The Marion on Nicol♡

Second time around, not so good

6.0

This is the third time I have stayed at the Marion on Nicol in Sandton. The first time I was welcomed by the Hotel General Manager Sean Bartlett last year in August and October 2019, whom made my stay unforgettable. His level of guest experiance and satisfaction is highly professional, a true hotelier at heart and will certainly do anything in his power to make you feel at home. Sean sorted out all my daily transfers and meal requirements (as I am Lactose intolerant) special meals were designed by Sean and produced by Thabo to cater for my specific needs. From the welcoming of my arrival to the personalised tour of the hotel to the breakfast and dinner experiance, everything was absolutely perfect and on par,truelly 5 stars all around. I have travelled and stayed in many hotels around the world and this by far has been in my top three. I arrived at the Marion a week ago (January 2020) only to find out there is a New Hotel General Manager by the name of Gill whom I did not get a chance to meet. After requesting to meet with her I was showered with excuses that she was to busy. I had a few concerns about my room, the Safe was not working, barely any amenities in the room, the basin and bath had stains in it. Breakfast was OK, the standards have dropped. I went out during the day for lunch,so I can't comment. Dinner was terrible! Not five star at all! I can't believe how the standards have dropped since Sean Bartlett(Previous General Manager) has left. I will miss the Marion and what it used to offer! PS : Please bring the Marion's standards back.

Very Disappointing Policy and Services

2.0

I booked this hotel through booking.com. There was a very cheap rate advsertised for New Years Eve. I then contacted the property 3 times to find out their banking details so I may make a prepayment as I wanted to pay all my December bookings upfront. Only on the 3rd email did I get a very rude 1 line response 'you pay on arrival' 3 weeks after making my booking and the above mentioned emails I receive a request to cancel as it seems they had made a mistake on the rate advertised and they want to cancel my room or I need to agree to pay more than 5 times the advertised rate. I refused to accept this ridiculous new charged, mainly based on the fact that I had contacted the hotel on numerous occasions since making my booking and was never alerted to this AND I found it ridiculous that nearly 1 month after making this booking they are only picking up the error now. They have since cancelled my rooms with no apology, not a single word from them, I think it is appalling that they have left me without accommodation and couldn't even deign to reach out to me or reach another understanding. I understand mistakes happen however as with all service based companies. If a rate is advertised the ethical thing to do is to honour it. I am disgusted by this hotel frankly.

Good but needs some work

8.0

I was given a room one level lower than what I’d paid for. The room itself was decent and the overall service from the hotel was good. The restaurant experience was disappointing. Ordered the zucchini soup which was the only good thing on the menu. The seafood curry was just appalling - the stench from the dish put me off immediately, but I thought I’d try it anyway. Prawns were clearly not fresh and the fish want either. I didn’t dare try the mussels. I sent this right back and was told I’d get a refund. Breakfast was good although they were out of many of the items listed. I’d recommend the hotel rooms but would caution you to be

Strategy Workshop Disruption

6.0

Our company held our annual strategy workshop at the Marion on Nicol this year and after a very good site visit, we confirmed a full day package. Our day was unfortunately marred by air-conditioning that was not working (10 of us in a tight boardroom) which can understandably happen anywhere, however, the “Plan B” offered to us was working in the hotel restaurant, which we obviously declined. We were eventually moved into another larger room at 11:00 which had workmen constantly flowing in and out to fix the air-conditioning in an attached room, creating a disturbance for a good while until this was sorted out. The manager Sean Bartlett offered compensation on the hotel, which has not been forthcoming and after numerous calls and messages for him to contact us there has been no response to date, which is highly unprofessional. To be noted, the courteous and helpful assistance of Sylvester was most appreciated throughout the day and the food was good and other staff courteous and attentive.

Terrible experience - Definately NOT 5 star

2.0

My wife and I booked the night of 31 March at the hotel on the basis of it being a 5 star hotel and the original site of my wife's parents home.. After check in we went to the room and quickly discovered the safe did not work. The room itself was ok but the curtains looked a little tatty. We were told we needed to move rooms if we wanted a working safe and were taken by the bellman through the dining room full of people and up and down a few stairs to a new room. The room smelled of smoke and did not have a balcony table like the other room. We asked to see the manager and went to the pool. The door to the pool was locked and we were told if we wanted towels we needed to get them from reception. The outside furniture was very shabby. After meeting with the hotel manager who was full of excuses ,we decided to leave the hotel. Net net this hotel is not a 5 star hotel and the nearly 2 hour experience was disappointing to say the least.The owners might want to check into this and make corrections asap.

Great massage at great venue

10.0

A friend treated us with a massage at this great spa. Friendly smiles, good service and excellent massage, followed by champagne brunch at the pool. Service at the poolside was a bit slow but the setting made up for it. Can highly recommend it!