Gabrielle26

Hi

I've been reading some trip reports and posts which have been really helpful in planning my own trip to South Africa.

I just received word from my agency on how much the trip would be, and I feel it's a little expensive. I would like to know what do you think about the price.

It is for July 09. Includes 1 night at Radisson Johannesburg, 3 nights Elephant Plains (luxury rooms), 4 nights Radisson Cape Town (regular rooms), 1 night Le Quatier Francais. Airport transfers from and to hotels, guided city tour in Cape Town, guided tour for the winelands. Breakfast at the hotels. Air transfer from Tambo airport to EP. It is for 4 people.

It comes up to $3755 per person. I don't know if this is fair. Or if maybe I could save some money by doing the hotel reservations by myself, just taking a taxi from the hotels to the airport, and doing the tours from the hotel or I was checking out Hylton Ross, maybe there are other tour companies that you could recommend.

Or maybe that's what it is worth and I didn't realize it.

Thank you very much for your help.

cary999

I always want a breakout of major cost components. Can you breakout the cost of each of the hotels stays? If not, ask for it. There also seems to be flight from Joburg to Cape Town, that cost should also be shown.

Also, are you flying to SA for 9 nights, 7 days of touring? Flying in from where? If you're in Europe, maybe ok, not but one long flight. But for me in USA I wouldn't consider going to Africa for only 9 nights, have to be at very least 14 nights.

regards - tom

NoshGeek

Sounds WAY too steep. I don't know what sort of standards you are accustomed to but the hotels you are booked into are really superior establishments. Le Quartier Francais charges R4000 per room, which is really expensive for out of town *unless* you are wanting this experience. In Franscchoek where this is, you should be able to get lovely accommodation at half this price.

The Radisson hotels are also 5 star hotels charging around 2000 per person per night.

Is this a package or is your travel agent booking this independenty?

ekscrunchy

Here is an example of an alternative in Franschhoek; mind you, this place, where I stayed, is also very high end but look at the savings over LQF. And I am sure you could find other less pricey places. We loved Akademie Suites and would highly recommend:


http://www.akademie-guesthouses.co.za/

Gabrielle26

Thank you for your suggestions, I'll check Akademie for our stay at Franschhoek.

The price for the flight from Joburg to Capetown is not included in the price. And I don't have the cost for each of the hotel stays. I'm going to ask for it.

When I asked, my agency told me that they are working this, through a tour operator specialized in African trips. I don't know what operator they are working with.

Tom, I'm flying from South America, the current itinerary is for 9 nights, I want to add 1 to Joburg and 1 to Capetown. But cannot add anymore because we spend 2 nights traveling to SA and 2 nights on the way back. And we do not have more vacation days for the trip.

The hotels in Joburg and LQF were chosen by our agent, we requested the Radisson Hotel in Cape Town because of the location and comments we have heard about the place. The people traveling with me do not want to stay at a guesthouse. If you have a suggestion about a hotel in Cape Town similar to the Radisson but lower in price it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions.

ekscrunchy

Gabrielle, one thing your friends need to know is that guesthouses in SA are nothing like you might expect. I don't know if any other country has the equivalent of these types of lodgings.

Perhaps you should contact a local agency to compare their prices with those of your TA; I used:

www.southerndestinations.com

and can recommend very highly.

Kavey

Have you specifically requested top level, high luxury accommodations? That would explain the choices for the luxury rooms at Elephant Plains not to mention Le Quarter Francais.

Elephant plains also offer rondavels which I think, if I'm assessing their website correctly, are a step down from their luxury rooms and yet still look plenty gorgeous to me.

In Cape Town there are many really, really superb guest houses that offer extremely high comfort, beautiful decor and excellent service at much cheaper prices than the big hotels.

Likewise in Franschhoek there are many excellent guest houses at amazingly good prices. We couldn't believe how high-end all our guest house accommodations were in South Africa, given the ridiculously low prices. In Franschhoek we stayed at the Plumwood Inn and were very happy indeed with the location, the accommodation, the breakfast, the friendly owners...

For the accommodation choices that have been selected, the price doesn't sound wholly unreasonable to me, though I'm sure it's a wee bit higher given that your agent and the local African operator they are using will both be adding their profit margins into the total.

brandywine

Gabrielle,

I agree with Tom, especially in terms of breaking out the hotel costs. I don't know how you can begin to make a comparison of hotels if you don't know the cost. The Radisson at Cape Town is I believe out on a point a little bit away from the main Waterfront area, not sure you can just walk over to a restaurant in the evening, but perhaps that is why you like the location - away from the crowd??

If you have two extra nights, I would add a night on safari at EP (unless you have a specific reason for spending time in JNB), and a night in Franschhoek, we loved the wine region area. You can probably spend two nights in Franshk. at a nice small inn for the price of one night at LQF.

We have always found private airport transfers to be expensive, and not worth our money. But then, we always travel with the just the two of us, so a taxi is cheaper. For four people, a private transfer may come out about the same. You're not renting a car in Cape Town? How are you getting around, that is, to make a day trip around Cape Point peninsula, to get out to the winelands, etc.

Also, not sure why you are getting quotes in US dollars. The quote for SA should be in rands. The rand vs. dollar is wildly fluctuating lately, so a quote is US dollars would be different every day.

Elephant Plains is supposed to be one of the most economical choices in Sabi Sands, and I believe has gotten pretty good reviews.

Patty

We also loved Akademie Street and can recommend it highly. Have you tried pricing all of the components yourself? It seems like it would be pretty easy to do so and see if the price is fair.

PRLCH

We are travelling for 4 weeks to SA and Vic Falls in December / January. For 4 people we are paying R104000. This includes accommodation, car hire for most of the trip, and the following internal flights: JHB - Durban; JHB - Kruger (return); JHB - Vic Falls (return); JHB - Cape Town. I don't know if you specifically want such upmarket accommodation, but you can certainly stay at lovely places for much less. We researched carefully ourselves and then booked through Selftours (www.selftours.co.za) - they have been very helpful. You may want to ask them for a quote and suggestions of places to stay.
Good Luck.

Gabrielle26

Thanks for all your help and comments.

They quoted our trip in US dollars because that is the currency in my country. I'm not from the US though. They did tell me it could change.

But after reading all your comments I decided to quote the same trip with southern destinations as ekscrunchy suggested and I received a much better price in rands. It comes up to 99,057 rands total, 24,764 per person staying at similar hotels, doing the same tours, and they asked me if I wanted them to check for more economic options, including changing LQf for the Plumwood Inn as Kavey suggested. I said yes, so I'm waiting for their new proposal.

Thanks for everything, I'll keep you posted, and probably will have a few more questions about the trip, once my itinerary and lodging is settled.

Thanks