Protea is a chain of hotels in southern Africa, mostly in South Africa but stretching up as far as Kenya on the east coast and Namibia on the west. They also have hotels in Egypt and Nigeria.

This review is of the Protea Wanderers hotel, one of the twelve Protea hotels in and around Johannesburg, South Africa. I've stayed there six times, between June 2003 and January 2004.

ARRIVAL
The hotel is located about 25 minutes drive from the airport. They do offer an airport pick up service, which you must pre-arrange; they will then add 150 Rand to your bill.

There is a security check post at the gate, a sad necessity in the Johannesburg of today. The drive leads past the Wanderers sports club on the right, then turns left to the hotel and ends in a circular cobbled area in front of the hotel with a burst water pipe in the middle. Oh, beg your pardon, it's meant to be a fountain but it only reached a height of about twelve inches...

LOBBY
It is easy to be impressed by the style and decor: art nouveau with an African touch; curves, minimalist, polished wood and chrome, combined with a distinctive African theme of shields, skins (imitation of course - well, I think they are) and animal themes. Also being just across the road from the Wanderers sports club, there is a distinct sporting theme as well. Along the hotel corridors, every few feet there is a square hole in the wall with a foot high metal wire statue representing one sport or another.

Just off centre of the lobby is a wood and metal spiral staircase winding its way up to the next floor, around a central column decorated in an African theme. Behind the staircase are three elevators. To the left is the reception desk and beyond it is a another staircase, with a sign next to it saying, "Internet".

To the right of the lobby is a small, sparsely stocked shop offering a few magazines, sweets, gum and a small range of postcards and souvenir wood carvings. At the far end is a small lounge bar and the entrance to the restaurant.

Although just one floor high, the lobby does not appear gloomy or congested as it is really quite bare - the minimalist, clutter-free decor. There are no chairs, tables, rugs or anything else, just one small sofa near the lifts.

The reception is always well staffed and they try to be pleasant and cheerful. Unfortunately the bookings process is not well organised and you may end up with a non-smoking room if you book smoking, or two single beds if you ask for a twin. However they do try to put it right and the check in process is generally quick. Check out can be quick - but of course, not if you have a car waiting for you! It's not fair!

At one side of reception there is always a jug of apple juiec and, in the center, is a bowl of fresh apples - it turns out that "apples" is a theme of the hotel.

THE ROOM
The moment you walk in, you know that they are setting out to add a little something different to the room, and they do succeed.

The room is a standard layoout - bathroom, cupboards, double bed, TV cabinet and writing desk, so I won't waste time describing them. What makes it different is the unique decor, the light hearted informality and the apple.

The furniture is all modern looking, light wood. Over the bed, instead of the usual pictures, there is an alcove set into the wall creating a shelf; in here sits a vase of dried flowers. To one side of the bed is the work desk, an irregular shape, wooden with a glass centre. Under the desk is the South African plug, three round pin, while over the desk is a three square pin British plug and a two round pin European one - three options! If only they worked... There is also a spare telephone point, for the laptop brigade.

On the wall opposite the bed is a chest of drawers on sits a kettle, cups and tea/coffee. On Over this on the wall is a large square frame, from which protrudes a metal arm holding a red, juicy apple. It seems this is a tradition at the hotel, a fresh apple is placed every day in every room.

The other unusual thing is the cards to hang on the door. Instead of the standard, "Please make up my room", one reads "Go ahead! Make my bed!". Another, asking for laundry collection, reads, "I have no clean clothes! Please help". Simple but a nice, light touch.

The bathroom is well equipped with walk in shower, bath, and a nice amenities by "eartherapy". However the nice, natural amenities are rather let down by the nasty soap dispenser on the wall in the shower! Why give a nice range of nice, natural amenities, then a cold, impersonal, clinical dispenser in the shower? Also, without going into too much detail, sitting on the toilet I found the toilet paper roll so far down on one side, behind my knee, it was very difficult to get to it.

