2-Star Hotels in Juliasdale

On the surface, this hotel looked very nice. We were staying for two nights while we went to Nyanga and this seemed to be convenient. There were two of us sharing and the beds were big enough and came with electric blankets which was very acceptable given that it was much cooler here than in Harare, due to the elevation and the mountains. The first issue we encountered was there was no apparent hot water after running the tap for 10 minutes, in a country that experiences droughts, it was concerning. We couldn’t turn on the cold tap either, so had to call the management. While waiting for help to arrive, we noticed the towel rail was absent, and when we tried to switch on the electric blankets, one of them didn’t work. We went to the front desk and waited for someone to come back with us to the room. Eventually a porter arrives with a cable and exposed wires, looking for electrical tape to somehow repair the connection! At this point, we stated that we were uncomfortable with the set up and needed to be moved. The management agreed and moved us to the next room. This at least had a towel rail and the water got hot after several minutes. The electric blankets worked so we were happy about that. We did notice that the cable on the room heater had been patched up previously and there was a small burn on the carpet! We found the Dining room and decided to try the buffet for $25. This was not very good, but as the only hotel around as far as we knew, they had a captive audience. As we had been traveling for a number of hours we decided to get to bed. Having a warm bed to get into was great, but after turning the blankets off, we noticed that one half was off, but the other half was still on with no way of turning them off. Very strange and somewhat concerning. The next morning, my travel companion was first to shower and on getting out, discovered that the floor was flooded. The water had run down the wall and out over the edge and now she had to use her towels to try to mop it up. It seemed like a never ending comedy of errors! The same thing repeated itself when I got in the shower. The breakfast buffet was mediocre with very little choice of fruits available and the bowls were almost empty. We had to ask for them to be topped up. The Dinner buffet was also mediocre and we were very glad to be leaving the next day. The setting of the hotel is beautiful with the mountains around, but our feeling was that it had probably been top class when it was built, but it had gone right down over the years and become quite shabby. On a positive note, the staff were very friendly and helpful and that’s probably all I can say about it. We will not be returning again.

Rental basis: Entire house or apartmentNumber of bedrooms: 3; Number of other rooms with beds: 0Charming 3 bedroomed self-catering cottage nestled in the mountains of Nyanga. It comes with 2 toilets and a shower to cater comfortably for 6 guests. A large kitchen and a braai area with a full suite of utensils to cook the meal of your dreams and enjoy it by the pool or your vast dining table whilst a fire crackles at the fireplace. Complete peace for the weekend coupled with exciting tourist attractions for an experience to never forget! Comes with a free house help to assist you. Should you need the cottage to be cleaned or any assistance throughout the day the house help is there to assist.The neighborhood is full of cottages such as ours.A car would be extremely critical to get around and sightsee. We have parking.Comes with a generator so you are never without electricity.