Travel Review: City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth will WOW you
"WOW" is not only the word on the badge that the staff wear at the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth... it's the word you will keep saying with everything they say and do.
Whilst most hotels had to close their doors due to COVID-19, the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth remained open to assist with accommodation for essential workers, who passed through the industrious city.
Management of the City Lodge Hotel Group (CLHG) examined ways in which they could save jobs during the pandemic, and succeeded by not having to let any of their employees go.
Staff members at the hotels which had to close within CLHG including the Road Lodge, Town Lodge, and Courtyard Hotel in Port Elizabeth, have temporarily formed part of the workforce at the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth. Employees work on a rotation basis in order for them to share the workload equally.
Adrian Worthington, General Manager of the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth mentioned to us how the City Lodge Hotel Group always has their employees best interest at heart, and shared some insight on how the group is focussed on a more customer centric and eco-friendly approach throughout their hotels.
One of their latest initiatives is the Hydration Station which is alleviating the problem of single use plastic bottles, by allowing customers to refill water at the strategically placed station with sparkling, room-temperature, or ice cold filtered magnesium mineralized drinking water.
In the rooms at the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth the 500ml eco-bottles in which the still spring water is bottled is fully recyclable. The company who bottles the spring water also mention their own initiative on the packaging "For every bottle you buy we donate to GRUWing, for Rhino Protection" them.
The City Lodge Group has partnered with suppliers who will assist them in their green goal, which can be seen with their:
- Shower Caps which are made from EN 13432 (2000) certified bioplastic
- Hair & Body Bar which is made using no water and in plastic free packaging.
- Packaging of the Hand Soap, Shower Cap, and Hair & Body Bar are all recyclable.
- Body Cream Tube is recyclable, and the cap for the tube is made from recycled material.
Check-in
We requested a early check-in as we had booked out from the Courtyard Hotel Port Elizabeth across the road.
On our arrival at 11:45 at the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth we were warmly welcomed by Dominique at the reception area who assisted us with the check-in process, and ensured everything was sanitised before we collected our room card or signed anything.
The check-in process took about 2 minutes, and included:
- Temperature checking
- Verification of details
- Signature
- Important information pertaining to the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth - check-out times, meal times and options, WiFi accessibility
- Room Card handover
Social distancing, wearing of masks, and a quick check-in process from the staff at the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth assists to relieve some of the anxiety that one might have around the spread of COVID-19.
To limit contact even further there are QR codes which can be scanned around the hotel to access some of the facilities.
Facilities
The City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth is designed to cater for the travelling businessperson with it's convenient location on the beachfront, which is close to all major routes in Gqeberha.
In addition the following facilities are available at the hotel:
- Uncapped WiFi
- #Café serves breakfast, lunch, and light evening meals (Halaal options are available)
- In-room dining with arrangement from nearby local restaurants (Nando's is Halaal)
- Vending Machine and Ice Machine
- Gym
- Pool
- Boardroom
- 24 hour reception and check-in
- Same-day laundry and dry cleaning
- Safe and secure undercover parking
Room
On entering our room we experienced the WOW factor; with the sleeper sofa been made up for our son, his towels arranged in a shape of an elephant placed next to a colouring book with colouring pencils, and almond & milk chocolate soft honey nougat on his pillow.
Our queen size bed also had towels neatly arranged into a shirt, and a couple of those delicious almond & milk chocolate soft honey nougat on top for each of us.
 |
 |
The City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth have three room types:
- 1 x Queen size bed
- 1 x Queen size bed with a Sleeper Sofa
- 2 x Single beds
All three are priced the same at R1200 per room per night (Prices may vary)
 |
 |
The rooms at City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth are designed for business traveller with a:
- work space - desk with a cupboard and drawer, desk lamp, telephone, and comfortable office chair)
- few menus from local restaurants for convenient in-room dining options
- beverage station - kettle, mugs, sachets of instant coffee, tea bags, milk pods, 200ml juice cartons, 500ml eco friendly spring bottled water, and juice glasses)
- coffee table which fits under the work desk
- full size mirror above the work desk
- full length mirror hung next to the aesthetically pleasing wall mounted TV
- cupboard with hanging space, shelves, and an electronic safe
- airconditioner
- full size lock-up bathroom with a bath and shower
Everything in the room was sanitised before our arrival, and a complimentary bottle of sanitiser was left on one of the two bed side pedestals. The TV and air-conditioner remote were also covered for extra protection.
 |
 |
Breakfast
It's amazing to see how companies have adapted to the health and safety regulations in place due to COVID-19.
City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth have re-looked at the way they serve breakfast, and tried to accommodate their client's varied needs with the new options they now offer.
There is a choice of the:
- Mzansi Continental Box (a pre-packed on-the-go box)
- Continental Breakfast Buffet
- Hot Plate (Halaal option is available)
The three breakfast options are all R70 per person.
Alternatively you can choose the Continental Breakfast Buffett and Hot Plate options together for R140 per per person.
We needed to fuel-up as we had a long journey ahead of us to the Karoo, so we chose the Continental and Hot Plate package - and we were glad that we did. Halaal meat (sausages and macon) is prepared on request by the friendly Chef Sibongile to complement your egg, mushrooms, and stir-fried styled peppers and onions. The wide selection of cereals, yoghurts, fruits, and pastries were enough to satisfy our hunger and keep us going for the next 6 hours.
Breakfast is served at the #Café which is the City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth's in-house dining area. You can enjoy breakfast between 06h30 and 09h30 on Monday to Friday, and 07h00 to 10h00 on Weekends and Public Holidays.
#Café also serves lunch, and light evening meals from 14h00 - 22h00 daily.
 |
Verdict
City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth staff definitely WOWed us, and we appreciate that Mr Worthington took the time out of his busy schedule to chat to us, so we could learn more about the City Lodge Hotel Group.
The hotel was always kept impeccably clean, at any hour of the day/ night.
Our room was neat, spotless, freshly sanitised, accommodated our little family comfortably, we enjoyed a tranquil view of the sparkling pool from our room window, and also enjoyed a littles splash in the pool.
The convenience of walking across the road to the beach, and enjoying the views of the beach at breakfast from #Café are worth mentioning.
Chef Sibongile prepared a flavoursome breakfast for us, and took the initiative to pack our son's left over meal for our trip - padkos is always welcomed.
WOW, City Lodge Hotel Port Elizabeth we take our hat off to you, and hope to visit again soon.
|
Like What You've Read ? Be an Anonymous Angel
CLICK HERE for the latest News & Trends
CLICK HERE for the latest Travel News
CLICK HERE for the latest Reviews
Keep up to date with all that is happening in South Africa
with iloveza.com
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Subscribe to our Weekly Digital Advert Only Pamphlet
Follow @ilovezacom on
#iloveza❤️🇿🇦 #AfterFajrGrind
|
Ziyaad Plaatjes is the Co-Founder of iloveza.com.
He is a Bachelor of Commerce Honours graduate and has been running businesses since the age of 13. Ziyaad is a registered Financial Advisor, but has taken on many roles in various industries over the years. With his entrepreneurial skills and vast knowledge he assists individuals and businesses to grow and achieve their goals.
Find him at: Instagram: @ziyaad_86 / @ilovezacom Twitter: @ziyaad86 / @ilovezacom Facebook: iloveza.com LinkedIn: Ziyaad Plaatjes / iloveza.com YouTube: iloveza.com SoundCloud: iloveza.com E-mail: ziyaad@iloveza.com
