CAelknuts
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LAST EDITED ON Aug-18-11 AT 00:49AM (MST)[p]This was just posted over on AR, and I think it is must reading for anyone who contemplates overnighting in Johannesburg. There is a reason that nearly everyone who stays over in Jo'burg stays at Afton House or African Sky Guesthouse. Read on for a true horror story about where NOT to stay.
Posted on AR, in African Big Game Hunting forum by Oryxhunter:
Posted 18 August 2011 01:44
Back in Joburg,
Now, having traveled to Africa multiple times, I've had to overnight in Johannesburg multiple times, and I usually thoroughly enjoy the sleepover. However, tonight I'm staying at a new place, and I must say, it leaves much to be desired.
Having retrieved my luggage and exiting into the general area of the airport, I was greeted by a gentleman holding up my name on a sheet of paper. Check! No problem there? however, I quickly realized that this was not a employee of Journey?s Inn Africa. When I questioned him, about who he works for, I found he has his own touring company, and that the JIA had called him and asked him to pick me up. Upon further questioning, I realized that he hadn't ever worked for them before, and didn't know exactly where the JIA was located. He had to rely on his GPS to get me to the guest house. This might not sound like a big deal to the average American who uses a GPS regularly?but when it comes to international travel, and especially travel within Africa (which can be a very dangerous place); I don't like services to be contracted out when I booked directly with a specific company. BTW they charged me over 25$ to drive me 9km?aka 5 miles. Seriously, let's just say they didn't just sheer this sheep. Most places I've stayed, pickup is included in the room cost?welcome to the hospitality business! Later other people in our party arrived, and their driver came to pick them up in a hatchback car. At this point, the driver had to load one of the three people in the car with some of the luggage, come to Journey?s Inn Africa to unload. Then the driver had to return to pick up my other 2 friends and collect the rest of the luggage. Have you ever heard of such crap! Seriously, I kept waiting for someone to jump out and say ?you're on candid camera!?
Upon arriving at the guest house all the doors to the room are open to the outside, much like a motel. You decide if you like this or not, but what I can tell you that I highly dislike, is the one inch crack under the door, when it's 30 degrees outside. I'm shown the lounge, which is tiny, consisting of merely 1 love seats and chair and a bar (which is cash, and that is the norm for guest houses). The dining room is just as small, with a few tables, that wouldn't seat 3 adults comfortably. When I inquired about internet, I was given a card with a code, and told that the first 15mb were free, but afterwards would have to be purchased. Now, like most people who have a life, family, and business, I need way more than 15mb?I mean come on skype eats mbs like tic tacs. I find this insanely cheap?I have stayed at many more places where wireless was free, as it should be in my opinion.
Now, I visited their website before arriving, so I then found it interesting to start comparing the descriptions of the establishment with reality. I have yet to find the safe in my room, that the website claims is in every room. The pictures on the website show flat screen tv?s and claims HD cable/sat television, but the tv in my room was a nice 14? circa 1980?s that had 4 channels that worked, however, without a remote. I did some further exploring, and there were indeed some rooms without televisions. (Don?t think I have to have television to be happy, but I can't stand when people outright lie on their websites) This is almost the last straw?oh but it gets better! Every 5 minutes we get buzzed by a 747?yep that's this place is directly in the takeoff pattern of Tambo International airport. I could have easily slept on the north runway, and probably had a quieter night. My bed was a 5 inch mattress on a wood frame that reminded me of all the summer camps I attended as a child. Seriously, while sitting on the mattress I could feel the plywood bottom, no box springs, hell, just some springs would have been nice, in addition to a pillow that was as flat as a piece of toast, with just a comforter. Again, I'm sure you're thinking, ?there's no way?, but yes, not even a top sheet. Seriously, is this a guest house or a German Stalag?
