully appointed. The staff is top.

What we liked most, all egg dishes are prepared fresh for each guest, including scrambled eggs.

Staff at all outlets were super friendly and offered an outstanding and exceptional service.

They interacted with the customers and always had time for a chat or a smile.

Executive Lounge:

No Lounge at Protea by Marriott Hotels

Pool / Spa / Gym:

The pool is rather small but fully ok for a city property. There are enough sunchairs and other options to relax around the pool.

The gym is on the 7th floor. It is on the small side but has great equipment and there is also a terrace with a very small pool.

Social Media:

Social media is done a bare minimum. The hotel itself hardly posts anything and the interaction with followers and comments is held basic.

Summary:

All in all a great stay. Fantastic hotel hardware with a modern and a great atmosphere.

Staff was great again on this stay at all touchpoints.

We can fully recommend to stay at this property and are looking forward to see them again in 2 weeks time.

Notes:

- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.

- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.

-If you are interested in more details, please send us a private message and I will be happy to share more information and pictures.