Relaxing and spacious.

Very good location

For walking around during the day, this might be the best location in Durban. At night, not so much, and there are dodgy parts on the way to the Golden Mile. However the room was great, the breakfast sensational, and the staff could not be kinder and more helpful.

No Airconditioning or Openable windows

Beautiful architecturally, however, the rooms do not have air-conditioning or openable windows. Bed was comfortable and linen clean. check in was quick and easy, however, parking is an additional cost and separate to the establishment, so plan for a 5min - 10min to get to your car.

Great breakfast and rooms are kept clean

It is always so convenient to stay at the Royal

The staff was incredible. The breakfast and dinner buffets were very good with lots of options. Biggest issue is that even though it is a non-smoking hotel there is cigarette, cigar, and pot smells coming from the rooms vents even though the circulation is off. I even switched rooms because of the smell into my room, but it really didn't matter even though it was on a different floor from my original room. Thankfully my second room had a window that could open and I was able to keep the room aired out, but it still smelled of smoke. In other hotels the people who smoke in rooms are fined and removed from the hotel. Also, having the exhaust fans pulling air out of the rooms would keep it from circulating through the vent system because my vents were definitely not on. Even bought a fan at Clicks to help cool the room down for comfortable sleeping.

Fine hotel, good people, needs better internet

This is a hotel in the heart of downtown, with a fine staff and sizable, comfortable rooms (perhaps a bit dated). The breakfast has quite a good variety of dishes. The room has a mini-fridge, which is a valuable amenity. This hotel offers excellent value for money. The one big fault of the place lies in the internet. It was usually not reachable in my room, and even when I went to the lobby for a good connection, Windows refused to connect to it because their system uses a long-outdated security protocol. (Android did work, but only in the lobby.) If you're staying downtown, you're probably in Durban for business, not tourism, and an up-to-date functional internet with a decent signal is absolutely essential.

Hood

Above and beyond great experience , staff is fantastic.

Clean rooms and wide selection for breakfast items

Hotel of F***** Horror.

Upon arriving at the hotel bookings were not correct but after some time it was resolved. We got to the rooms and their room appears clean but when looking at the curtains or even the carpets it was filthy. The lift buttons are dirty and do not appear to be polished. The service we got was shocking, reception staff does not give a toss about guests, and if things are asked they take their own time or do not get back to you about it. They have hot water issues and when asking about it we were told that they would get back to us, which they never did. When they heard that we knew media personnel they then only offered to find us a room with hot water. The reception staff is the worst I have ever seen or even had to deal with, for the place they are working at it is rather sad. There were even chicken bones laying on the stairways and cockroaches in front and in rooms.

Definitely coming back

I don't understand why it's a 3 star cause everything is 5star and the staff is amazing

Vintage style

We had to pay R75 per day for parking and I was not told in advance. The carpet in my room(642) was dirty or stained. Otherwise I like the vintage and elegant decor. The porters were helpful. Great service at the restaurant.

My family and I had a wonderful time at the Royal. Reception was great; capacious rooms; ample parking; nice breakfast. Overall stay was excellent.

The stay was fine but need to look at fixing their furniture in time before guests arrive.

Dissapointed

It was fair but most amazing was scarcity of drinking water just a mere tap water n i had to complain first before they can cnhange our bedding....they just made the bed without changing sheets ,pillow cases n towels let alone refilling tea/coffee stuff n toiletries in the bathrooms n end up buying toilet paper .... remember we stayed 5 nights there but at after a reguested to speak to the manager everything was taken care of.Remember i syeyed in this hotel in 2015 but this year i dnt know what happened. During breakfast they end up counting food .i wonder why they accomodaye so many guest they cannot afford to feed them breakfast .

Pics online deceiving.Pool water was green & disgusting.Room wasn't set up as requested originally.Wifi in the room kept loosing signal.Tv in RM 643 wasn't clear but snowy.Breakfast at the cafe wasn't great.Hotel could do with an upgrade as it's definitely dated. Great location as it's close to transport an good surrounding shops/mall. Restoration definitely required in the city too.

Amazing service , most friendly staff,spotless cleaning Royal hotel is our second home We have great time with my partner Keep up on your super service

stay was good for its price. Breakfast was very good. We are vegetarians, they accomodated vegetarian food also.