Now, it's time for dinner, you've been surviving on airplane food for 30 hrs, so if you're like me you're starving. We go into the small dining room, and we sit down, where the service begins. We?re given the starter (a term given for appetizers in African countries) and guess what it is? A silver dollar sized slice of cooked eggplant, that you could read through, topped with a similar slice of tomato and Swiss cheese, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and garnished with a cocktail toothpick to hold it all together. Now, this disgusting concoction stood less than half an inch high. I should have taken a photo?but for further impact, I will tell you it tasted like the sole of a bushman?s sandal. We were then served a bowl of lettuce for a salad, and then the main course arrived. The main course consisted of a 9x12 pan of meat lasagna; however it didn't really have any tomato sauce?more like a hamburger/cheese/noodle casserole. It reminded me of hamburger helper with lasagna noodles. To say it was gross, again was a serious understatement. Most people have eaten stouffer?s frozen lasagna at some point in their life, hell any frozen lasagna for that matter, would be considered 5-star compared to this pan of crud.
When I asked about drinks, ?how about a pitcher of water?? I was told I could get a bottle of water from the bar or soda, that would be added to my tab. Yeah, that's right, you're paying for dinner, and you don't get a glass of water. FML! (Don?t know what that stands for, google it!) Now here?s the best part?we were a party of four. Would you like to guess what we were charged for just dinner, drinks excluded. How about $80 USD?I about came unglued.
The next day, we had a tour to visit the zulu?s in the Limpopo planned that the owner was supposed to take us on (they also offer tours in and around RSA). She called and canceled, saying she had an employee shortage, and she had to take a larger group of people on another tour. So she totally blew us off, mind you, it was 2 days of our itinerary. At the end of this tour, she was then supposed to drop us off at our safari operators camp in northern Limpopo to begin our cape buffalo hunt.
Now we are stranded in Joburg, with 2 days empty, and without transportation to our hunting destination. And the owner of the Journey?s Inn Africa didn't give a f***! These plans had been made in December of 2010, it's now August?there is no excuse! She told us to take some other tours around joburg, and had her onsite manage present us with a pricelist of other tours available. At this point, her cell phone lost reception and she was no longer to be reached?how convenient!
For breakfast, we were offered fruit, yogurt, cereal, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Now I prefer to have fried eggs, but I wasn?t given a choice, which I don't like.
Fortunately, for us we were able to get a hold of our ph, and he made arrangements to get us picked up the next day for the 6 hr drive.
Now after all this BS?we were getting picked up at 5am for our long drive to the northern Limpopo the next morning. We asked the manager if there was any way we could get some milk for cereal, or breakfasts bars..ie granola..something?for our early departure. We didn't even ask them to make something for us. Her response ?the staff won't be in at the time, so no we won't have any breakfast for you!? After 20 minutes of going around, she conceded to a tiny pitcher of milk for cereal. I guess the second night it was just a Bed, no breakfast. I hope everyone reads this, and thinks, this is lunacy there's no way it happened like this, but I ASSURE YOU IT DID!
Now, I would have never ever stayed there except I was an addition to this hunting party, and wasn?t allowed given the chance to throw my two cent for where we should have stayed.
I have always stayed at the Afton house, some 10-12 times over the past 4 years for different safaris, and I can tell you their service is flawless. I know when I clear customs, I know the faces I will see looking for me, heck they don't even make a sign for me anymore. They don't sub-out/contract random drivers to pick up their clients. Airport pickup is included in their overnight rate. They will assist me with clearing rifles, loading luggage ect. They give me a choice of preparing me a meal or taking me to a restaurant. I always choose a restaurant, because I like seeing new places, and they don't charge me to drive me around for dinner. My boss has chosen to have the steak dinner prepared at the afton multiple times on trips when we weren't traveling together, and he claimed it was excellent (so I can only vouch for his word on the quality of the food). Breakfast at the afton is great, and usually includes fruit, yogurt, made to order eggs and hashbrowns, cereal?you name it. (Afton makes the best toast, super thin and perfectly toasted) I have never had one case, where the Afton house changed the plans, and have found them extremely accommodating when my plans have changed when traveling across Africa, squeezing me in last minute on a few occasions.
