The Secret Garden Guesthouse

"I found the Secret Garden booking completely unacceptable!! In spite of booking as early as February, 6 months in advance, and phoning on three occasions to confirm that all was in order (it was to be a birthday surprise for my wife), the booking was completely wrong. I had even phoned on the day before arrival and it was confirmed by Mr Peter Odendaal "that we will see you TOMORROW", so there could not have been any confusion as to when we were expected. We then arrived to find that the booking was a complete mess and that they had no space to accommodate us. He told us that I had made the booking for the 22nd, 2 days later (!!) and that there was no accommodation available until then. As I was planning to arrive on my wife's birthday, how could I possibly get the day wrong!! On top of all this, Mr Odendaal was extremely rude and even accused me of changing the booking. He became extremely rude and loud, until I interrupted and asked him to be quiet long enough for me to point out that I had written proof of the booking dates!! A bit of a heated argument then ensued. We subsequently left and moved to alternate accommodation. I remain very worried that Mr Odendaal will take it upon himself to charge a cancedllation fee or whatever, as he had been given my credit card details when the booking was originally made 6 months previously. Should this happen, all concerned may rest assured that I WILL take the matter further; with the police, the Namibian Tourist Association and legally. Furthermore, during one of my follow up phone calls from South Africa, I asked him if he could give me the contact details of any German church near the Secret Garden in Swakopmund and, even then, he became rude over the phone wanting to know the details and reason that I wanted this information. It suffices to say that I am extremely dissatisfied with all my dealings with the Secret Garden and in particular with Mr Odendaal. I will NEVER recommend the place to anyone. Enough said !! " - TOM HANNAY, August 2010 View all 5 guest reviews