The Garden Venue Hotel

The breakfast was good, with friendly staff. Exceptional service ensured guest comfort. Peaceful location near Johannesburg. Easy access from the North Western side.

I am writing to express our dissatisfaction with the service, catering, décor, and facilities provided by The Garden Venue for our recent event. The issues we encountered were numerous and severely impacted the overall experience for us. Catering The agreed-upon menu included Roast Beef with Mushroom Sauce and Cheesecake for dessert. However: • The beef was not roast beef but resembled minute steaks and was tough and unpalatable. • The cheesecake was drastically different from the tasting, neither in flavour nor quality resembling what was agreed upon. • The bar was inadequately stocked, and many of the directors’ requested drinks were unavailable that was supposed to be available according to the bar menu provided. This required last-minute efforts from Munya to source specific items, which was completely unacceptable. Décor The décor was another significant disappointment: • Chairs, underplates, and centerpieces were not as agreed during the mock table arrangement. We were informed only the night before that five chairs were unavailable, and we expect the invoice to reflect this deduction as advised by Munya. • Inconsistent underplates were used without prior notice, which was noticed during the event. • Damaged tablecloths were used, some torn and burned, which we only avoided by checking the setup ourselves. • The red carpet provided was frayed and in poor condition, with the ends folded to conceal the damage. Facilities The venue’s facilities were poorly maintained: • The ladies’ bathrooms were untidy, and the door locks were faulty, remaining unresolved throughout the evening. • The venue was excessively hot despite air conditioning set to 16°C. Additional air conditioning units should be installed to accommodate the venue size. Other Issues • The high staff turnover of the Garden Venue staff caused significant miscommunication, resulting in unfulfilled promises and confusion. • Administrative delays were unacceptable, with welcome drinks only confirmed shortly before the event despite multiple follow-ups. Furthermore, the gin and tonic welcome drinks lacked any discernible gin flavour. Cost and Recommendation Given the subpar service and quality of items provided, the cost of R995 per person was unjustified. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend The Garden Venue to others. We will definitely do a Google review to ensure other companies do not get the same disappointing experience we have had. Compliments I would like to acknowledge the excellent work of the DJ, who was the highlight of the evening and contributed positively to the event.

We booked a film production shoot at The Garden Venue, and at their insistence, we changed our schedule to accommodate the venue. We were told that we should film on a Monday (14th Oct) because it is a 'quiet' day for them. This was not the case. On the day of the shoot, we were shocked to find out that they had accepted a 'last minute' booking for a party in the venue right next to the one that we had been given. The music was so loud coming from the venue, that we couldn't film anything for over 3 hours. A stand-down of over 200 cast and crew members in the film industry costs thousands of rands. The event planners had no excuses, everyone was passing the buck. The General Manager and Accountant of the venue were not helpful either, their excuse was that they had no idea that the events team had booked another event so close to ours and that we must just wait for the party to end. Worse of all, the person who had made our booking just turned off his phone and left it to his junior colleague to try and sort it out. Our emails of complaint were completely ignored, and to this day, no one from the venue has apologised for this huge mess up. No accountability and bad customer service, are the only words to describe our experience.