Ballito Hills Lifestyle Estate

Best Apartment ever, I’d probably recommend it to anyone

The pool is too far No Cealing fans on the sitting room

Bookings.com

Construction noise. It was unbearable

I did not eat breakfast

everything was great

The location was great — just next to two malls, though you’ll still need to drive (as is usual in South Africa). It’s also really close to the beach and beachfront restaurants, just a quick 10-minute drive away. The place feels brand new — you can even still catch a bit of that “new home” smell! It’s spacious, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. We only used the ensuite, but we were told where to find the keys in case we needed the others, which was thoughtful. The kitchen had everything we needed: microwave, fridge, kettle, dishwasher, and washing machine — super convenient if you’re planning a longer stay.

There weren’t any shower essentials like shower gel, soap, shampoo, or conditioner — luckily we had packed our own. It would be helpful if the host could let guests know this in advance so they can come prepared. We didn’t use the kitchen, but we noticed there weren’t any basic cooking ingredients like oil or salt — which is totally understandable. There were jars of instant coffee, sugar, and Cremora (not in sachets, but in larger jars), along with some tea bags. The hairdryer was tucked away in one of the cupboards that we didn’t think to open — I’d recommend checking all the cupboards when you arrive to find anything you might need. The estate has good security, and a code is required to enter and exit. The initial message mentioned that the code would be sent separately, but despite letting the host know we’d be checking in at 3pm, we never received the code. I messaged via Booking.com shortly after 3pm — no response. I then messaged via WhatsApp just after 4pm — it was never read or replied to. We ended up waiting outside the gate for about 15 minutes before the code was finally sent. I’d suggest calling the host directly before arriving, just to avoid this kind of disappointing delay. I checked in with a friend, and interestingly, both of us received the same message from the host stating that we were staying in the same unit. Since we were traveling together, it wasn’t a problem, but it would’ve been uncomfortable if we were strangers. The estate is quite large, and all the houses look very similar — especially at night when the lighting is not very bright. It took us around 20 minutes to figure out the “puzzle” the host had sent to locate the house. I’d recommend the host include a simple map of the estate or at least mention the street name of the property, as each lane does have a name. That would make it much easier to find the place.