Guest reviews The Palace, Sun City

by AshleighElizabeth17 Pretoria, South Africa

Unforgettable African experience

My fiancé and I stayed at the Palace for two nights in September. Although we have visited Suncity often, it was our first stay at the Palace and it exceeded our expectations. The room was beautiful, with a lovely bed and view. But there were tiny errors, for example the chair had a lot of wear and tear, there was no toilet roll holder, the sink was broken and I had to ask for a hair dryer to be brought to my room. The breakfast was out of this world with everything under the sun. We enjoyed the buffet one evening and it was absolutely delicious. The live music during meals adds such a wonderful atmosphere to an already magnificent setting. The separate pool at the valley is a wonderful, relaxing addition and has fantastic drinks. Although it is a topless pool, most people have bathing suites. The gardens are absolutely magnificent to explore and you could lounge by the Palace pool all day. The experience was the epitome of luxury. A truly wonderful spoil showcasing Africa's raw beauty. Thank you to the friendly and professional staff for making it a magnificent memory.

by ruche_sieber

The Perfect Honeymoon

We had the most amazing honeymoon here that anyone could wish for! First of my husband had arranged with Josiah, the GM for a room upgrade as a favour since we would be staying for 7 nights on our honeymoon. He confirmed that this was done and said we would not be disappointed... and we weren't! The room was spectacular and I have to specifically commend the housekeeping team for the way they made us feel welcome every time we entered the room. Nothing was too much trouble and the special touches like the Lindt chocolates and gowns laid out at night was really thoughtful and appreciated. The breakfast was amazing! We could not believe the variety on offer and the serving staff were always ready with a smile. Robert, the pianist at breakfast really set the ambience and made it an extremely enjoyable part of our stay. Special thanks also has to go to Francois, the guest relations manager who gave us excellent advice on what to do, which restaurants to try (such as the Saturday night dinner at Legends - what an amazing atmosphere that was!) and was always ready with a smile and to make sure we were happy and enjoying our stay. He is a definite asset to The Palace staff. We also have to commend Jafta, the butler assigned to us. He really went out of his way to assist us, even giving us his cell number so we can contact him directly in case we needed him, such as when requiring lifts between the various sections of Sun City. All in all this was the most amazing experience and if you had ever wondered what it feels like to be treated like royalty, I can recommend The Palace without a doubt.

by 367craigg Sandton, South Africa

Terrible service at breakfast ruined an otherwise excellent experience

We stayed at the palace for one night. We were upgraded from a junior suite to a full suite. The room was tremendous. Still very smart and lovely but starting to feel a bit old. The complimentary chocolates and champagne was a great touch. Where things went very wrong was at breakfast. Because of the Covid pandemic, we prefer to eat outside. It had rained the night before and the weather was chilly. Still we were more than happy to sit outside. We were told by the waiter that we not allowed to sit outside. We asked that they call the breakfast manager. He was extremely rude. We explained our preference. He told us they dont have enough staff to accommodate our request. We explained that we just needed someone to wipe and set the table and in the time he spent fighting with us that could have been done multiple times over. Our conversation ended up with his storming off whilst I was still speaking. Completely unacceptable. We called the duty manager. He was much more respectful and sympathetic and more than happy to indulge our request. Even thereafter, it took close to 30 minutes further to get the table set and when we tried to call the duty manager again there was no answer. We left a message and did not get a call back. What a shambles. It could have been addressed so easily. "Hi sir, are you sure you want to sit out, its a bit chilly and still damp, OK sir we will set things up". Instead it turned into a 60 minute disaster. Hugely frustrating and terrible service.

by Sariel14

Treated like cattle

We paid a small fortune for (R8000/night) the stay in the hotel and we were very disappointed by the level of service that we received. When we checked in we were made to feel that we should be grateful to have received some accommodation over the long weekend. There was no level of the welcome that we received, we asked for an upgrade (which we would have paid for) and were told that the room was the only one available, not let me check or can I get back to you. Just be grateful that we actually have a room for you. The room left a lot to be desired the small bathroom was cramped and was in serious need of an upgrade. The extractor fan was not working so the bathroom continually smelt musty. When we came down for Breakfast there was a long line of people waiting to be served and eventually we were carted off to a different section of the hotel that did not have half the selection of the main area again no apologies or any level of service. We were just expected to have some kind of fit in understanding. I tried to get hold of the manager on duty and was informed by Joana at guest relations that he was currently not on the premises. Joana assured me that he would contact me later in the day, and I am still waiting for his call. The best part of the trip was actually outside the hotel. The premises do have a lot of things to do and we tried to stay out of the hotel as much as possible. I also discovered at a later stage that my nicotine gum had been taken out of my bag during the stay. Over all we will certainly not be going back again, as there is far more cost effective and far better service we can get at an abundance of different locations in SA.

by regina_scherwath Johannesburg, South Africa

Breakfast was amazing

The rooms at the palace are a little dated but the breakfast area is amazing, the food is good and the piano playing while eating breakfast gave it such a romantic experience. Robert the piano player was outstanding. Will return for this.