We are quite mystified by the wonderful reviews for this hotel. We had reserved a 'Superior Double' - shown as having a king bed - through **********. When we arrived however, we were shown to a room that bore no resemblance to what we had booked. The actual bedroom was on a mezzanine level up an odd metal staircase leading from a kitchen area that formed part of the room and the wardrobe was in the bathroom. Initially we didn't want to make a fuss, but the longer we spent trying to decide what to do, the more uncomfortable we felt and realised we just couldn't sleep in that room. When we went to speak to him, the duty manager - who was consistently very pleasant and polite - insisted the booking he had received (from *******) had come through for that specific room, despite us showing him it was not what our booking confirmation indicated. After much back and forth he eventually agreed to move us to a twin room, which we could have booked the previous day and which was much more like what we expected. The weird thing is, the room to which we were initially allocated is described on the hotel's own website as a 'loft-style self-catering unit' - not as a Superior Double so I'm not sure how it could be sold as that. The hotel is located very centrally for Stellenbosch and is within easy walking distance of the centre. At breakfast it seemed odd there were not enough tables for all guests to sit inside. We ate outside which was fine but I'm not sure how they manage in inclement weather. Coffee - served in small bone china cups - was cold within a few minutes of it being served, there were no pastries other than a couple of small muffins, no labels on anything and both the glassware and crockery were mismatched 'olde worlde' style, which we found a bit kitsch. It's almost like the Batavia is trying to be something it just isn't - and sadly it definitely wasn't a 5 star experience.
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