Knysna - Kingfisher Cottage

The place itself.

We booked for 3 adults but only got a one bedroom with one double bed. One person had to sleep on the sofa.

The location was perfect as it's very central

The water in the kingfisher cottage was not working, they gave us another room to stay and it was just as lovely. Would suggest to clean more thoroughly and use a different detergent for the floors and there were food stains on the sleeper couch from previous people that stayed in the room

We really enjoyed our stay, there was lost of resort amenities, access to a private jetty, the resort management and the host were fantastic. I recommend this unit to anyone wanting to relax and have family time in Knysna.

Nothing negative, we really enjoyed our stay, looking forward to our return visit.

Great location and friendly staff. The unit seems to have been recently renovated. One can see the property and buildings are old, but inside the unit it’s neatly done with new-ish structures and furniture. The space in the units are great - not cramped at all which is helpful for families with small children. Pool was good for the children and the balcony was nice for morning and evening sits. Having a braai on the balcony is fantastic as one can cook and braai at the unit without needing to compete for space at the pool. A good spot if wanting to be close to the Thesen Island, the beaches and town center.

This property would have received a higher rating from me if it weren’t for two things - the lack of cleanliness in the units and the lack of guest control. WiFi was also a major issue - when the resort was full, the WiFi simply didn’t function at all. The dstv didn’t work so there was no TV functionality when WiFi was down. The cleaning issue - whilst the unit was clean enough, the floors were dirty and towels & linen smelled heavily of dampness. The unit smelt musty every morning and we needed to leave the doors wide open to air the unit out. I requested new towels and linen which were brought to us; the second set was slightly better but I think the beds and pillows themselves were damp. Don’t know what caused the smell but it was very off-putting. I requested a day of cleaning but after my first day I went and bought cleaning supplies myself to clean the unit - scrubbed the floors by hand. I canceled the cleaning request which was a charge of R200 per day - I ended up cleaning the unit every second day myself. Now onto the guest control issue - the first two days were lovely and peaceful, but when the long weekend arrived with new guests, it seemed like a bachelor parade arrived and our peaceful retreat turned into a nightmare. The new guests were completely disrespectful of other guests, held parties until the early hours of the morning, and then continued with loud noises in the mornings. Our unit was next to the pool, which is great for convenience, but when people sit at the pool for long until 3am it becomes a nightmare. The other families that arrived for the long weekend with kids didn’t bother teaching the kids manners or controlling them - they played “tok tokie” - running around knocking on doors and banging on them, screaming in the common areas and acting like it was their own personal backyard. Surely quiet hours should apply to everyone and not select groups, but this didn’t seem to happen.