Hotel staff were friendly, however CDB Durban isn't really a place for foreign tourists, especially at night. Locals advised me to move to the outer neighborhoods such as Morningside and Windermere. This really was my biggest issue. WiFi at the Royal was odd - best connection speeds are down in the lobby area which I didn't care for, though that is a minor thing, honestly. I can, however, tell that at one time The Royal was probably a very nice hotel, back when times in Durban were perhaps a bit better. The actual quality of the rooms were good and I thought the bathroom and showers were attractive and nice. However, when I voiced my concerns to the manager, he refused to acknowledge that CBD Durban is unsafe, despite MANY locals telling me the opposite, and would not refund the money i'd paid for two remaining days I had booked. While I respect the manager for holding his position and again i'd like to emphasize that the hotel staff were friendly, The Royal just wasn't the right place for me.

Room service must improve on customer requests

I stayed 3 nights with my friend the place is very clean and interesting. The bar and food also good with reasonable price.Their breakfast is the best.The only problem we had its a iron we did a request and they didn't bring it we called them again the phone was ringing with no respond until we went out. Rather than that i really enjoyed our stay and definitely i will visit again.

It was overall good and clean. Looking forward to the next visit

Perfect

Place should be 5 star. Very professional and friendly staff well spoken. The rooms and building is very clean and safe every was working and in perfect oder. I loved it

The windows are dirty ,so i couldn't view the City from my room of which that was the reason for my booking

Service is very bad

Not good at all, I was never offered accommodation there at The Royal Hotel, hence I've made the booking online and was confirmed.

Amazing!

The carpet was wet, smelled like puke, seems like someone has thrown up in the room and was just cleaned, no aircon.

The hotel is beautiful, although it is slightly shabby on further inspection. My room on the 19th floor had amazing views, however, one of the windows did not close completely. The staff were incredibly helpful, and it would be on this basis that I recommend this hotel. I've not received service like it in years, the staff are a credit to the hotel.

A very well maintained Hotel with friendly staff

I have been staying here for over 30 years but every time i stay here it is worse than the previous stay. The room is very large clean and comfortable. Parking is a major problem as you have to get you ticket stamped at reception every time you leave even for a short period, then it has to be taken to the parking office outside in the parking garage to be activated. This was time consuming and frustrating.

Royal Hotel

The breakfast was supurb as well as hte on site a la carte restuarant. The parking was convenient with direct access to the hotel although you have to pay for it even as a guest.

Weekend Stay at the Royal

Breakfast was amazing.. Friendly staff... Felt at home... Happy

I loved the room. Windows were a bit dirty but that wasn't a huge issue. I loved the security of the hotel.

great place and well located

Rustic old place with an exceptional staff and old school classic feel to the place.

Fantastic staff :-)

Great staff & wonderful attitude & smiles to ensure a great stayover!!

Awesome Staff :-)

Wonderfully surprised with room upgrade & excellent staff at the royal hotel that go out of their way to ensure your comfort & convenience for a pleasurable & memorable stayover!!

Parking

Great time and amazing views. The parking arrangement need to be changed tho. Parking to expensive but nevertheless in a safe location.

Good accomodation poor room service

My stay was good. However the ramps damaged my vehicle. Also the room service was very poor. Took the coffee shop over 1hour15mins to bring me a red bull and a still water. I had to call them numerous times. Not once did they call me and give me feedback to say that there is a delay. On arrival off my red bull and water. They send me sparkling water instead of the still water. Red bull was delivered warm. Asked for ice and was told the ice machine is broken.

Like the environment. Clean and easy access to public transport.

Stay at the Royal Hotel

The room was spacious, but the lighting in the room was very bad. The aircon could not be adjusted. I call reception numerous times to get a technician to have it sort out which was four hours later. The shower walls were brown looked like it hasn't been washed and the drain in the shower was clogged. Just disappointed with the quality of the hotel, it prestige has dropped drastically.

Royal Falling apart and not value for money

The room was smelling cigarette and had to inform them before they can use own initiative of using good smell device to kill bad smell and aircon was not working, for two days I was informed. The pool area was locked and could not access it

to be honest the breakfast was good but I could not get fried eggs but overall all was intact.

Far below par

Was busy with construction so aweful.Had to pay for an hotel through hotel.com that was far below what hotel.com rates it

Didn't like fact that the hotel still has no dstv

I booked my staying 3 months in advice, on my checking date the room assigned to my name wasn't ready, and the receptionist offering me 2 twin beds while i booked for a double room, it was unacceptable.

It's a good place to be, it's clean, I recommended for somebody to go there

Great stay!

