"Nice, but could have been better. No fresh bedding and towels."

No cleaning crew for 10 days.

"I feel that the fact that our booking was given through to the host agents that manage the apartment complicated matters."

We had a wonderful time in Blouberg and our host, Cecilia, was amazing. The property is in a good location, but we, unfortunately, had a few frustrations. Some pros and cons of the property. Pros: Location is good. In a safe estate. Security is good. Sunset views. Spacious apartment. Cons: We were 6 people, basically 3 generations sharing the space. Our children and grandchildren had different plans to ours, but we were only given one set of keys, so logistics were a nightmare throughout. Only one car has access through the security gate. This should be made clearer upon the booking stage as this was a rather large annoyance and caused a lot of hassle for 2 families to get in/out of the complex, constantly having to phone each other to try and organise access. Very little insulation, causing a lot of wind noise, there was a howling sound in the living room the entire time we stayed there which is quite bothersome and eerie. Due to the lack of insulation, one can also hear traffic noise and we were woken every day of our holiday by someone hooting/skidding around the circle in front of the complex, it’s an incredibly busy road so it didn’t really feel like a relaxing holiday away from the noise. The property maintenance/upkeep is in disarray, they’ve tried to hide it but one can see that the property desperately needs some redecoration/upkeep/maintenance such as paint peeling from the skirting in one of the bedrooms, broken bed in the kids' room, kids room light switches on and off by itself without us touching it, master bedroom en-suite bathroom light broke on day 3 of 5, the fridge/freezer was leaking water into the kitchen, the rubber around the stove top is pulling away, mould on the tiles in the bathroom. The bed (maybe three-quarter?) in the other room is definitely a query as it was too small for two adults and the mattress was sagging in the middle. Load shedding, not your fault, caused a lot of pain. Firstly, due to the inadequate provision of lights. Just one tiny lantern and one light that reacts to movement were provided. Secondly, because there was no way for us to heat food or boil water. Load shedding is a fact of the South African landscape, but rental places must make provisions for their guests. At the rental in Bettys Bay where we stayed prior to Dolphin Beach a gas stove made life bearable even in load shedding times. And finally, I believe it is a terrible mistake to put a Weber on the balcony of the main bedroom. Why was it not on the other balcony? The carpet in the main bedroom looks absolutely terrible and one can clearly see where previous guests spilled meat sauces and other braai-related stuff. Very unhygienic. In conclusion: 1) Guests must be warned that the flat is right on the corner of a very busy traffic circle and that on weekdays the traffic starts at about 05:00. 2) Guests must be warned that there is very limited/no insulation. So wind and traffic can be a problem. 3) Guest must be warned that load shedding is a terrible reality and that provision to counter this is limited.

"Delicious!"

Many thanks to Cecilia for making us feel more than welcome. Beautiful apartment, neat and so clean.