To Protect Unwitting Customers TRAVELERS TO SOUTH AFRICA: AVOID THE AIRPORT INN B & B

By Manny Pinol

Johannesburg, South Africa – What was intended to be a quiet rest in Johannesburg prior to our trip to East London turned out to be a freezing hell for chief trainer Nonoy Neri and myself when the room heater in each of our rooms in the Airport Inn Bed & Breakfast went dead in the middle of the cold South African night.

The Airport Inn Bed & Breakfast which is located very near the Tambo Airport in Johannesburg was chosen by the travel agency which booked our tickets through agoda.com. considering its proximity to the airport and its comparably lower rate.

Arriving straight from the airport early yesterday morning, I already sensed that there was a problem with the heating system in the room where we brought IBO Super Flyweight Champion Edrin Da;pudong, who will defend his title against South African Lwandile Sityatha in East London on July 18.

I inquired with the person manning the hotel’s front desk about the heater and he assured me that it would be turned on at night.

It was a good thing that I decided to pick up a portable room heater when we went to the mall yesterday morning to buy the things that Dapudong needed for the fight.

Without the portable room heater, Dapudong could have suffered from the freezing cold.

It was Nonoy Neri who later openly complained about the room heater and I again referred this to the front desk. Again, I was given the assurance that it would be fixed.

Feeling cold inside the room, I called up the front desk again and I was assured by the lady who assured me that the heater was working.

I had to tell her that my armpit was warmer than the room heater.

A man later came to no avail.

To make things worse, the heater went totally cold at about 1 a.m. when it was freezing cold.

I had to go to bed with my pants, sweater and socks on. But it was still a freezing hell.

I am wondering why hotel booking sites like agoda.com still continues to recommend the Airport Inn Bed & Breakfast to travelers who rely on the information from the Internet for their hotel bookings.

I believe that agoda.com and other booking sites should bear the responsibility of verifying whether the hotels they are recommending on their sites are worth their customers’ trust and money.

For whatever it is worth, I am advising travelers to South Africa to avoid the Airport Inn Bed & Breakfast on Kempton Park.

Unless, you would like to experience sleeping in bed with your shoes and headcaps on.

(Photo caption: A half-frozen Nonoy Neri sits in front of the portable room heater inside Dapudong’s room while the champ and asst. trainer Rex Penalosa stay covered in bed at 7 a.m. today.)