We were involved at a conference at the playhouse which made it very convenient being across the road

Water was cold - COLD SHOWER in the mornings Toilets do not flush properly and was leaking Limited parking bays on 3rd floor Paystations not working - paid more manually at the parking office

it was amazing, thank you guys so much and keep up the good work

IF YOU'RE DESPERATE

Bathroom clean, bed clean and comfortable. Beware, 30 mins free wi-fi only in your room, otherwise you have to sit in the lobby. Then, read all the negative reviews and put them all together ... it is that bad guys! 50 minute wait to check-in because only one person has access to the computer (which is a dinosaur). Despite the fact that my reservation had been made 24 hours prior and I had printed the confirmation, it could not be found. Entrance shared with department of Labour so it is crowded during the day (no problem there) but dirty, littered, chipped. Staff friendly but sadly does not make up for lack of maintenance and run-down appearance. Shall I continue ...

Royal hell, never again...

A grand old hotel gone to wrack & ruin!! Typically South African slip of service & shine. Dining room at breakfast a circus!! Blaring loud hip hop & R&B music, poorly trained, naive & useless waitrons. Loud house keeping staff yelling at each other up & down hall ways, music in hallways too loud too! Housekeeping left half of room service tray content IN room the day after. Stank room up. The magnificent old bar a local hangout now of non-residents, a rough looking novo-riche crowd, looked us up and down when we entered as if we were a rival drug gang! Never again. Sad. Remember The Royal as THE hotel in Durban. Food VERY average. Evening meal downstairs poor, the only thing worse than the bland food was the worse service, with only 2 tables occupied! So desperate for business, they took on a crowd of govt. youth writing exams, completely out of their depth in such a hotel. Watching them feed was quite an experience. Hotel doomed...

Weekend away

Parking is a problem, none available that was allocated to the hotel (3rd floor)

Nice,enjoyed

Average stay - Pricey

Positives: Friendly staff, neat hotel, security always present. Good food. Negatives: No wi-fi, Aircon does not work, windows very dirty, dangerous area. Pricey for what you get. Perhaps it was better a few years ago.

Excellent value if you want to stay in central Durban.

Rather they not state that they have it

They mislead us with free wi-fi

I struggled to get a room, as I was told that the hotel was fully booked, and my booking was not on the system. I was asked if I had checked with the hotel first whether there was a room available because Hotels.com had a tendency of accepting bookings and money without first checking for availability. I told them I had nothing to do with the contract between Hotels.com and Royal Hotel. I was left standing at the Reception counter while they attended to the other guests that had arrived while I had already been there. I felt humiliated and invisible to the Reception staff. I complained about the treatment, even the fact that I showed them the confirmation from Hotels.com did not help at all. It was getting late and dark and I refused to leave the hotel although they said they was nothing they could do. I had taken a bus the previous night from Mthatha and arrived in Durban in the morning: I was very tired, my feet were swollen, and my back hurting. Remember, I am 55 years old with health problems. Standing on the counter without being offered a seat or an apology hurt me even more. After doing all they wanted to do, I was finally offered a room in that fully booked hotel, after more than 30 minutes of standing, waiting.

Fantastic service

Amazing staff, a 5 star concierge service / front desk. Always willing to help & go the extra mile to ensure a pleasurable stay. Epic :-)

NICE HOTEL

Beautiful hotel with lovely big rooms with a fridge and safe. The staff were helpful especially Karin on the front desk. The only down sides were there is no information in the rooms or price lists in the bar We didn't feel comfortable walking out at night in that area and were advised to get taxis everywhere which was a shame as we like to walk. We did walk to the beach area in the day time but we were a group of 4 otherwise we would not have been comfortable. The hotel is opposite the City Hall so it is very central. However there are no bars close by for us to use.

A grand historic hotel is dying.

The hotel sadly is dying.Food was good ,service was superficial, e.g. phone in room not working,no water. Maintence is sadly lacking and the armchairs in the ground floor rooms showing very obvious wear. I shall not come again.

Poor unRoyal Hotel

The lobby looks exquisite but the rooms did not meet my expectations. The rooms do not have a proper curtain, only a lace (a white one for that matter) making it difficult for one to sleep towards the morning since the room becomes too illuminated. The bathroom tub stopper was not closing and the water is coming out slowly (meaning that even if it were to close, it would take forever to get the water to be at the required level), therefore one had to use a shower under duress. There's only a limited parking space on the 3rd floor, otherwise you will find yourself having to drive all the way up to 15th floor to find casual parking. Moreover the DSTV bouquet has only channel 110, apart from SABC, e-tv and supersport, meaning that there's not much to keep one glued to the TV about. At that price I was expecting much more than that and don't think I will ever go back there or I recommend The Royal Hotel to anyone. There's nothing royal about this hotel.

