Black Eagle Lodges - The Villa

Black Eagle Lodges - The Villa 's response

Thank you so much for your lovely review Caroline. We are delighted to hear that you enjoyed your stay and look forward to welcoming you back.

Black Eagle Lodges - The Villa 's response

Baie, baie dankie Ilse, vir jou wonderlike positiewe resensie van ons Villa. Ons is so bly dat jy jou verblyf geniet het en sien uit daarna om jou terug te verwelkom op ons plaas.

Black Eagle Lodges - The Villa 's response

Dear Andre,
We are so very sorry that we did not meet your expectations during your stay at The Villa.
As communicated with you over the weekend, we were equally dismayed by the unclean braai grid which is why our manager immediately replaced it with a brand new one.
I followed up with you the next day via SMS to see if all was in order at the Villa and your words were “all is perfect. Thanks for sorting out the grid so quickly. We are having a great time.” You did not mention the cutlery at all.
We had further SMS and WhatsApp communications over the weekend regarding the fact that you had booked for only 2 guests but checked in with 4 guests. There is a flat rate for 2 guests and extra guests pay an additional amount. Guest numbers are required to be completed on the booking form and the rate is adjusted accordingly. The booking process seemed to have been misinterpreted by you and inaccurately updated. Because we had let you down on the braai grid, we accommodated you though by giving you a 50% discount on the extra guests.
Do bear in mind we also did not charge you any penalties on your last-minute booking postponement in August. Our terms and conditions require forfeiting your deposit and we waivered this.
Regarding the directions, your wife came to reception, and she was unsure which property had been booked but as she thought it was the lodge my staff directed her there.
On arrival at the Lodge, which is 800 m from the Villa, our manager redirected you to the Villa, I also called you immediately to clarify the mistake. You could not unpack at the Lodge because we were doing maintenance there.
We exchanged 5 emails before your arrival and each stated "THE VILLA" in the subject line and several times in the body of the email, so I am unclear on how that misunderstanding arose.
We state in our communication with guests that we will not disturb their privacy unless they request a visit from us, but I now realize from your review that you expected to see us personally.
I was sure that we had gone over and above in terms of our communication, but I apologise for having not done more. I really took your message that all “was perfect” to imply that you were happy.
Our cleanliness standards are very high, but we definitely missed the mark on the braai grid and are implementing stricter controls going forward.
Reviews like this are hard to read but helpful for learning how we can improve so we appreciate you enlightening us.
There were several misunderstandings along the way too and we will endeavour to communicate more clearly in the future.

Black Eagle Lodges - The Villa 's response

It was a great pleasure to host Sonja and her friends and we are delighted to hear they enjoyed their weekend. Reconnecting with friends is so good for the soul. Thank you for staying with us and we look forward to welcoming you back to Black Eagle Villa.