Madagascar and South Africa Travel Review: Tulear, Relais & Chateaux Luxury Seafront Hotel, Cape Town

Not go to Ankasy Lodge and spend more days in Anjajavy. Or maybe not go to Ankasy and fnd a good place in Tulear wich we didn't find. [Travel Company's Comments] Thanks so much for taking to time to review your recent holiday to Madagascar and South Africa, and thank you for saying that you would use our services again. We appreciate all feedback as that is the way we can make the experience even better. However I would like to reply to a couple of the points you have raised. The hotel in Madagascar You are quite right that the hotel in Madagascar was clearly not up to scratch and we will not be booking it again. On your behalf we have tried in vain to get a refund from the owner and in the end we have given you a goodwill refund. However we only booked this particular hotel on YOUR request. It was not our preferred choice in that area. In a country such as Madagascar, there is not an extensive choice and standards of accommodation can vary widely. Thus what we take from your experience and feedback is that we need to insist on clients sticking with our suggestions in such remote areas as only then can we really vouch for their quality. Shark Cage Diving I am so sorry that you didn’t get to see the sharks whilst in Cape Town. This excursion is very weather dependent especially in the winter months. I do recall that the sea was extremely stormy during your visit. We had clients that went out to see sharks earlier that week & the lady got extremely sea sick due to the rough conditions which is also not a pleasant experience. I want to assure you that that the shark viewing outfits cancel their trips only in extreme weather conditions and when safety is at risk. Believe us when we say that, even if you had been booked with a different operator that did go out that day, the experience in such rough seas would have been very unpleasant. The other learning point for clients is that if you have an excursion which is really important to you, let us know ahead of time. Then we will book it for the first full day and in that way, if conditions are not right, there will be a good chance that we can rebook it for another day. Unfortunately you didn’t tell us how important it was to you, and so it was one of your final excursions, rather than the first... Radisson Blu Waterfront I am sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy the Radisson Blu Waterfront Hotel. Personally I like the hotel as it has lovely views over the Atlantic Ocean, the location is very good being walking distance to the Waterfront and the two-bedroom suite was a good fit for your family. Yes it is a mid-sized hotel and part of an International Chain but I do feel that our description of the hotel was accurate and its very name makes that clear. Again we are very happy to suggest alternatives to clients if our first suggestion does not suit them. But it is up to the client to read our proposal and decide whether they like the sound of a hotel. Similarly if you say that you want to stay in a small boutique hotel, then we would have suggested something along these lines. As always the more clients tell us about what they want, the closer we can come to the best possible itinerary for them.”