Mantis St Helena

What a nice hotel. The room was exceptional - very colonial and very spacious. The staff were great (in particular Heidi). Everyone was very helpful and charming. There is not a huge amount of choice in Jamestown but this place was great for what we needed.

We had a table booked for 12 people at The Mantis at 7pm. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing from start to finish. We ordered starters shortly after being seated. I requested the seared tuna. After waiting over 1.5 hours, only three cold starters arrived - my tuna was one of them but was raw. When I asked the waitress about it, she informed me that the seared tuna had sold out. There was no prior communication about this, which was frustrating. We then waited another 45 minutes for more starters to arrive, but most of the table still didn’t receive their food. The staff were uncommunicative and visibly uncomfortable, but no one offered an explanation for the delays or asked if we wanted more drinks - it was as if they were trying to avoid us. We eventually left to go to another restaurant, as most of us never even received our starters. There was no apology from the staff, and considering the poor service and lack of food, the bill felt massively overpriced. Overall, a hugely disappointing experience. This isn’t the first experience that has been poor, and has certainly confirmed that we wont be going back again.

Pete williams writes; Christmas lunch 2024 at yhe mantis was diabolical. After booking a table for 9 for the family, we had a drinks order.one family member ordered a liqueur and after being served was notified the ice block machine was malfunctioning. The buffet meats and vegetables were in short supply and we had to wait around for replenishment. The roast potatoes had completely run out and by the time they reappeared we had consumed our meal. A complaint to the chef brought the response "i cant keep ip with the demand" even thoigh we were still trying to get something/anything on our plates. The final insult when we went to pay(dont know what for, £30 a head) we were told there was 10 off us, and i know 89nobody had brought their imaginary friend. We visited 2 years ago and had a fantastic meal and service. How can standards disentergreat to this degree.

Great Location, Staff was Excellent & Food was Very Good. Rooms were Great with all amenities

Pour notre semaine inoubliable à Sainte Hélène, le Mantis qui est le seul véritable hôtel de l'île a été le refuge parfait. Tout d'abord, il y a cet emplacement central dans la minuscule ville de Jamestown, juste en face du jardin public et de la Porteus house où Napoléon a passé sa première nuit et surtout à quelques pas de la jetée sur le minuscule port, du musée et du Jacob's ladder que vous monterez à tous les coups. Ensuite, il y a eu l'accueil très amical assuré par Itayi (d'une gentillesse et d'une bonne humeur communicative) et le nouveau manager, Jean, qui fait que l'on se sent tout de suite en famille. Il faut dire que quand nous y étions, il n'y avait que trois chambres occupées. Il y a aussi ces chambres héritages tout confort, grand lit confortable, grande salle de bain avec une très belle douche italienne le tout dans une très grande chambre joliment décorée. Il y a la salle du restaurant agrémentée de belles photos des lieux emblématiques de Sainte Hélène dans laquelle nous prenions tous nos petits déjeuners (j'y reviendrai) et la très grande majorité des repas. Enfin ce petit bar, très cosy où on a envie de passer du temps. Tout le personnel, sauf une personne, la serveuse du matin, dont le surnom dans l'île est Rambo, est très agréable et poli. La carte est plutôt variée mais le gros problème était le service totalement désorganisé, surtout le matin où les mets arrivaient dans le plus grand désordre et dont un grand nombre étaient "sold out" .Ce qui fait que le matin les portions étaient vraiment minimales surtout quand "Rambo" était de la partie. Elle ramenait une tranche de pain par personne par exemple. Elle a gâché ce moment si important du petit déjeuner qui lance la journée. D'ailleurs les derniers jours, j'allais au Consulate pour acheter des croissants et autres gâteaux vendues par une personne charmante et agréable, quel contraste avec Rambo qui n'exerce pas le bon métier! Nous avons pu en discuter avec Jean qui a pour mission de réorganiser tout cela. Mais le Mantis restera un superbe souvenir. Quant à Sainte Hélène, c'est un joyau à découvrir empreint d'histoire et de paysages époustouflants.

This is, without question, best hotel facility on St Helena. Not only is the facility excellent, the entire staff, including Jéan Kriel, Etai, and Jay are first class. They went out of their way to meet my needs. When my departure flight was delayed because of weather, they arranged for me to stay an extra day, without charge, and also gave me a meal voucher. This is the only place I would stay if I returned to St Helena.