It was a blogpost by Tony Ward that attracted my attention to the High Tea at MannaBay, a little-known boutique hotel high up in Oranjezicht.  The High Tea we were served yesterday in no way compared to what is reflected on the MannaBay website, nor is the effort it took to make the booking for the High Tea reflective of its claimed five star rating.

I have a date with my longest-standing school friend Jenny, spoiling her on her birthday, and she does the same for me.  From what I saw on Tony’s blog and on their website, MannaBay seemed a nice spoiling surprise for Jenny’s birthday treat.  I called late afternoon about ten days ago, wanting to book the High Tea, and the phone was answered by a waiter.  The communication with him was poor, and his answers vague, so he passed me on to the Assistant Manager Nolu Dube.  She told me that one would have to pay for the High Tea in full in advance, which I queried.  The telephonic interaction was very poor, and seemed out of sync with the five star rating claim, and I couldn’t understand that she could not just accept my telephonic booking! She told me her GM was out, but soon thereafter Justine Ryan called, rather aggressively, saying that a non-refundable deposit of 50 % of the total has to be paid upfront.  I asked her to send the invoice, but received nothing.  I followed up, and discovered that she had written down the e-mail address incorrectly, despite it being spelt for her a number of times.  I did receive the e-mail eventually, and wanted the invoice faxed, so that it could be paid.  The invoice did not arrive, despite  an over-assertive confirmation that it had been sent!  Jenny had to change our date, so I wrote to Justine, informing her of our new date.  There was no further communication about payment, so I stopped begging for the invoice.

We found MannaBay from the directions on the website, not having been sent these by the hotel, it being very tucked away.  It has a steep driveway, with a speakerphone half way, into which we had to request that the gate be opened.   We were met by Nolu,  who did not seem to know who we were, but she welcomed us anyway.  She never asked our names, and we got the impression that she had not expected us.  We were told that MannaBay had previously operated from Vredehoek, and that they had moved to the current building six months ago.  It has a fantastic location, very high up in Oranjezicht, with a view of the city and Table Bay, and the walls are covered in art, which appears to be on loan from an art gallery, the Christopher Møller Art Gallery replacing a painting as we were leaving.   There was no list of the works of the artists displayed in the hotel, and generally we received very little information about the hotel when we requested a brochure, other than four pages about the eight rooms, guest extras and amenities (e.g. free wifi, mobile phones with local SIM card, complimentary local beverages and house wines, 24-hour butler service, complimentary dinner transfers, and GPS navigation devices) , and its winter special.  I loved Gregg Brill’s ‘Migration 1: Sprites of the Sky’, consisting of 200 swallows, representing the annual trek of the swallows from Europe and back.

The decor was opulent, over the top in some respects, yet disjointed, there not being a cohesive theme nor colour scheme running through the public rooms. The main lounge was massive, with a very large grey couch, behind which a full-scale photograph of Table Mountain covers the full wall.  White leather chairs were comfortable, and we had to pull up the glass tables to place our plates and cups on them.  On the walls is a collection of horse prints, in honour of The Year of the Horse in the Chinese Zodiac. There is a grand piano, which was put to practice by a guest, playing one piece for us.  We were advised to sit in this lounge, to be closest to the High Tea.   The rooms lead into each other, with an open-plan kitchen leading to the Breakfast Room and onto a terrace with the view onto the city.  There is another lounge, which houses the library and the multi-media centre.  For the opulence which the hotel exudes, one would have expected Persian carpets, but the carpets in the passage were designed as the flags of the UK, USA, Germany, and South Africa instead, a weird design feature.  Crystal chandeliers were tiny relative to the size of the rooms, and hung too high.  A nice touch was the proteas on the tables throughout the public rooms, as well as the orchids at the High Tea counter.

I asked who had done the decor, and was told that it was the owner David Ryan (who we discovered is the brother-in-law of Justine).  A Google search explained why my credit card slip was issued in the name of Rhino Africa Safaris, an African inbound tour operator, which Ryan founded and is the CEO of.  No surprise is that the recommended accommodation to Rhino Africa Safaris clients wanting to stay in Cape Town is MannaBay, but Ryan’s ownership thereof is not declared!  The MannaBay website does not document the claimed star rating of the hotel!

The High Tea selection was explained to us by Chef Lauren Walsh, who said that she had previously worked in Malaysia, and had been at Nobu Cape Town for four months before moving to MannaBay.  Her colleague is Chef Riccardo Cutino, previously with Myoga.  The savoury offering consisted of curried chicken skewers with a choice of two sauces; a bacon, red pepper, and thyme-infused feta quiche; a beef and mozzarella hamburger;  and black sesame seed encrusted beef sausage rolls. Traditional High Tea sandwiches were absent, despite being visible in photographs on the website!  The sweet offering consisted of vanilla cupcakes, a chocolate sponge cake, and a honey and walnut cake topped with gooseberries, the scones shown on the website being absent too.  While there was more than enough to eat, it lacked the quality one expected from the status of the hotel.   The savoury offering was particularly disappointing.  A large cooler with three bottles of Graham Beck Brut Rosé formed part of the High Tea display, but we were not offered any spontaneously, nor did we hear the cork pop when we requested a glass each, making me wonder in retrospect if the content of our glasses had come from another bottle kept somewhere else!  We received our cappuccinos in Bodum glasses, disappointing that the beautiful cups seen on the website were not used.

We only saw Justine five minutes before leaving, and she organised the bill and brought the credit card machine.  She seemed far nicer face to face than she had been on the phone,  having originally given me the impression that she really didn’t care about nor need the booking!  She guided us down the steep driveway, which was even more tricky to get out of, having to reverse downhill all the way.  Given the price charged for the High Tea at MannaBay, there is far better quality and a greater offering at the One&Only Cape Town and at The Mount Nelson.  

