Hotels near China mall durban wheel, Durban

My wife and I stayed at the Royal Hotel overnight, during March, 2022. We used an elevator to get to our room, and noticed a large dead cockroach lying at the entrance to one of the three elevators. The entrance carpet of our room was damp, and the other carpets and easy chairs were shabby. The curtains were not ironed, and the windows were smudgy. The bathroom basin had a good share of mould around the top of the basin. The room fridge was totally empty, and after our trip to get to the hotel, we were thirsty, but there was no water bottles in the fridge. We complained at the front desk,and afterwards one of the staff brought us two small bottles of water and charged us Twenty-Five Rand per small bottle. There was a kettle in the room, with tea/coffee making facilities. The bedside lamps were strange, and were not matching at all. The shower and toilet were in good working condition. We took the elevator at about 09h30 the next morning to check out, and the cockroach of the night before, was still in front of one of the elevators. We decided to order coffee and scones at the coffee shop. The picture on their website displays a cake stand, filled with a variety of delicious cakes. The cake stand was empty. It seems that the regular business lounges were closed. The tragedy of this experience is that The Durban Royal Hotel has always been, over many years, one of the most famous and popular hotels in Durban, that was regularly used by businessmen and international travellers to Durban. It appears that there was a great lack of care or concern for guests at this hotel during our stay. This hotel is located in the central gardens square of Durban, and could be unsafe to walk around outside the hotel? Numerous tramps and beggars hang around. Sadly, we will not be staying there again.

The breakfast is good, the service is also great, and there are omelettes for your choice. The room is very large and the hotel is at a good location. However, we did not dare to go out, because it was not safe. It is suggested to be accompanied by local friends if you go out.

I would love to book the hotel once more next time, I felt at home. The waiters and the cleaners were welcoming and kind to me and my colleagues so I am sure they also enjoyed a stay there. There was a guy there who was excelling in serving us food, he is light skinned and short both in height and hair cut; if had my way I would promote him, he is so patient and kind serving with no complain.

I'm sorry but this place may look nice on pictures and superficially nice but everything is cheap and service is quite poor. The plastic wood everywhere is tacky, windows are so thin you hear all the traffic on the roadside while on the yard side there is LOUD partying til very late. The staff assured me it would stop at 23, but this was not true, it continued til 2 am. The staff in reception seems truly clueless at most things, this is probably because they have no training and hardly any salary. The poor manager on duty seems to constantly have to rush and make right the various mistakes made, she seems to do nothing but apologise all day to costumers. The owners of the hotel clearly prioritise their own pockets over providing service. A few examples of cheapness: 1.No folder with information in the room - I am referred to the website. The tebsite says iron and ironing board in your room. I looked and looked, couldn't find it. I called reception and they said I can fetch it from the lobby (another hotel would have brought it to my room...). I went down to lobby, carried the ironing board up in the elevator etc. to my room and then found the iron to be old and dirty, it dirtied my blouse and the steam function didn't work properly there was just a lot of water coming out, leaving water stains on my other top.... Just replace the iron when it is old? If a guest calls, deliver the iron and board to the room? Change the information on the web... not so difficult things if you want to make a good impression.. 2.My collegue had a paid and booked transport to the airport that had been forgotten by the staff despite that he reminded them a few hours before and they ensured him it was settled. Once it was due - no transport. He nearly missed his flight. The poor manager lady had to book an uber for him and give him cash... 3. I gave them laundry one morning, thinking it would be finished by the evening or the next day, like all other hotels. By next evening it was not finished (it was 3 small items, no dry cleaning). They seemed to be looking for it as if they had lost it. When I was checking out 2 days after handing in the laundry, the woman in reception admitted one of my tops had been lost... When I complained about this and point 4 below, they did offer compensation, but I had to send a recepit of a new top and fill in forms etc. hassle. 4. After a long week of work staying at this hotel I was looking forward to sleeping 8 hours until leaving on Saturday. The Friday partying however started already at 4 pm with a DJ. I had the room facing the courtyard and asked the manager how long the partying would continue. Oh we have a curfew at eleven in Durban, she said, it will definitely be quiet after that! I’m not from South Africa so I believed her and felt OK I can sleep from 11 to 8 am, that’s OK. My room turned out to be just above the party and it felt like it was IN my room. I was trying to finalise my work from 21.00 to 23.00 with the boomi

The hotel is ok and everything but the parking is very small and limited I had to park my bakkie on the parking lot across the street but there is a guard 24hrs

I went with my fiance to celebrate my birthday with her the sea breeze is amazing it's breath of fresh air they even have the gym inside I just love the experience the food is amazing also the house keeping service is a top notch I love that it's only few meters away to the beach

It’s decent hotel we loved it. The only issue was parking because we wanted a safe parking space as we were looking through different hotels and it was listed. Only to find out when we got there that they were renovating their parking lot. It was not updated online.

Definitely an amazing hotel. The hotel was worth every cent. I loved that I was able to get an international plug when I needed one and that the staff was always willing to help. The breakfast OMG!!! Never seen or tasted anything more delicious. The variety of food and service from staff was a absolutely exceptional !!!!

Service was awesome. Room was clean and neat however the toilet and shower area was just a little too small and not a lot of privacy.

We stayed in apartment 408 and it was disappointing. Firstly the photos on the website and the actual furniture and decor are not the same. In fact, some of the photos are misleading. The unit accommodates four people, but there are only three seats provided in the lounge area, so one of has always had to sit on the patio. The one toilet seat is broken, and even though we reported it, nothing was done. The patio door lock doesn't lock, so we felt a little bit uneasy at night. The main bedroom door leading to the patio, which is a nice feature, could not be used because there isn't a key for it. And the windows definitely needs some cleaning. Whist the view from the patio on the channel leading to the harbour is great (there is no view on the main harbour as implied) the netting covering the patio is bit of an irritance. But this is understandable as it is advertised as a per friendly apartment, but it is something to be aware of before you make your booking. The net in no way disturbs the view but it will definitely give the patio a more open feeeing if there is not net. So my advise, unless you're visiting with pets, look for another apartment in PWA. The area and location is great.