We meant to only stay at the hotel for about a week which quickly extended into 2 months due to not finding an apartment to move into until 2 months later (we just moved to Cape Town from the US). The best things about this hotel are the location, right off Long Street. We never had a car during our 2 month stay here and we never got bored with options for dining and nightlife. You can easily walk or cab it to most places in the city. I never felt unsafe here or in Long Street in general.

Another great thing was how accommodating, the front desk staff was, particularly Andile and Patrick. Quick check in and check out, no weird billing issues. They really helped us in a tough situation as we didn't realize how busy Cape Town gets during the holidays (Dec-Feb) and pretty much had no where to stay. During our stay, we moved into 3 apartments and they made sure we had a "semi" permanent place in the our last apartment that we stayed in for 4 weeks.

Noise is an issue. It really depends where your flat is located. First week, we were okay with noise as we were on the highest floor. The rest of the time...noise was an problem, particularly on the corner units. We didn't sleep well at all in the corner unit because you can hear the music from the bars at night. Ask for a high floor: 6, 7, or 8 and not in a corner unit. I believe most suites have mountain views but the center apartments have a more full, unobstructed view.

I loved the way the place was decorated as well. Modern with an African touch and the beds and pillows were comfortable. Big balconies. The comforter was a bit too thick for summer but we had a fan in the room which helped. You can't really open the windows for a breeze at night due to the noise issue. Kitchen is fully stocked and we were able to cook many nights during our stay and you are nearby to grocery stores like Woolworths, Wellness Center and Checkers a bit farther up.

Last issue, biggest issue for me personally, was housekeeping. There are no, "do not disturb" signs in place. So housekeeping knocks once and enters, doesn't even announce, "housekeeping". There are no peepholes to even view who is knocking and they just enter. So of course during our 2 month stay, we had house keeping come at very inopportune times (like when I'm in the shower, we are in bed etc). You never quite know when they are coming as they come as early as 9:30am or as late as 4:30pm. One would think on a weekday, they would come earlier and a weekend, come later, let people sleep in but no, it seemed like they liked to come really early on Saturdays after you have been out late at night.

Also, it wasn't very "proper" cleaning. I ended up buying cleaning supplies and cleaning a lot as they often don't use any cleaner but just a wet towel or a wet rag on the floor to mop. Not really clean and linens were done every 7-10 days. I began doing the laundry myself and one maid told me, "I wasn't allowed" and to request if I needed new sheets or towels. Well, to me the universal sign for new towels, is put it on the floor (which they have a card that states to do that). When I would leave dirty towels on the floor, they would put them up again, often on clean towels! Once, I had a dirty bath mat towel put on my clean shower towel. We had carpet also in the rooms and it was never vacuumed. I found a vacuum cleaner in a closet and vacuumed it myself. Even at the Holiday Inn, they vacuum daily so that was really annoying as well as an issue for my allergies.

Overall, this is a great place to stay if only for a 4 days to a week. Biggest issues are strange housekeeping practices and the noise.