SO PLEASE HEED MY WARNING: STAY AWAY FROM JOURNEY?S INN AFRICA?.you will be glad you did! I would hate for someone to book their 1st safari, or their 23rd and have anything remotely happen like this to taint their trip.
Posted on AR, in African Big Game Hunting forum by Oryxhunter:
Posted 18 August 2011 01:44
Back in Joburg,
Now, having traveled to Africa multiple times, I've had to overnight in Johannesburg multiple times, and I usually thoroughly enjoy the sleepover. However, tonight I'm staying at a new place, and I must say, it leaves much to be desired.
Having retrieved my luggage and exiting into the general area of the airport, I was greeted by a gentleman holding up my name on a sheet of paper. Check! No problem there? however, I quickly realized that this was not a employee of Journey?s Inn Africa. When I questioned him, about who he works for, I found he has his own touring company, and that the JIA had called him and asked him to pick me up. Upon further questioning, I realized that he hadn't ever worked for them before, and didn't know exactly where the JIA was located. He had to rely on his GPS to get me to the guest house. This might not sound like a big deal to the average American who uses a GPS regularly?but when it comes to international travel, and especially travel within Africa (which can be a very dangerous place); I don't like services to be contracted out when I booked directly with a specific company. BTW they charged me over 25$ to drive me 9km?aka 5 miles. Seriously, let's just say they didn't just sheer this sheep. Most places I've stayed, pickup is included in the room cost?welcome to the hospitality business! Later other people in our party arrived, and their driver came to pick them up in a hatchback car. At this point, the driver had to load one of the three people in the car with some of the luggage, come to Journey?s Inn Africa to unload. Then the driver had to return to pick up my other 2 friends and collect the rest of the luggage. Have you ever heard of such crap! Seriously, I kept waiting for someone to jump out and say ?you're on candid camera!?
Upon arriving at the guest house all the doors to the room are open to the outside, much like a motel. You decide if you like this or not, but what I can tell you that I highly dislike, is the one inch crack under the door, when it's 30 degrees outside. I'm shown the lounge, which is tiny, consisting of merely 1 love seats and chair and a bar (which is cash, and that is the norm for guest houses). The dining room is just as small, with a few tables, that wouldn't seat 3 adults comfortably. When I inquired about internet, I was given a card with a code, and told that the first 15mb were free, but afterwards would have to be purchased. Now, like most people who have a life, family, and business, I need way more than 15mb?I mean come on skype eats mbs like tic tacs. I find this insanely cheap?I have stayed at many more places where wireless was free, as it should be in my opinion.
Now, I visited their website before arriving, so I then found it interesting to start comparing the descriptions of the establishment with reality. I have yet to find the safe in my room, that the website claims is in every room. The pictures on the website show flat screen tv?s and claims HD cable/sat television, but the tv in my room was a nice 14? circa 1980?s that had 4 channels that worked, however, without a remote. I did some further exploring, and there were indeed some rooms without televisions. (Don?t think I have to have television to be happy, but I can't stand when people outright lie on their websites) This is almost the last straw?oh but it gets better! Every 5 minutes we get buzzed by a 747?yep that's this place is directly in the takeoff pattern of Tambo International airport. I could have easily slept on the north runway, and probably had a quieter night. My bed was a 5 inch mattress on a wood frame that reminded me of all the summer camps I attended as a child. Seriously, while sitting on the mattress I could feel the plywood bottom, no box springs, hell, just some springs would have been nice, in addition to a pillow that was as flat as a piece of toast, with just a comforter. Again, I'm sure you're thinking, ?there's no way?, but yes, not even a top sheet. Seriously, is this a guest house or a German Stalag?
