Protea Hotel Polokwane Ranch Resort

Dining Experience: The dining options, especially Basils restaurant, received frequent praise for their quality, presentation, and variety. Guests enjoyed extensive breakfast buffets, private dining experiences, and delicious food overall.

As far as I can remember this has been a destination to celebrate special occasions due to the beautiful setting and great food and service. Coming back after being away for eight years, on arrival it was the same smart, well kept resort. We had booked for lunch and the disappointment slowly crept in. Service was slow, our waiter had had little or no training, limited language and no knowledge of the menu. Two at the table ordered ribs, only to be informed 10 minutes later they had none. He could not tell us what the vegetables of the day were and eventually took me to a Bain Marie and showed me roasted carrots and pointed to another container informing me that’s the second veg but it must go in the oven and there will be a wait. Once orders had been changed the food took a long time to reach the table. The steaks and eisbien’s were very tasty. The fish was dry and no sauce with it at all. The cherry on the top is the dining room then became a laundry room with the tables being stripped and just dumped in a pile to be sent to Laundry, in addition the knives and forks were being washed in buckets in full view of everyone. Not the service that we remembered and were used to.

I'm a but conflicted with this hotel because some parts were really good but some not so good. The room was big and airy however the bed was too soft that it felt like my whole body fell into a hole and that made it difficult to sleep. Before going to sleep the geyser in the room started leaking and the shower head fell off when I was taking a shower. So it felt like I was given a room that was under renovations or something. However, the good part is that the food was super delicious and the staff's customer service was so good. You know that the place is well run when the customer experience is the same from reception, to staff at the diving area and even the cleaner (my opinion 😉)