Guest User
March 31, 2024
We decided to book two nights at the Strand after having had a fantastic week staying at the Mokuti Etosha, which has the same owner. We had also stayed at the Strand for two nights in April last year and had a much better experience then than now. Already at the check in we were met by a sour man who seemed completely uninterested in small talk and in hearing that we were here also last year. He only scoffed at us when we asked for a room with an ocean view, which is part of the whole reason for staying at this hotel, in our view. The hotel was booked for us by the Mokuti reception so we were unaware that the price for two nights was extremely high in comparison with the standard of the hotel. The hotel is nice but absolutely not worth the requested price for two nights. We asked for a discount as returning guests who came directly from a week at another hotel by the same owner, but the sour check-in officer brushed it off. Also the hotel requested payment up front, which my husband paid. But after discussing the price between us we decided it was not worth it and asked for the manager. We said we wanted to reduce to one night only and to stay at another hotel the second night. There are other hotels nearby that seem very nice and charges 1/4 of the price. The manager wanted to make us an offer in hope to make us stay. After a long while two employees came to offer us free dinner or 10% discount. We declined as we rather would try the other option. But to get our money back for the second night became a big problem. According to the manager, it was not possible to put the money back in our card and the hotel did not have any cash available (!). They also only wanted to return the money for the two nights if we agreed to first pay for a third night. In addition they could apparently only send the money back via Swift international banking which takes at least a week for us to receive. There was absolutely zero will to find a flexible solution in order to accomodate us. The room we received was the last on the row overlooking a play ground and with a bit of ocean view on the side of the balcony. We discovered that the hotel was only a little over half filled up so it probably would have been possible to find a room with a full ocean view if they had wanted to. In the room we discovered that the shower was partially broken, there was almost no water pressure in the bathroom tap and there was no soda, water or any snacks in the fridge. For the price they charge that would have been a minimum to be expected. We had lunch in one of the restaurants of the hotel and the food was more or less disgusting. The fried calamari was soggy and only half-fried, the chicken wings tasted weird and the fries were very dry. Dinner was fortunately a little bit better in another of the hotel restaurants (we did not have the energy to go outside and look for a restaurant). All in all this hotel is a great disappointment and can not be recommended unless the servi