After the beautiful Namib's endless sand and grit, this guesthouse is a truly welcome respite. There is no dust here and the sound of a waterfall outside our comfortable ground-floor room is refreshing. An elegant raised pavilion in the garden is the perfect spot for an afternoon read – or snooze. Sam serves a generous breakfast and freshly prepared five-course dinners may be ordered in advance. There is also an extensive wine cellar. We recommend you eat-in at least once. Beethoven, the newly appointed guest relations manager, will entertain you -- until he falls asleep. (Beethoven is a three-month-old Bernese mountain dog newly arrived in Swakopmund from Leipzig.)

Sam's attention to detail is evident in everything about this small hotel in a Swakopmund suburb within easy reach of the town centre. Rooms are spacious and well appointed. The breakfasts, with the odd Swiss touches, are excellent. Sam will recommend Swakopmund restaurants for dinner but don't miss an evening in - with his reasonably priced and excellent quality five course dinner

For the price Sam's was an ideal location for a few days rest during a driving trip around Namibia. Sam himself although slightly quirky was an extremly helpful host arranging restaurant bookings and reconfirming activities for us. Breakfast was very good and we also had supper one evening, which again for the price was very good.

Firstly, this is just an ugly hostel, not a hotel. The place is damped and moldy. The employees looked like they would rather be dead than there, and the receptionist was the rudest, most miserable person we encountered in the whole of Namibia. The owner - Sam- looked like he had not taken a shower or washed his clothes in months. Most of the time we felt like we were intruding when using the common areas, as it was not unusual to find Sam sleeping -mouth open and snoring- in the small living room which one has to cross when going to the reception.

We were there for three nights and every night we killed a cockroach. There was a dental floss in the bathroom floor when we checked in and it was still there when we left -it probably is still there today!- We could not leave this horrible place as it was the end of Easter week and everywhere else was full and so were the hotels and campsites in our next destinations.

Breakfast was horrible, flies everywhere and the two huge dogs, although very pretty, were always in the dining room –during breakfast and diner as well- harassing you for food. They will just sit next to you salivating, coming to the very edge of the table. This dogs were as tall as the tables so it was like they were sitting having breakfast/diner with you. It rained everyday, so you can only imagine the smell of these dogs and therefore, the smell in the enclosed dinning room.

One good thing, Sam really knows about wines, but the wine tasting can be skipped; Sam does not make it fun and enjoyable. It is more like a lecture with a very serious, stone-faced teacher.

We know this is Africa, but in our 20 days visit to Namibia, we stayed at much cleaner, friendlier and cheaper places, these including campsites across Namibia.

Sam's Giardino should not be considered a hotel, and should not be listed in the "high end, top end” sections in Loney Planet, Footprint, ...

There are nicer, cheaper and cleaner places in Swakopmund.