Don Sandton I

1. Very Spacious Rooms (for normal price) including full kitchen and bath. 2. Affordable and reliable Internet (hard to come by in RSA). 3. Service is really attentive and friendly. They go out of their way to make you feel appreciated. 4. Most affordable accommodation in Sandton. 5. Shops and Gautrain within walking distance.

I dont really know where to start with this hotel. For a starters the hotel is called the Don 1. Its about ten mins drive from Sandton. There are probably another 5 hotels called the Don within a 15km area. Trying to find the hotel or get a taxi can be a nightmare. Once our driver got us to the hotel we were greeted by one person in a very small reception. The lady trying to check us in had a limited command of English. We finally got our room after about 15 minutes of explaining we had already paid. We then found that almost all of the hotel was being refurbished. I had made this booking some 6 months before so think i should have been told about it. The rooms are to a very poor standard and look like something from the 80's. The swimming pool is as dirty as my garden pond. The first morning i was woken up at 7am by a man painting the bedroom window. He continued to make as much noise as possible. I then got up and went downstairs and had some breakfast. It consisted of 2 very small sausages and some bread. When i went to pay i found out it cost 95 Rand, about £8 which is a complete rip off. After this i left the hotel to attend a wedding. I had already booked the hotel for my return to Jo Burg, three days later. I returned to the hotel 3 days later to be told the hotel was now full. I explained that i had paid for the room back in January (some 6 months ago). There was no apology at all the only option they offered me was that i could stay at another Don Hotel 15 mins drive away. There explanation was that the room we had booked was now being refurbished. I wanted to know why they had not told me this when i checked out 3 days before, the manager said that there had been a change of plan and that was it. I found the Manager to be very arrogant and not really care of the inconvenience we had been caused. Being the British Lions tour was on i had no chance of getting another hotel so had to move to the other Don Hotel in Rosebank. This made meeting all of our friends in sandton a real pain. I will NEVER stay in another Don Hotel and recommend you do not either. I have travelled to over 30 countries and found this hotel by far the worse for service, value and standards.

Stayed at this hotel for just 1 night thinking its in the posh Sandton area of Jo'burg. Unfortunately Sandton city (malls and restuarants) is about a 10 mins drive of ZAR 50 away from here. Also if you are taking a taxi from the airport to reach this place, its going to cost you a bomb. Its ok to stay here if you are in Jo'burg for long, if its just a 1 night stay like ours, you'd be much better off staying near the airport. The hotel does not provide any room service so you will have to go out for all meals. Overall a very basic ordinary hotel, nothing special and in my opinion, slightly expensive for what it was.