Accommodation Summary

While we were stuck in East London I began writing a post comparing East London Backpackers to Nothando's our next anticipated Backpacker/B&B in Plettenberg Bay which Andrea has already commented on. In reality she was kind in what she wrote about the owners. Physically it probably was the nicest (coffee, tea, hairdryers in the rooms) cleanest and perhaps most professionally run of all the places we have stayed here, but it was also perhaps the most soul-less. Not once were we greeted by the owners. They sat and smoked like chimneys in the areas that guests were trying to use...the list goes on. It is sad to write this (just as it is sad to see what a hole EL Backpackers was – for many many reasons) as it was a beautiful, well run place but it is because the owners lived there also and the way they interacted with us and other guests that makes us say this. Had they not lived there and used the facilities that everyone else used, we would not judge them quite so critically. But you can't not interact with guests if you live on site. There are other places that we have stayed that were much larger and the owner didn't live there so we don't judge them, we judge the on-site managerial staff.


So our criteria for judging where we lay our heads at night, other than location comes down to a few categories:

Competence and Care of Owner/Manager/Staff
Safety
Cost (and what is included – most places include tea and coffee, a couple have not.)
Clean
Quiet (others may want to party until 4 in the morning – we don't! This doesn't mean we always need a monastery but at some point we hope the music is turned off or down or that the rooms are decently soundproofed etc.)

All this adds up to the general atmosphere of a place, and it is always a balance and trade off depending on what you are looking for. It's interesting to see what an owner will or won't do. One place we stayed in had no soaps (bar or soap dispenser on the wall) nothing - in any bathrooms or by any sinks. That is a must and other than this they ran a really efficient place. We didn't understand. Everyone else has had soap, ok maybe not East London. Another common issue we have discovered is that of no screens on windows. If there are bugs/mosquitoes etc that are really a problem, have some screens or mosquito nets. A couple places, as mentioned above have started charging for tea and coffee where most places offer it for free. They say that food prices just went up too much this year. We get this when it comes to breakfast – many backpackers used to offer a free breakfast (usually just toast and cereal) – most do not any more, but tea and coffee??? Just raise the room rate 5 Rand (50 cents) and throw it back in as a freebie for the guests.

None of the places we have stayed have been perfect, but there are three standouts at this point for us: Old Vic in Nelspruit, The Spot near Port Shepstone and our current location at time of writing, Amber Lagoon just outside of Oudtshoorn. Each have excelled in a combination of these areas and are places we would highly recommend – even though two of them don't provide tea and coffee. We would recommend most everyone else too but these three have looked after us so well. (Thorn Tree Lodge back in Pietermaritzburg was also fabulous – actually the best accommodation and everything hands down (except no internet) – but it was much more of a luxury lodge (at $60+ a night, a steal!!) that we haven't counted it in the backpacker cheaper places we have stayed in the rest of the time).


Duncan