Honeymoon Suite, Garden View | Living area | 27-cm TV with digital channels, books

Reviews of Jambo Guest House

4 out of 5
Jambo Guest House
1 Grove Road, Green Point, Cape Town, Western Cape

Reviews

8.8

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 29 out of 56 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 23 out of 56 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 56 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 56 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 56 reviews" "

9.0/10

Cleanliness

9.0/10

Staff & service

7.0/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Christine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2020
Response from barry on Mar 11, 2020
Dear Christine, We are so glad that you enjoyed your stay with us and thank you for your review. Warm regards Barry and Mina

10/10 Excellent

Patty

Traveled with group, Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
very friendly guest house
Very friendly guest house in a very central, easy to walk around location of Cape Town.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020
Response from barry on Mar 4, 2020
Dear Patty, So glad you enjoyed your stay with us and do please come again. Warm regards Barry and Mina

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great location
Excellent location, if a bit dated in design. Comfortable with all amenities.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2020
Response from barry on Feb 17, 2020
Dear Guest, Thank you for posting a review about us and we hope you enjoyed your stay here. Jambo is a more than 100 year old house and we decided to keep this Olde Worlde feel about it hence the "a bit dated" feel ! Thanks once again. Warm regards Barry and Mina

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Superb position. Safe area close to the Waterfront. Excellent friendly hosts. Great choice for four days exploring CT.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2019
Response from Barry on Jan 3, 2020
Dear Guest, Thank you so much for posting a review about us, we really appreciate it. Warm regards Barry and Mina Jambo Guest House

8/10 Good

Kamil

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Book it for unique style
The photos correspond to what it really is. The breakfast was tasty and fresh, but boring - every day the same and limited in options. One would for example expect better juices for that type of guesthouse. The rooms were clean and fresh. The bed pretty hard, it's a matter of taste obviously. The area is peaceful, but not much interesting around. The owners were flexible with check-in time. Not much with the breakfast. We were refused to have an earlier breakfast or packed sandwich when going to safari, while other couple had breakfast earlier. We didn't like not even treatment of all guests. The owners were kind and chatty, sometimes pushy in selling hop-on hop-off bus tickets or local services. If you have nothing organized in the trip, it might be helpful. Otherwise it might feel intrusive. Book this place if you want daily chat with the owners, if you are ready to share your day activities with others, if you want more personal treatment. Do not book if you are reserved person and prefers to be anonymous. Overall the place has ' a soul', style and much more unique design than white wall rooms in many other hotels.
Stayed 8 nights in Feb 2019
Response from Barry on May 3, 2019
Dear Guest Thank you for taking the time to post a review about us although there are a few things we would like to respond to. We enjoy meeting and interacting with our guests and breakfast time affords an opportunity for our guests to interact with each other and for us to impart some of our knowledge of the Cape. We love the interaction we have with our guests and feel that their limited time here in the Best-City-in-the-World is very precious and try to make sure that they get the best of what Cape Town has to offer. For this reason we sit down with our new arrivals with maps and give as much information as we can about where to go, where to eat, what to see, where not to go etc. and part of that is the City Sightseeing buses which we think are a wonderful way to get an overview of the city Many of our guests choose to join us in the evenings in our lounge where sometimes Barry plays guitar and sings and where often the guests join in and at other times they take over the guitar and the piano. Yes we do serve the same breakfast every day consisting of a platter of freshly cut seasonal fruits, cereals, yoghurts, stewed fruit, hard and soft cheeses, ham and salami, muffins, tea, a variety of herbal teas and freshly brewed coffee, two types of bread and two types of bread rolls, fresh from the bakery every morning. We serve two varieties of fruit juice, both 100% pure juice, no additives and not diluted so we are not quite sure what you mean by “better juices” ? Eggs are not on our everyday menu but are supplied on special request. We serve breakfast between 08.00 and 10.00. This is because the bakery where we get fresh-from-the-oven rolls every morning only opens at 07.00. Should anyone need an earlier breakfast yoghurt, cereals, coffee, tea and juice are available.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 9 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Barry on Nov 20, 2018
Dear Traveller, Thank you so much for giving is a high 5 ! We are happy you enjoyed your stay with us. Warm regards Barry and Mina