The bathroom smell was terrible.They must add the

It was excellent.

Anything but the Royal Treatment

The stay was relatively comfortable but nothing to write home about. A bit disappointing actually. I had a late check in, so there was nobody on duty to greet us as we entered fro the parking. When I got to reception, I am sure the staff on duty was asleep. She did not have a name badge nor did she reflect anything the she worked for the Royal Hotel. The room was okay at best. The shower head did not work properly. However, both the room and bathroom was clean. Breakfast was at the Royal Carvery (known to be an establishment of fine dining). Sadly I was very disappointed. The room was dated and untidy. The windowsill area was dusty and didn't appear to be cleaned for some time. After checking out and on returning to my car, I was greeted with a wheel clamp on my car. The 2 gentlemen at the entrance and the lady at the entrance office were no real help. After paying for the release of my car, I was informed by the parking employee that the hotel was supposed to cover this, which they did not. Overall, I wouldn't say it was a bad experience, but it definitely failed my expectations. This is THE ROYAL HOTEL, but sadly the state of the hotel and the quality of service is well below par.

Check in was the only delay we found bad but all other was best.

No happy

I requested a double bed instead of twin beds but they still gave me twin beds put together with different beddings

Loved the view, staff and the room. Thanks for the great service.

Classy Hotel with Historic Feel & Friendly Staff

Cool hotel in awesome central location. Staff was very friendly & accommodated us with everything we asked for. View from the 19th floor was breathtaking! Overall a really nice place. Ignore the petty negative reviews, we did & had a great time in Durban.

Very friendly staff

Quiet and close to beach and town centre

Restaurant stuff are very unfriendly. Waited for 20minutes to make an order but none of them came to get my order so i left ti get take away. There were two male stuff on duty.

Good stay. Bed is comfy. However, water is the wash basin jus stands.

Think twice

So the rates were good, but excluded dinner and breakfast. This would not normally be a problem except you cannot book this to your account at the hotel. Every time you have something. it has to be paid cash or card on the spot. You cannot pay for breakfast in advance in one go either, so it is odd. I requested maintenance to adjust the aircon to a lower temperature. I waited for my entire stay to have it done, but no-one came. Fortunately it was on the 18th floor so opening the window provided the breeze so desperately needed. Laundry service: As there was no slip in the laundry bag, I took the laundry down to reception on the first morning of a 3 night stay, got my laundry back at checkout, and only because I asked for it. No services booklet in the room. WiFi did not work and reception staff did not know why. Positives? Yes, the staff at the Breakfast room were super friendly and helpful to ensure a great breakfast experience!

Found the staff rude and the room was cold

The room was cold asked for an extra blankets but they had non definitely not going back the for the next Durban weekend

Excellent stay, friendly staff

Thanks for a great stay..................

Treatment is based on racial grounds.

Reception staff are not friendly, to check in and check out is a long process. We experienced lots of noise from passage and other rooms at night. Breakfast and dinners was great. Restaurant staff were also friendly and helpful. The room was cleaned and there was a great view. Maintenance and security guys are very helpful and polite.

Unhappy service levels. Staff blames the rules and

Had a terrible encounter with the staff for using the lobby. Was treated like a foreign person without considering the fact that we were guests. Couldn't check in earlier as requested then was forced to roam and be confronted about using the lobby. Again could not be allowed the top floor rooms as requested and lastly was rejected later check out since the flight time was after 18h00pm. Again early morning door knock for cleaning the rooms whilst you told you cannot check earlier but the early door knocks do not support the system. TV channels are not for the travellers and a business person. Maybe just my expectations were too high. Horrible hospitality and I will never recommend it to anyone else

Average

They made me wait for an hour before I check in due to late cleaning

of the lifts only one of the three were working so had to wait a while for lift. Went to have a bath no hot water (no water) Went for supper at coffee shop Friday night food was cold. Every was fine a nice hotel. Very friendly staff.

