Overall a wonderful experience but I really wanted it to feel a lot more exclusive and special.The Palace Hotel is founded on the site of an extinct volcano amid a lush tropical wilderness with the impressive Pilanesberg mountains as its backdrop. The gardens on the other side of the palace near the impressive elephant statue is accessible to the public from the valley of the waves and made me feel a little unsafe walking on my own however just as stunning although certainly in need of a rubble clearing activity. This exclusive garden to The Lost City hotel guest is a real treasure but completely lost to the management of it’s potential. The path was very well maintained but with little to no signage it meant that once I heard the music from the valley of the waves and saw the rubbish appear on the pathway I became completely unsure if an exit off the path even existed and forced me to rather turn around and head back the way I came. The gardens were stunning and the financial investment from 30 years ago really staring to pay dividend now. The path way leading from the centre of the hotel courtyard past the Spa was so poorly marked I had no idea where I was at any given time on the path. My greatest disappointment was when I decided to take a walk in the stunning and well maintained gardens surrounding the palace.
There were as expected some impressive standouts like Robert the pianist that played the grand piano during breakfast (he was absolutely phenomenal) and Mathias who made sure we were well hydrated next to the pool (a real service excellence champion) and Joe his supervisor a clearly lead my example kind of person. The exclusivity of staying at The Lost City is certainly lost as there is no preference for restaurant bookings -my suggestion during peak times keep a table or two at The Grill Room, Maltos and Legends until 8pm for The Palace guests or asks guest at check in if they would like to make table reservations at any of the restaurants during their stay. However, it was the lack of attention during service which was very disappointing like trying to get a piece of toast at breakfast or a bus back to The Lost City at lunch time filled to the brim with prams and people just coming to take a photo at the entrance of The Palace and not actual paying guests made the wait excessively long. It’s a real pity that basic maintenance is being neglected e.g cold water taps of bath not working, a major leak in the bathroom forced a room change, a few holes in the decorative ceiling, green algae around the pool etc. The palace after 30 plus years is still impressive and an absolute must experience and the impressive vision has certainly stood the but in some small ways this icon is starting to show its age.
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