8/10 Good

Harald

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 4 nights in Sep 2018
Response from Barry on Nov 20, 2018
Dear Harald, it was a pleasure to host you here at Jambo. Thank you for posting a review. Warm regards Barry and Mina

10/10 Excellent

Shelagh

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Personality and good advice
The owners were very warm friendly and great advice and local knowledge
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2017
Dear Shelagh, Thanks a lot for taking the time to give us a review. Much appreciated. We hope we can be your hosts again ? Warm regards Barry and Mina

6/10 Okay

Alex

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
What you see is not exactly what you get......
We decided to stay at Jambo for our last night in Cape Town based on the location, positive tripadvisor/hotels.com reviews and the amenities offered for the price point (~£100-£115 per night). Upon arrival, we were quite frankly disappointed and somewhat bewildered by the overwhelmingly positive reviews we had read. Jambo is not a bad place to stay at, but I do think it appeals to a certain type of audience/traveller. If you are into the quirky, bohemian, homestay, get to know your hosts vibe, then this is the place for you. We stayed in the Garden room and the decor was very dated, worn, chintzy and overwhelming (to reference one other reviewers comments, it felt like staying at your granny's house). It was comfortable at best but in no way luxurious or modern. The TV was small - almost unwatchable from the bed and had a very limited number of channels. The "free" parking was on a public cul-de-sac that was so narrow you had to reverse out of it onto a main road and the "free" wifi was not available as standard but was begrudgingly offered as "....do you need to use my wifi?" In sum, had the price been ~£50-£60 per night, we would have had no issues at all but there are other hotels and guest houses in the cape that offer better facilities for the same price. Barry and Mina were lovely but they need to invest as much in their rooms as they do into their hosting to justify the price point.
Dear Alex, Jambo is a beautiful 130 year old Victorian styled building. We prefer eclectic furnishings as we find chrome, glass and modern very cold. Had you taken the trouble to view the virtual tour on our website then you would have seen that "What you see is indeed, what you get " We have just been re-graded 4 Stars by the TGCSA. We do have some onsite free parking and Barry will gladly act as a "parking valet" if guests experience trouble with our narrow streets. WiFi is free, limitless, available throughout the property and is never "begrudgingly offered" as you stated. You have forgotten to mention the view of our beautiful garden from your bed, the bird songs plus the sheer tranquility even though we are located in the city centre. We hope you will return to enjoy more of South Africa. Regards Barry and Mina

8/10 Good

Zahabia

Liked: Staff & service
Good location and host
Jambo guest house is in a great location - in walking distance to the V&A waterfront (around 30mins) and Sea Point and there are restaurant options within a 10 minute walk. Barry, the owner, is helpful and is keen to offer advice and make bookings on behalf of guests. The guest house has a home-like feeling but was a little too cluttered for me with lots of things in the rooms - personally, I prefer more space - and more things in the room means more dust in places you cannot clean. Overall a good stay - we were out most of the day and were in the rooms only at night. If you have a back problem, you might find the beds a little uncomfortable - too soft and jumpy for me.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Pleasant
Difficult to park, only 3 spaces to park in which were very tight. breakfast wasn't great.. tv in room very small couldn't see from lying in bed.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place and location
Great place in general, the bed was very comfortable. If you like guest houses and living inside a person's house this is just for you. The hosts are very very warm and welcoming, very nice but at certain point they tend to ramble on (I'm just not a morning person and at times it was too chatty for me). Regardless, I would diffently recommend this place. Safe and fun location and a huge room and closet. Will go back in a hearbeat.

