Review Protea Fire&Ice Hotel, Durban Umhlanga Ridge
Paul‘s 158th Hotel Review for the
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 by Marriott : 
Posting of points & nights: everything wrong
everything wrong
Room / Bathroom:
Bed, quality of sleep:
Bathroom, Shower:
Room Atmosphere:
WiFi / Internet:
Housekeeping general:
Cleanliness:
Food & Beverage:
Breakfast:
Bar:
Restaurant:
Lounge: no lounge
no lounge
Staff:
Paul‘s Mix:
Pool, Spa:
Hotel Location:
Mojito Rating 
:
:
General Customer Care:
Staff attitude, interaction and responsiveness:,
,
Social media interaction:
—-
= bad, a lot of work needs to be done
=not good, you will be busy with corrections
= good & normal, nothing special
= high level, but the icing on the cake is missing
= topnotch, leave me here!
= Half a Point/sheep
—-
Updated review for our 8th stay at this property.
The Protea Fire and Ice is always or home away from home when in Durban.
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.
The
Hotel has a Total of 205 rooms including suites.
There is no public transport so you will need a rental car to move around.
Check-in:
The check-in was simply amazing. The staff was super attentive and friendly. She recognized us from previous stays and I really was like a coming home.
Also the front office manager came to greet us and also with her it was a huge welcome.
Check-out:
Check out was fantastic too.
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.
Marriott Bonvoy Recognition:
The Hotel adhered to all Marriott Bonvoy procedures and all benefits received automatically.
At check-in they asked which benefit (points or breakfast) we would like to have and they upgraded us to the most beautiful one bedroom executive suite.
When getting into the room there was an amazing welcome gift in form of a fruit/snack platter.
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. Marriott international and Mariott Bonvoy do you actually recognize that your program goes down the drain for non North American
Members and that you are discriminating your international members?
Posting of points and nights:
Everything was wrongly posted to my account. We only got points for the dinner but not for the stay. The hotel said they can not correct it. Once home I have to send the final invoice to the
Bonvoy Team to correct everything.
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 one bedroom executive suite we got is absolutely fantastic in size and has a wowww atmosphere. few changes.
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. The
room has a balcony over the full length where you can see the park opposite.
They have now added a carpet in the living room together with additional seating options and there is new decoration elements in the room and some furniture has been exchange and walls
painted or new wallpaper.
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 executive suite has 2 bathrooms. One is equipped with a shower and bathtub and the other one 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.
Turn down service was done as well.
F&B:
The bar has a great atmosphere and super friendly and efficient staff. Also here they have made some changes and updates. The old unstable rocks as tables are gone.
It is a very modern and inviting bar.
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 is done with love and the staff is top.
Compared to our last stay in February this year, they have reduced the choice dramatically. From the cold buffet only half of the former choice was available but the hotel still offers a good
breakfast.
What we liked most, all egg dishes are prepared fresh for each guest, including scrambled eggs.
This time we had dinner at the restaurant. As all Protea Hotels there would have been a buffet for a very reasonable price at the restaurant on the first floor but we decided to eat a la cart in
the restaurant on the ground floor.
The food was simply amazing and super tasty. Presentation on the plate was top and also the service was really good.
Definitely a hotel restaurant we can recommend.
In general we think that the F&B department has improved compared to last stays.
Staff at all outlets were simply amazing 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:
It seems that social media isn't present anymore at this property. No interaction at all.
Summary:
All in all a great stay. Fantastic hotel hardware with a modern and a great atmosphere.
Staff was amazing 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.