It all sounds very nice, but more often than not the electricity sockets don't work - or if they do, they blow a fuse! (more about that later). Only half of the TV channels are tuned in. Most rooms don't have a minibar - or if they do, it is empty! Once my shower fell part when I turned on the water; another time the lovely soap dispenser was empty. Overall, a nice stylish room which is a little bit different, is let down by poor maintenance and lack of attention to detail.

FACILITIES
There are conferencing facilities for about 100 in the hotel. There is also one restaurant, a lounge bar and an outdoor swimming pool.

There is an internet and business centre which barely merits the title! Up some stairs from reception, to the second floor corridor leading to the rooms.The first room on the left is a slightly larger than normal cupboard. Squeezed into this are two computers and two other desks. You could maybe get three grown men in there, but Heaven help you if anyone sneezes. This is the internet centre, of the high-tech hotel!

The best facilities, though, are over the road at the Wanderers club. Hotel guests can use the Wanderer club for golf, tennis, squash, bowling, badminton; there is also cricket, hockey and rugby. Whether you can just turn up and join in a game of rugby, I didn't ask, but every morning there were at least eight or nine people struggling out of the elevator with a set of golf clubs.

FOOD AND DRINK
The restaurant is split level, in fact three levels, each with a different type of table/chair: the highest level has wooden chairs, designed more for breakfast. Down half a level they are more suited for dining - padded and more comfortable. The lowest level opens out onto the swimming pool and the chairs are canvas. Quite clever as this allows the same restaurant (with the same menu!) to be used for different settings!

The breakfast buffet is good but a bit limited. There is a cook station where you can get omlettes and fresh eggs. The other hot food is sausages, bacon, mushrooms, waffles etc.

The evening menu offers around half a dozen starters, mostly aimed at the carniverous, such as snails, chicken livers, shrimps; there are a few salads as well. The main courses are also mainly meat. All the food that I had here was good, tasty, generous helpings, but it was often very slow to arrive. Once we waited 45 minutes for the starters, and we were not the only ones complaining, but it was hard to get too upset as the waiters and waitresses were so warm, friendly and cheerful. In summary good food, friendly service, but slow delivery of food.

Guests can also use the Wanderers Club House which is on the same grounds, a couple of minutes walk away. This offers a simple bar atmosphere, loud and smokey, with a "pub grub" type of menu. I ate there once, the food was simple but fine and a bit quicker than the hotel restaurant.

The lounge bar is a bit of a letdown. It is small, a bit cramped, and it closes every night at 10.30pm! What's that all about? It's not fair!

At each end of the bar is a large, flat screen TV which is generally set to either a sports programme or the news. One evening they played a video of a fireplace with flickering fire.

SERVICE
The service was mostly pleasant and friendly throughout, though not always alert or bright! The restaurant service, while pleasant and personal, is extremely slow. Once we waited 45 minutes for our food; in the mornings you can wait ten minutes for the coffee. Once I wanted to pay by cash and it took fifteen minutes to get the change.

MAINTENANCE
This is where the hotel really lets itself down. It is very common that the electricity sockets over the desk don't work. I need to work in the room, so I need the electricity, but more often than not the socket didn't work so I had to change rooms. I've stayed at the hotel six times - on four of the occasions, I've had to change roomes (on one stay I had to change twice!). On two of the occasions, using the desk plug caused fuses to blow, putting the kettle and TV out of action. Not very safe, I don't think. Several of my colleagues have had to change for the same reason.

OVERALL
It could be a really nice hotel. The decor is really memorable, the style is smart and unique and almost all of the people are cheerful, friendly, happy. The restaurant food is good. The fresh apple daily is a nice touch.

What lets it down is lack of care - it's all very well being happy and cheerful but when there are potentially dangerous electric problems in the room, careless maintenance, reported problems forgotten and some silly details missed, the novelty and style don't count for so much. Also the "business centre" which is ridiculously small and cramped, means that business travellers would not take the hotel so seriously.

So overall it could be a nice, special and unusual hotel, but the icing doesn't make up for the lack of attention underneath.

http://www.proteahotels.com/wanderers

I've left the prices in South African Rand as the exchange rate has been changing dramatically. In June 03, UKP1 was about R15 to R16. Now it is about R11. So, it has moved a lot and quite possibly will continue.