10/10 Excellent

Diane , London UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay with Barry ans Nima
We had a lovely three night stay at Jumbo. The owners go out of their way to provide personal service, with amazing breakfasts and good company in Barry's bar in the evenings. The owners provided advice and tips on where to go and what to see. We hope to be back next time we go to South Africa! Thanks Barry and Nima for an unforgettable stay.

10/10 Excellent

Stephen, Atlanta

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Feel at home in Capetown
Jambo Is a great place to stay to capture the true spirit of Cape Town and surrounding areas. Barry and Mina made us feel right at home and shared their extensive knowledge of their hometown and Africa. This amazing couple has lovingly transformed a 130-year-old house into an enticing oasis filled with personal touches, great furnishings, fine food and infectious laughter as well as outstanding art and music. Among their many talents, Berry is a magical guitarist and singer and Mina is a superb artists and art collector. We can't wait to come back to Jambo guesthouse again

8/10 Good

Philip, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wife a little too friendly. Every morning at breakfast wife stood and talked to us the entire time we ate. As a result we had to go to our room to make plans for the day and not over breakfast. Also, breakfast just a continental one with no hot food. Time for breakfast seemed late - started at 8am. When we asked if we could get food early our last day to catch a plane the wife said "they have food at the airport". The husband did make coffee and cold cereal but no fresh rolls

10/10 Excellent

Dave, Stratford upon Avon, UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Home from home
Great hosts in Barry and Mina in a wonderful B&B within walking distance of restaurants and the V&A. Lovely garden to relax in and a great breakfast.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

8/10 Good

JANA, South Africa

Liked: Staff & service
Business trip Cape Town
Was comfortable , breakfast lacked , only toast offered as hot , seems continental

8/10 Good

Larry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
A great place for a stay on Cape Town
The best feature of this hotel was the hospitality of the hosts Barry and Mina. Very welcoming and pleasant.

10/10 Excellent

Sibylle, La Nucia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Your home away from home in Cape Town
I changed my booking from a hotel to this guest house and I'm very happy that I did. The owners, Bary and Mina are very welcoming and the house is very comfortable and cosy, you can tell that a lot of love and care made it what it is today. On the top floor is an amazing bar, and it was very nice to socialze with other guests and the owners as well as their friends. I can really recommend it and if I come back to Cape Town I hope to stay there again.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveler

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Dated, and a bit odd
I am a frequent visitor to Cape Town and I always stay in guesthouses in this neighbourhood. I chose Jambo House because of the location, and because I think I stayed for one night about 20 years ago :-) This time I stayed two nights, and for me it was the least pleasurable stay in any B&B or guesthouse for a very long time. Luckily there are several real & super alternatives with a much better value-proposition just around the corner. It is an old guesthouse that has not been kept up-to-date; it actually feels a bit old and tired, perhaps even outdated, in the way your Grandma's place might feel after a bit of neglect. I also, honestly, have to say I got the feeling that the owner is tired of running it. I guess it is difficult if your heart is not in it... but it does not make for a pleasant stay. You can do better.

8/10 Good

Idan, Tel Aviv

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Warm Hospitality
Very much recommended. Safe neighborhood and great hosts! You've got 3-4 good restaurants at a 5 mn walking distance and the Waterfront at a 15 mn walk. They have slight problems of outage but this is all over Cape Town anyway. Very good value for money.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best guesthouse I have ever stayed in
Simply amazing & charming & magical. The place is gorgeous both in terms of rooms, common areas and the garden. The hosts are absolutely sweet and professional and caring. As we were given a tour of the premises we could not stop gawking at how beautiful and different it all is. And the private bar upstairs is a place to behold. Were it not for the draw of Cape Town, I would have spent all my time in this guesthouse. There is a jacuzzi in the garden, so many different flowers giving off lovely scents, a pond filled with koi who are happy to eat from your hands. Breakfast is lovely with fresh fruit and plenty of other choices. The rooms are like little stories. Oh, and the bathtub fills up in minutes - most impressive water pressure. I cannot recommend this place enough. It is a destination unto itself.

