Margate Sands
URGENT: Issues with Accommodation at Margate Sands - Request for Immediate Refund

Hi Management

Trust you are well.

I'm writing to bring to your attention some serious issues with my stay at Margate Sands, I'm extremely disappointed with my stay at Margate Sands. Despite expectations, the units are infested with cockroaches, toilets are not functioning properly, cupboards are broken, the stove is extremely slow, and the shower (ensuit) was broken which made bathing a nightmare.

We booked the ground floor, but when we arrived it was an open space where drunk men and the maintenance man was walking up and down in front of our apartment and there were no gates or blockage to separate the public from us (please note we had small children and mainly girls). We were then moved to the first floor (we didn’t touch anything in the apartment and was moved out immediate).

We then went to apartments 12 and 13,we stayed there for about 2/3 hours, these apartments were infested with cockroaches, we were told that they will be fumigating the place soon and only this floor was full of cockroaches. The cupboards were broken and the bin kept falling out due to it being damaged.

Few hours later, we were moved to apartments on the 7th Floor, we were told there are no cockroaches there, while being showed the apartments the receptionist was with us and there were cockroaches all over and she herself took us to another apartment, which were 52 and 55.

We were told to stay the night there until the morning and we will be moved to 8th floor.By then our holiday was already ruined by all the moving and we had small children with us that were screaming every time they saw cockroaches which could be heard in the corrido, it was quiet frustrating.
In all these apartments that they moved us to, when they opened the kitchen cupboards, you could get a stench, like cockroaches’ breed there.

I am 53 years old and my family and I had to walk up and down the stairs from the 7th floor, the lifts were broken, I was in severe pains on Friday night, my knees were really sore from all the walking, this included going down to reception to fix all the issues, moving rooms, packing and unpacking.
I felt like actually crying because everything was such a mess, my worse part it the broken shower in the main room that I stayed, I have videos, my family also took out videos which we can be send on WhatsApp, it might be big for this email.

I have been to Margate Sands previously (even celebrated my 50th birthday there) and it used to be very nice but this time it was a nightmare, all the guests were complaining about the cockroaches and about the place in the reception area, in the lift area, pool area. The staff felt so helpless which was very sad that they must go through it and get all the bad and negative words because higher management not doing anything about the place falling apart and they are not maintaining the place properly.

THIS WAS SO STRESSFUL AND JUST DRAINING THAT WE HAD TO CHECKOUT EARLY, WENT LEFT SUNDAY MORNING AFTER 9AM AND TOLD THEM THAT THE PROBLEMS BETTER GET SORTED OUT, ESPECIALLY THE SHOWER SO THAT I CAN HAVE A DECENT BATH, BUT WHEN I WENT BACK TO THE ROOM IT WASN’T FIXED OR EVEN LOOKED AT. WE WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO CHECKOUT TODAY AT 10AM BUT WE ALL LEFT YESTERDAY.

Lenard the general manager, phoned me Saturday afternoon, asked that we give him another chance to prove themselves so he will give us another stay exactly like what we had, two apartments and 3 nights with Ekko giving us a free massage. He promised he will give us rooms that were sprayed, no cockroaches and no broken furniture.

We spoke to Charles, Morris, Amanda and house keeping Happiness and Jabu (all saw the issues we experienced were valid) Please see attached my chat with Jabu

I DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK TO MARGATE SANDS, AS MY FAMILY AND I LIVE IN PHOENIX, IT TAKES FOUR HOURS TO GO THERE AND BACK HOME AND WE ALL TOOK LEAVE FROM WORK AND SCHOOL FOR THIS GETAWAY AND SPEND SO MUCH MONEY ON FOUR VEHICLES FOR PETROL AND THOUSANDS OF RANDS ON FOOD AND OTHER STUFF. I WANT MY REFUND AS I PAID IN CASH FOR THIS HOLIDAY AND THIS WEEKEND MESSED US SO BADLY, CAUSED SO MUCH FUSTRATION AND WASTED ALL OUR MONEY AND TIME. WE GOT HOME MORE TIRED FROM ALL THE MOVING AROUND TO FIX THE PROBLEMS AND WENT THROUGH A LOT OF STRESS.

I appreciate the offer for a complimentary stay, but I'd like to request a refund instead. I've paid in cash and would like it processed ASAP into the same bank account I paid from.
Dates of stay: was supposed to be from the 13th to the 16th of February 2026 but we checked out on the 15th of February.

It is illegal for you to let out the place in this condition. You to inform customers about these issues before taking our money. Please let me know when I can expect the refund.

Kind regards

Company: Margate Sands
Country: South Africa
Region: Kwa Zulu Natal
City: Margate
Address: WILLIAM O'CONNOR DRIVE
Phone: 0393128100, 0393128190
Site: www.funhols.co.za

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