Protea Fire&Ice Durban Review
Paul‘s 150th Hotel Review for the
Details:
Duration of stay: 1 night / after 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:
Posting of points & nights: follows later.
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
—-
Back at this property after our Safari. The Protea Fire and Ice is always or home away from home when in Durban.
This stay showed once more that the staff can make a huge difference in the perception of a product.
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:
Check-in was very different to last time.
The agent hasn't really had an idea what he was doing and some procedures were new to him.
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 in the room together with a handwritten card from the GM.
Eligible nights and points:
The nights and the ponits were credited correctly to my account but it took 9 days until they were on my account.
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 now a wowww atmosphere. Compared to our last stay in exactly the same room, they have upgraded them in the
meantime. And wowww, what a transformation to the positive with a few changes.
(have a look at the pictures from our last stay in 2022 on our homepage www.paulthesheep.com to compare the positive change of the suite)
It 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.
These changes make such a huge positive impact. Wowww.
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 choice and quality of food is great. The presentation is done with love and the staff is top.
What we liked most, all egg dishes are prepared fresh for each guest, including scrambled eggs.
This time we experienced a different customer service. Many tables were not cleaned and cleared. No staff present on the floor.
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.
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:
The property is active on Facebook and Instagram and they do post and re-post content.
They also do interact with followers on Instagram. No interaction on their Facebook page.
Summary:
All in all still a good stay. Fantastic hotel hardware with a modern and a great atmosphere.
Staff touchpoints were a little different this time but still okay.
We can fully recommend to stay at this property.
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.