10/10 Excellent

Kathleen, Justin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Everything we needed!
At Jambo Guest House, great attention is spent on details ensuring a very comfortable stay. Loved the uniquely decorated rooms, garden area and upstairs bar!

8/10 Good

Leif

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Loved this place!
Great location and hosts. Very comfortable and quiet rooms. Loved the decor and art displays.

8/10 Good

David Oliver, South Africa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Jambo guest house
Clean tidy n friendly

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great stay
We had a lovely stay and wonderful hosts. Nothing was too much trouble. Ideally situated for both Cape Town and the surrounding area. Would be more than happy to stay again.

10/10 Excellent

Diana, Chichester

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Welcoming hosts, comfortable stay
Barry and Mina were very welcoming, and keen for us to get the most out of our visit to Cape Town. The rooms and other areas have a strong African vibe and are very comfortable.

10/10 Excellent

Nataliya, Almaty, Kazakhstan

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best Relax I ever had
I've stayed in Jambo Guest Housel for three days, and cannot recollect anything better. It was all I wanted - easy booking, easy and timely transfer from and to airport, nice greeting by the hosts, very impressivelly designed and decorated house with unique character of each room, beautiful garden, very good location close to the places of interest and at the same time very quite and family-like. I would recomend Jambo Guest House to any of my friend, and when have the chance to come again, will stay there with great pleasure. My special thanks and warm greetings to the dear hosts - Barry and Mina. They made their Jambo House so welcoming and comfortable! Wish to come back and meet them again! Nataliya

8/10 Good

Dennis, Johannesburg

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Personal Touch
Staying at Jambo guest house was a fantastic experience, the rooms were very comfortable, and the hosts were very welcoming and would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Cape Town!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Highly Recommended
Very glad to have discovered Jambo Guest House. Would definitely book there again.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Jambo Guest House
Comfortable guest house, very welcoming, lovely enclosed garden. Rooms are unique with local furniture and decoration.

10/10 Excellent

Judy Miranda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Awesome place and hosts!
just like you can find in other reviews Jambo guest house is truly the place to be. Mina & Barry are the best! Rooms as shown on the pictures, convenient location (food and entertainment are around the corner). The will furnish you with maps, and tips of whereabouts. I had the opportunity to interact with them beyond a regular guest as I did some site seeing with Mina and was part of a friends gathering they hosted in their bar (2nd floor).. Those fun times will always be in my memory!

10/10 Excellent

Robin & Barbara, UK Cheshire

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic Hotel in Cape Town
This hotel is superb it does not matter which room you choose you will greatly impressed the decor is out of this world, The rooms are cleaned daily and the breakfasts are all you can wish for. You are made to feel one of the family here nothing is to much trouble from help with trips and general getting around Cape Town.

8/10 Good

Howard

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Quiet spot in the city
A pleasant place with a lovely garden in a quiet area of Cape town. The hosts are very friendly and the building itself is quirky and interesting as described on the website. Its certainly is not a normal hotel but is a definitely fun place to stay.

10/10 Excellent

Dave, Maine, USA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A great place to stay Jambo Guest House
Very friendly. Individualized attention from Barry. Great location near Victoria and Albert Waterfront - 15 minute walk. The service was exceptional - anything we wanted to visit or do, Barry advised and arranged. Jambo is also very affordable. If you want a personalized reasonably priced base to visit Cape Town and its surrounding area, it would be hard to beat Jambo. Staying at Jambo feels more like being a member of the family rather than a mere guest. We will stay there again for sure.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Home away from home
Barry and NIsa made us feel right at home. I would recommend Jambo Guest House to anyone who is looking for the comforts of a home away from home while visiting Cape Town.

8/10 Good

Ade, London

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Jambo Hotel, Green Point, Cape Town
Barry and Mina made us feel right at home and were very welcoming, always ready with useful information or to help book activities. The guest house has a lot of charm, the garden is a great place to have breakfast or relax in the shade and the rooms are generally spacious and comfortable.