Now, it's time for dinner, you've been surviving on airplane food for 30 hrs, so if you're like me you're starving. We go into the small dining room, and we sit down, where the service begins. We?re given the starter (a term given for appetizers in African countries) and guess what it is? A silver dollar sized slice of cooked eggplant, that you could read through, topped with a similar slice of tomato and Swiss cheese, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and garnished with a cocktail toothpick to hold it all together. Now, this disgusting concoction stood less than half an inch high. I should have taken a photo?but for further impact, I will tell you it tasted like the sole of a bushman?s sandal. We were then served a bowl of lettuce for a salad, and then the main course arrived. The main course consisted of a 9x12 pan of meat lasagna; however it didn't really have any tomato sauce?more like a hamburger/cheese/noodle casserole. It reminded me of hamburger helper with lasagna noodles. To say it was gross, again was a serious understatement. Most people have eaten stouffer?s frozen lasagna at some point in their life, hell any frozen lasagna for that matter, would be considered 5-star compared to this pan of crud.
When I asked about drinks, ?how about a pitcher of water?? I was told I could get a bottle of water from the bar or soda, that would be added to my tab. Yeah, that's right, you're paying for dinner, and you don't get a glass of water. FML! (Don?t know what that stands for, google it!) Now here?s the best part?we were a party of four. Would you like to guess what we were charged for just dinner, drinks excluded. How about $80 USD?I about came unglued.
The next day, we had a tour to visit the zulu?s in the Limpopo planned that the owner was supposed to take us on (they also offer tours in and around RSA). She called and canceled, saying she had an employee shortage, and she had to take a larger group of people on another tour. So she totally blew us off, mind you, it was 2 days of our itinerary. At the end of this tour, she was then supposed to drop us off at our safari operators camp in northern Limpopo to begin our cape buffalo hunt.
Now we are stranded in Joburg, with 2 days empty, and without transportation to our hunting destination. And the owner of the Journey?s Inn Africa didn't give a f***! These plans had been made in December of 2010, it's now August?there is no excuse! She told us to take some other tours around joburg, and had her onsite manage present us with a pricelist of other tours available. At this point, her cell phone lost reception and she was no longer to be reached?how convenient!
For breakfast, we were offered fruit, yogurt, cereal, scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Now I prefer to have fried eggs, but I wasn?t given a choice, which I don't like.
Fortunately, for us we were able to get a hold of our ph, and he made arrangements to get us picked up the next day for the 6 hr drive.
Now after all this BS?we were getting picked up at 5am for our long drive to the northern Limpopo the next morning. We asked the manager if there was any way we could get some milk for cereal, or breakfasts bars..ie granola..something?for our early departure. We didn't even ask them to make something for us. Her response ?the staff won't be in at the time, so no we won't have any breakfast for you!? After 20 minutes of going around, she conceded to a tiny pitcher of milk for cereal. I guess the second night it was just a Bed, no breakfast. I hope everyone reads this, and thinks, this is lunacy there's no way it happened like this, but I ASSURE YOU IT DID!
Now, I would have never ever stayed there except I was an addition to this hunting party, and wasn?t allowed given the chance to throw my two cent for where we should have stayed.
I have always stayed at the Afton house, some 10-12 times over the past 4 years for different safaris, and I can tell you their service is flawless. I know when I clear customs, I know the faces I will see looking for me, heck they don't even make a sign for me anymore. They don't sub-out/contract random drivers to pick up their clients. Airport pickup is included in their overnight rate. They will assist me with clearing rifles, loading luggage ect. They give me a choice of preparing me a meal or taking me to a restaurant. I always choose a restaurant, because I like seeing new places, and they don't charge me to drive me around for dinner. My boss has chosen to have the steak dinner prepared at the afton multiple times on trips when we weren't traveling together, and he claimed it was excellent (so I can only vouch for his word on the quality of the food). Breakfast at the afton is great, and usually includes fruit, yogurt, made to order eggs and hashbrowns, cereal?you name it. (Afton makes the best toast, super thin and perfectly toasted) I have never had one case, where the Afton house changed the plans, and have found them extremely accommodating when my plans have changed when traveling across Africa, squeezing me in last minute on a few occasions.
SO PLEASE HEED MY WARNING: STAY AWAY FROM JOURNEY?S INN AFRICA?.you will be glad you did! I would hate for someone to book their 1st safari, or their 23rd and have anything remotely happen like this to taint their trip.