POSTSCRIPT 21/5:  We have received a very long and highly defensive response to our Review from MannaBay GM Justine Ryan, showing that she really did not get the message, especially not about how off-putting the reservation procedure was, and how that clouded the experience!  We also note with contempt the attempts by David Ryan to disparage and defame  us as a result of this review!

Dear Chris Firstly, as the general manager of MannaBay, I would like to apologise for your High Tea experience not living up to your expectations. It is our intention to create special and unique experiences for all who visit our boutique hotel and I was disappointed to read that your afternoon at MannaBay was anything short of wonderful. On a personal note, it was nevertheless good to meet you. I assure you that any and all feedback is carefully considered and it is for this reason that I ask for the opportunity to respond. One of the benchmarks of MannaBay is that we believe in uplifting our staff. We do so by investing time, energy and training into each individual. To fully empower our staff it’s necessary to place confidence in them. This means that all our staff have been taught proper phone etiquette and they receive the best possible hospitality training. As you have alluded to, it is our policy to charge a non-refundable, 50% percent deposit for non-overnight guests who wish to experience our High Tea. I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. Unfortunately, for security reasons, we need certain measures in place, including a speakerphone at our main gate, as we hold the safety of our guests as a high priority. I fully appreciate that our driveway is steep but we feel that this is a small price to pay for our incredible position beneath Table Mountain and, of course, our spectacular views. We try to make every experience involving MannaBay as hassle free as possible and I apologise if it was anything other than that for you. A personal touch is something MannaBay prides itself in and I was particularly surprised to hear that your welcome to the hotel left much to be desired. Again, we apologise that your first impression did not set the tone for your entire experience, particularly since our goal is to provide excellent service from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. MannaBay possesses a strong pride of place and this patriotism is reflected in our art and our décor. One of our carpets – which you discussed in your review – mimics the South African flag. This piece appeals to us because it demonstrates our admiration for the country we live in. Similarly, the carpets that reflect the USA, UK and Germany are acknowledgments of the countries that many of our guests call home. We appreciate that we are living in a diverse nation with diverging views and, though try to impress everyone, we understand that certain décor speaks to different tastes. Much of the art showcased on MannaBay’s walls is on commission from the Christopher Møller Art Gallery which is located in the heart of Cape Town. We passionately believe in promoting and selling the work of living South African artists, which brings me one of our greatest treasures: our gallery. In collaboration with five young South African artists, we have dedicated our gallery – at least for the time being – to the Year of the Horse. The idea behind the space, and the pieces it contains, is to portray South Africa’s rich culture from the horse’s perspective. The proceeds from any sales are donated to the Cart Horse Protection Association, which is a non-profit organisation tasked with protecting horses and donkeys from abuse as well as uplifting the Cape Flats’ carting community. The end of June will see the exhibit and theme change when we will collaborate with new artists, choose a new theme and select another charity that is close to our hearts. Our commitment to enhance the local community is a common thread running through MannaBay and our holding company, Rhino Africa, who support numerous organisations including Wildlife Act Fund, Save the Rhino Trust, Khumbulani and the Good Work Foundation. This brings me to your concerns regarding the ownership of MannaBay. I was sorry to hear that you feel MannaBay, Rhino Africa and its CEO, David Ryan, have been anything but forthcoming in their long standing association. David Ryan, in particular, takes great pride in his ownership of the establishment. Furthermore our invoices are issued in the name of Rhino Africa Safaris and we would hope that this, among numerous other things, demonstrates our lack of intention to hide the proprietorship. Being a seasoned tour operator has allowed Rhino Africa, led by David Ryan, to cherry pick the best attributes from the finest hotels and lodges in South Africa. This has enabled us to provide a product that, in our opinion, is on a par with the best boutique hotels in the world. Our in house chefs, Lauren and Riccardo go to great lengths to prepare a daily breakfast and high tea menu which ensures that repeat guests experience new and exciting dishes while also applauding the presence of their trusted favourites. This explains why, on your particular visit, the scones did not feature in the High Tea. Once again, I apologise for any disappointment this caused and am sorry that our other treats did not make up for the absence of scones. In our opinion the bottles of Graham Beck Brut Rosé MCC distinguishes our High Tea from others offered within Cape Town. I assure you that your flute of champagne came from a freshly opened bottle. Perhaps I can offer an explanation for why the cork did not ‘pop’ as you anticipated. As hinted at above, we go to lengths to train our waiters and part of that education involves the correct method of opening champagne bottles. Despite popular opinion, the best practice is easing the cork out of the bottle and silently ‘catching’ the cork. Shaking the bottle and popping the cork often results in over-carbonation not to mention wasting some of the precious bubbly. In relation to the beautiful tea cups on our website, our cappuccinos are served in Bodum glasses, as you pointed out, while our tea is served in the delicate cups you mentioned. I apologise for any disappointment in this regard. In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that your concerns important to us. I will certainly discuss your criticisms with my staff as we are constantly seeking ways to maintain excellence across the board. Again, on behalf of MannaBay, I would like to express our sincere apology for any disappointment and assure you that we are doing everything we can to provide the ultimate boutique hotel experience in Cape Town. Yours Sincerely

Justine Ryan General Manager

MannaBay, 8 Bridle Road, Oranjezicht, Cape Town.  Tel (021) 461-1094  www.mannabay.com   Twitter: @MannaBay.  High Tea served from 16h00 – 17h00 daily. Cost R195 per person.

Chris von Ulmenstein,Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com   Twitter: @WhaleCottage