10/10 Excellent

Tobi

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
happy traveler
Barry and Mina are excellent hosts and breakfast is very satisfying. If you are looking for a small intimate, homey type of accommodation that is in a very convenient location, choose Jambo. Request either the Green or Rose Room.

8/10 Good

Alan, Scotland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
A guest house with individual character
The Jambo Guest House has a certain individual charm and character about it and is run by a friendly couple who are always on hand to offer assistance and advice. I stayed at this guest house during a three night business visit to Cape Town. I was staying in the last remaining room, the Honeymoon Suite which has a separate entrance (over the little pond with Koi Carp). The decoration and fittings in the room were certainly unlike those of the normal chain hotels. The Mini Bar prices are extremely reasonable as is the Bar in the main residence. Unfortunately due to business commitments in the evenings I never had the chance to experience the atmosphere in the Bar however from what I heard in the mornings over breakfast it seems to be good. The breakfast was a comprehensive, plentiful cold buffet that was more than satisfactory. For travellers expecting pristine accommodation perhaps this is not for you. For those of you that prefer a more homely and individual residence whilst away from home then this could be ideal. I personally would not hesitate to go back.

10/10 Excellent

Emil

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Absolutely lovely house, with charming hosts. Barry and Mina were more than helpful throughout the entire stay, and the scare about the water shortage was highly exaggerated.
Stayed 8 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Barry on Jan 3, 2020
Dear Emil, Thanks for bringing that up and yes, we were never going to run out of water ! Thanks for the compliments. Warm regards Barry and Mina

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Unique hotel in a great location, with welcoming owners
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2018
Response from Barry on Jan 8, 2019
Thank you so much for posting a review. We really appreciate it Warm regards Barry and Mina

8/10 Good

Vesa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Kodinomainen majatalo, ystävällisiä ihmisiä ja hyvä aamiainen.
Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2018
Response from Barry on Mar 9, 2018
Dear Vesa, thank you for your kind words. regards Barry and Mina Jambo Guest House

8/10 Good

Thomas, Helsinki

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Loistava sijainti ka ystävällisiä työntekijöitä. Aamupala on hyvää.

8/10 Good

Hans-Jürgen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Schönes Guesthouse mit Flair.
Wir würden sehr nett aufgenommen, fast als wäre man bei Familie auf Besuch. Säuberung zentral genug, um zu Fuß ins Zentrum oder zur Waterfront zu laufen.

8/10 Good

Kjell, Södertälje

Liked: Staff & service
Blandat
Värdparet duktiga på att rekommendera och ordna restauranger utflykter m.m Medelmåttig frukost utan variation. wi-fi, alla kan erbjuda en tjänst gratis när den inte finns eller fungerar.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hier fühlt man sich auch in der Fremde zu Hause
Das Jambo Guest House ist ein Gäste(!)haus im besten Sinne. Mit liebevoll und persönlich eingerichteten Zimmern, einem sehr aufmerksamen und hilfreichen Gastgeberehepaar, einem eigenen gemütlichen Haus-Pub und einem kontinentalen Frühstück, was ansprechend angerichtet, großzügig und lecker ist. Zudem liegt es in einer Umgebung, in der man sich auch alleine als Fußgänger sicher fühlt. Ich werde dort in jedem Fall wieder wohnen, sollte ich wieder nach Kapstadt kommen.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort

10/10 Excellent

Pierre, göteborg

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
En positiv överraskning
Vi hade aldrig bott på ett guest house förut och blev väldigt positivt överraskade. Våra värdar tog extremt väl hand om oss, tipsade på bra restauranger och trevliga saker att göra i Kapstaden och var engagerade i att vi hade det bra på ett mycket trevligt sätt. Rummet var enkelt men rent och alla rummen personliga. Läget är perfekt i ett område där man kunde gå fram och tillbaka till Waterfront utan att känna sig obekväm eller hotad. Vi kan varmt rekommendera Jambo guest house till vem som helst