The Grand Palm Hotel Casino Convention Resort Guide and Review
Nestled in Gaborone, Botswana, The Grand Palm Hotel Casino Convention Resort stands as a prominent destination, primarily known for its extensive casino offerings and comprehensive facilities. Reviews offer a mixed but generally positive perspective, highlighting its stunning grounds and vibrant atmosphere, alongside candid feedback on areas needing a refresh.
The Highs: What Shines Bright 💎
Visitors frequently praise the resort's captivating aesthetics and the quality of its amenities. The overall ambiance contributes significantly to a pleasant stay for many.
- Grounds and Ambiance: The resort is described as having "absolutely gorgeous grounds and hotel" and being "amazingly stunning," setting a beautiful backdrop for leisure and relaxation. Guests enjoy features like sitting poolside with lattes, contributing to a truly worthwhile experience.
- Dining and Drinks: The food is often lauded as "fabulous," with drinks noted as "on par." The bar area and restaurant receive positive remarks for their quality, and breakfast is highlighted for being "beautifully presented."
- Casino Experience: As a primary draw, the 24-hour casino is a significant bonus, described as "a lot of fun." Its round-the-clock operation provides ample entertainment for guests.
- Staff Integrity: A remarkable testament to the staff's honesty and professionalism came from a guest who forgot their handbag at the restaurant, only to have it returned to reception with nothing missing, speaking "very high about the staff integrity."
- Check-in Experience: The check-in process is noted as "effortless" and met with a "warm welcome," setting a positive tone for arrival. Kitchen staff are also commended for being very hospitable.
Areas for Improvement: Where the Palm Can Blossom Further 🚧
While the positives are strong, several recurring themes in guest feedback point towards areas where The Grand Palm could significantly enhance its offering, particularly concerning modernization and service consistency.
- Room Modernization: A critical area for improvement is the guest rooms. Some feedback suggests that carpets, decor, and beds haven't been updated since as far back as 2012, leading to an outdated feel. The presence of a shower-bath combo, designed for "very small people," is also noted as an outdated feature for a 4-star establishment.
- Temperature Control: Air conditioning in rooms is a significant concern, described as barely working and more like a fan circulating hot air, a notable issue especially during Botswana's hot summers (40 degrees Celsius).
- Service Consistency & Responsiveness: While some staff are friendly and helpful, service consistency appears to be a challenge. Issues include restaurant service being extremely slow ("like the HUNGER GAMES waiting for that order") and bureaucratic processes for basic workshop equipment (e.g., a wireless microphone requiring extensive email correspondence, quotations, approvals, and payment before delivery, leading to the session ending before the equipment arrived). This contradicts internal "client first" messaging, which some guests feel is "only on paper."
- Logistics and First Impressions: Initial arrival can be frustrating, with one guest being unable to be dropped off at reception by their taxi, forcing them to carry luggage across a car park. Furthermore, instances of rooms being mistakenly assigned to already occupied spaces reflect issues in operational precision.
Casino Focus 🎲
The Grand Palm's identity as a casino resort is strongly affirmed by guests. The 24-hour casino is a major draw, offering continuous entertainment and being a significant highlight for those seeking gaming excitement. It's perceived as a considerable "bonus" to the overall resort experience, reinforcing its status as a premier entertainment hub in Gaborone.
Final Verdict ⚖️
The Grand Palm Hotel Casino Convention Resort offers a compelling package with its beautiful grounds, engaging casino, and generally good dining options. However, to truly elevate the guest experience and justify its reputation, significant investment in modernizing its rooms and ensuring consistent, responsive service across all departments is essential. While some guests like the welcoming check-in and integrity of the staff, others leave feeling that the place needs a "complete shake up" to meet modern 4-star expectations. For those prioritizing a fun, accessible casino and appealing outdoor spaces, it's a solid choice, but guests seeking contemporary room comforts and seamless service may find areas for disappointment.
Absolutely gorgeous grounds and hotel. We enjoyed our stay here and will be back. The food was fabulous! Drinks on par! Enjoys lattes every morning while sitting poolside. This place was worth it for sure! The 24hr casino was a lot of fun and is a huge bonus to the space.
The bar area and restaurant is good but my stay started by being told that the taxi driver wasn’t allowed to drop me off at reception so had to cart my luggage half way across the car park, ridiculous considering I was checking in.The last time I stayed there was back in 2012 and I’m pretty sure the carpets in the rooms nor the decor or beds have been changed since then.My room assigned to me already had someone in it, luckily they weren’t in the room when I opened the door so I went to reception and changed rooms, they were at least apologetic.Aircons barely work it’s more like a fan circulating hot air which is great in the dead heat of summer 40 degrees c. Shower & bath combo which has been designed for very small people. I mean a 4 star hotel with a shower bath combo…..really are we still in the 90s?Overall service and staff were fairly good, the staff were at least very friendly and helpful but the whole place needs a complete shake up. I give it three stars …..and I’m being generous.Won’t be back.
I went to give a workshop and the service was not as expected. We asked a wireless microphone 🎤 for the public and required to send an email, after quotation, then approvals and finally payment (40 € per day) before deliveringMeanwhile the session finalized.Worst thing the are full of banners inside "client first" and all these bull#%* that is only on paper.Very bad!!!
The Palm was amazingly stunning, only downside was the restaurant service, drastically needs to pull up their socks. It was more like the HUNGER GAMES waiting for that order 😅😅🤣🤣
Check in ead effortless, we were relieved with a warm welcome. Breakfast was beautifully presented, kitchen staff very hospitable. I forgot my handbag at the restaurant and returned after almost an hour, it was taken to reception, I found everything as it was, nothing was missing, that spoke very high about the staff integrity. Will always respect all of them.