The place is nice and huge, the food was deliciuos as well, my challenge was at the reception we took 1 hour before we could be checked in. there was only 1x permanent Receptionist and 2 x Learners who were clueless of what is taking place at reception. The plumbing maitenace should also be conducted, our toilet was licking and had a bad smell.

very disappointing

worst stay ever, it took 2.5 hours to get towels. I went out and came back to find my room open with no one inside and un attended to. the linen was removed and never replaced.

Staying at the Royal hotel was a great experience. the reception area looks and the pause areas looks so good. The bed is not that comfortable "To soft and caves in" and the headboards are lose and keep banging against the wall

Convinient but not clean hotel

The bathroom is a plumbing nightmare, when you flush the toilet, water starts leaking onto the floor. The drainage system in the shower does not work, had to wait for like 5 minutes for the water to be drained in the shower. When you open the mixing taps you can actually feel water being sprinkled on your feet. The carpets in the room was unhygienic, full of food stains.

Needs an upgrade

The wifi is bad, the staff just come in to the room without knocking or ringing the bell, the aircon doesn't work well, the lighting is dull, there's no bin in the room

Bad service

Not so amazing at all, had a problem with check in as the lady couldn't find my name is the system (thought it was a scam and I've already paid) . There was no comfort given from the lady . Toilet was leaking . We asked for the coffee station on Saturday afternoon as we were going out, when we came back it was not delivered. We called and asked for it again and informed it was closed. We asked for it in the next morning and the sachets were delivered by hand and were falling off. Curtains were filthy. Limited number of channels on TV. Don't see myself booking at that hotel again neither advising any of my friends doing that . Sorry I had the worst experience ever.

Royal Hotel Durban

Hotel showing its age, interior is dated and old fashioned. Curtains were dirty and very stained. Does not have a fresh appeal. Rooms are spacious. Needs better Wifi connection for all guests not just for those on selected floors. Location is not the best in Durban given the deterioration of the CBD area. Parking is a problem, very limited and tight and this is an extra charge! Would not stay here again unless I absolutely have to!.

The Royal Hotel experience

It was amazing

Great Stay at a Grand Damme of a Hotel

There were a few bad reviews for the hotel so I approached with caution. And then pleasantly surprised. Beautiful room, foyer, mostly great staff and satisfactory food. The hotel is in the process of changing management which I got from the staff and clearly needs some 'upper management love'. But the bones are most certainly there, and some vivacious, welcoming, warm staff. Not all services are well directed so its a senior management thing. But I had a wonderful stay with some of the warmest, kindest, effervescent people. And the property itself is quite grand and historic.

Excellent service and friendly staff

Guests are not allowed to use the telephone in your room to make any phone calls. I asked on numerous occassions was told it was against hotel policy. Every morning while leaving the hotel and waiting for a family member to pick me up, I felt very uneasy with all the vagrants asking for money. I suugest the hotel has a secirity person/door man to protect guests from the harassment.

not so good , the Beds are very old and my Back its painfully

No concept and dirty

Hated it. Outdated. No towels. No hot water. Rude service. Broken furniture. No proper ventilation.

Nice cheap central location`

Old hotel, staff was very friendly, it has definitely seen better days but at this price I really can't complain at all. Breakfast included, adequate but could've been cooked better (all the meat was overcooked for the 2 mornings that I was there).

Overall ok, however the aircon in the room had no effect.

my stay was perfect only the beds were giving us trouble, a double bed or queen is good or a couple

So clean

Was so amazing

Not a very clean room

Room was dirty with blood on the comforter and food stains on the floor

Hotel dirty by the steps

I loved the room though not sea view but it was excellent, i was dissapointed about the service i received, the most important thing that made me choose Royal was the pool and Wifi, and i was denied those servises, WIFI was only for some few minutes with no access to the pool, even though i was promised by the receptionist that the pool will be opened from 9 am, that never happened, when i enquire again was told stories about school kids, i mean how do you expect holiday with no school kids? Dissapointed. If you wanna grow your business to the higher level keep your word and be consistent with service delivery

I was a bit disappointed when I called room service and I was told that room service was closed when online they had said 24hours room service. The TV was not clear. Reception staff is very friendly. Please upgrade the standard of your rooms.

Dirty and broken furniture

If I can help it, I would never stay at royal hotel. The chairs in the room where dirty and so old. they desk light was broken. we couldn't use the bath tub because the tap was broken. No aircon in the room and you cannot open windows. no extractor fan in the bathroom. all the channels on the tv have static. there are people sleeping in boxes in front of the hotel! it was a terrible experience. really needs to be updated.

Enjoyed it , it was a comfortable stay .