Protea Hotel Kimberley

What a warm and friendly welcome we received at the Protea! Every single one of the staff were extremely professional, efficient and cheerful. We enjoyed an excellent meal in the restaurant. We particularly enjoyed the bobotie spring rolls. The ambience of the hotel, very comfortable bed and above all the staff made it a most enjoyable stay. Special mention for Blondie who was attentive and served us with care and good humour!

One would expect with a 4 Star hotel like Protea Marriot they would have a up to standard restaurant on their property. The Cullinan Restaurant is nothing more than disgusting. Basic items like pizza an chicken snitchel and ciabatta bread with chicken livers not available. We ordered the basic Beef Burger and Spaghetti Bolognese. Took them an hour to prepare a overcooked burger and disgusting spagetti. We were the only people in the restaurant. According to the reviews this issue has been going on for some time. Please look into this and treat it with the necessary urgency that it requires.

Somehow I was not able to contact the hotel by an email in order to get a pick up from the airport, a bit strange for a Protea hotel. I was able to get in contact with Crystalshuttle which offered a fixed rate of ZAR100, which was quite reasonable. The drive from Airport KIM is approx. 15 min. Yes I choose Protea Hotel because of its location next to The Big Hole Museum, which was my purpose of my visit to Kimberley. Protea Kimberley is a Classic hotel, true to its old heritage, which I found very charming. I was lucky to have some peace and quiet during my short stay, and it takes you 1 min. to walk to the museum. Check in was swift and welcoming. I needed to keep my medicine cool, and the staff brought a fridge to my room, now thats what I call good service :-) My room was of good size (ground floor), big comfy bed, stable wifi, telly, aircon, coffee/Tea & kettle (restocked everyday), 1 bottle of water provided everyday. Bathroom of good size, waterpressure very weak and only cold water, shampoo and moisterisor provided. There are no plugs for shawers/ toothbrush etc. in the bathroom. The premises and the rooms was clean and well maintained. I choose to have my breakfast at the hotel (ZAR195) which had a good selection of hot and cold items and great coffee. I also had two meals during my stay which were both well prepared and tasty. All served with a smile by the wonderful staff. I ordered a wake up call for my early departure next morning, the young man at the front desk did not seem to care much about the request and unfortunately I did not receive that wake up call, only woke up 15 mins. prior to my departure making my departure a bit stressfull. Morning staff didnt seem to care much and wished me a good day....A sad ending to a lovely stay. I was happy to visit Kimberley and I did enjoy my stay at the Protea until my departure.

The Protea Hotel in Kimberley is a run down, with a few rooms refurbished. rooms have not nice views and the general upkeep needs some work - also no lift for luggage to upper floor which is an issue for guests when porters aren’t working, Restaurant is barely edible, food is cold, service is not good and it’s so salty - we ate once the whole stay and never again. Safety in the local area is a problem and we were advised not to jog outside the hotel security perimeter Not a hotel to return to The reception staff are excellent and trying their best.

This was an excellent choice. The pool was clean and had a windmill for decoration. The view of the big hole was amazing and you could have an easy walk to the “old city” and to the Big Hole. The dinner was ok but let me tell you the breakfast was absolutely delicious, the people cooking the omelettes and eggs definitely knew what they were doing. The bar was also good with a snooker table and a wide variety of drinks. And my last thing was the rooms were clean and well maintained.

On arrival, after a long journey from Cape Town, we were greeted by a group of smiley faces and helpful hands. Everyone was there to make us feel warm and welcome. The staff were like friends, constantly checking up whether we were satisfied with the facility. Its location is prime! Located right on the Big Hole, with a 2 minute walk to the best tour experience. The facilities in the rooms are just a little tired. We would highly recommend this facility. Neo was a particularly helpful guy, so delightful!