Ciêla, Lusaka, a Tribute Portfolio Resort and Spa

As per my previous review: The most expensive place I booked during my three month trip and the most disappointing as a famous Northern English saying goes it was a bit of a case of "all fur coat and no knickers". It looked fancy, lovely looking buildings, amazing grounds, quiet location and not too far from the airport. The room service staff and food (when it was a complete order - see below) were good. The breakfast staff were also lovely and made a mean latte. However this is where the good ends, here are the long list of issues / cons first: - Only one person on reception during check in who kept answering calls during the whole process, told me nothing about the hotel / facilities / breakfast / WiFi / where to find the service directory. She was on the phone as she passed my room key card over and she barely looked up. - Breakfast hot food was cold. - The kettle handle in the first room was boiling hot and was nearly a very nasty accident. - Endless issues with WiFi and power. I had spent a lot of money on this hotel for reliable internet for work and it was atrocious - this is a capital city and I had no other problems with WiFi in Lusaka, Windhoek, Cape Town or Nairobi! - The safe in the first room was locked and closed. - The a/c was not very effective for a 4 star hotel that was this expensive. - When a neighbour checked in the room next door it was noisy so I guess the soundproofing wasn't great. - The shower in the first room had no mat and was very slippy, another near miss on the accident front. - Poor tea / coffee etc selection - The salad I ordered from room service on day 2 only had 50% of the ingredients - I had to move rooms due to the problems with the electrics and WiFi which was a total pain as I had a lot of work to do and didn't have time to pack and unpack, it took ages and endless calls and visits to get that offer and then the move wasn't quick or straightforward either. Then the lady who finally came with a key said oh you got an upgrade like they had done me a massive favour which really irritated me! - Telephone numbers for reception, room service etc on the list, phone and papers and given by reception didn't match up - Laundry lost my white vest - no big deal except for all the other issues and that I needed it to wear under my long sleeved and rather thin white shirt! All in all I don't think I'm normally a difficult , demanding or needy guest for example I never usually use housekeeping on short stays because I'm perfectly capable of making my own bed and don't need linens to be changed. I have worked and lived all over the world, travelled extensively and this hotel was absolutely not what I would expect from a 4 star city hotel and was ridiculously overpriced for what it was. I also stayed at the Taj Pamodzi on this trip to Zambia which was half the price and much better despite the slightly tired decor. Seemed to have a good range of facilities but I didn't really use any so can't comment.

Everything was just perfect ... the rooms are massive.. and the beds are very comfy. Bathroom is big aswell.. breakfast is awesome.

We had such high expectations of the Ciêla, which unfortunately they were unable to live up to. Having stayed at two Protea hotels within the Marriott Bonvoy group in Zambia, and having received such fantastic service in both, we had high expectations here and were sadly disappointed. Our room was great as we got the Presidential suite using Bonvoy points which was fantastic, but even at that, there were some real oddities about the room. I was glad to see the hotel using re-usable glass bottles of water instead of plastic, but the lack of shower gel (just tiny bars of soap) in a hotel of this standard just looked cheap. There was a nespresso coffee machine in the room, but no coffee pods provided by housekeeping - we had to request these. The iron had a massive 3 point round plug which didn’t fit in any power outlet in the room. When we asked for another iron, it took a second phone call followed by 3 visits from housekeeping before they eventually provided the service requested. The front desk staff were rather curt and unwelcoming which came as a surprise after our previous Zambia hotels. Added to that, when we tried to communicate in advance of our stay with the hotel about mosquito nets, our emails went ignored and we had to find alternative ways to contact the hotel using social media channels. There is a great product here - the restaurant was very good, the pool is lovely but the bar could do with staying open later, but the poor service lets it down.

I went to the Ciêla Resort And Spa in Lusaka during a 9-hour layover on September 20, 2024. I thought it would be a nice place to kill time by getting a spa treatment and grabbing a good meal before a red eye flight. The resort was beautiful, the spa treatment was nice and the meal at The Brewery was much nicer than any options at the airport or on an airplane. That said, I was very disappointed to discover I had been charged twice for the spa treatment at the onsite spa and twice for my meal at The Brewery Restaurant. At the spa, I was told my credit card didn't go through the first time and asked to try again. At The Brewery restaurant, I was shown the credit card machine that said failed, however since I was connected to the wifi there, I received a text saying my credit card had been charged. I said as much to the service person who went to get the manager. The manager said it failed, possibly due to the power issues, and that the charge would be reversed because it failed. I was asked to try again so I used a different credit card. I noticed on my layover in Dubai that I was sent two text messages about my credit card being charged at the spa at the Ciêla Resort. Once I got home, I checked my online statement and saw the duplicate charge at the Spa. I tried calling the spa but couldn't reach anyone. The person at the front desk said I had to speak to someone at the spa. Being tired from my travels home and feeling the jet lag, I gave up at that time. I looked for an email address or another way to reach someone to no avail. I was left to hope the Ciêla Resort would notice the error and correct it on their own. As I was checking my credit card statements today to pay my bills, I found I was indeed charged twice at both places I went within the Ciêla Resort And Spa. With no way to contact or speak to anyone at the hotel, I contacted my credit card company to dispute the charges. Beware of being told your credit card didn't work and being asked to try again, don't use a debit card to pay for anything at the resort and check your credit card statement closely when you get home. What I thought was a good idea and a place to go to kill time during a long layover has become a headache. Something is shady about this facility and I won't return to this resort on my next trip to Zambia. Thankfully, this is the only bad thing I can say about my 2.5 week trip to Zambia.

The members of staff are the most genuinely helpful and warm hearted I've ever come across in this industry so far... My many thankx go to Christabel, Silvia and Didi to mention but a few who all went all out to make sure our 5 days stay of training a memorable one.💞

An amazing property, well spread out and also superbly maintained. I really enjoyed the two days I spent there. The room had some issues with the bathroom door but otherwise it was quite perfect. The food was also very good and I had good options even though I am a vegetarian.