Mantis St Helena

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.

Our recent stay at the Mantis was our fourth which indicates how much we have enjoyed our time there - since unsuccessful stays are not repeated! The staff were delightful, courteous and attentive without being intrusive, the accommodation was clean, tidy and comfortable as always and the menu interesting and varied. We were impressed by the steps being taken to ensure that the hotel is more environmentally aware whilst not adversely affecting it's high standard of service. St Helena is a small island with no near neighbours and whilst its fantastic scenery, history etc. are a great attraction for visitors, its isolation must make the practicalities of running a hotel to this high standard quite a demanding challenge. Our compliments and thanks to all involved in meeting the challenge so successfully.

We booked the Mantis for 2021, rescheduled for 2022 and finally made it, post Covid, in 2024! It was definitely worth waiting for - a fabulous week’s stay. We reserved one of the heritage rooms (#3) which is super: spacious, high ceiling, nice sofa and chairs, large comfortable bed, big safe for camera equipment and a good selection of sports channels on the tv. I thoroughly enjoyed all the premier league matches I subjected my wife to! The bathroom is also spacious with a fine walk-in shower. The room overlooks the Castle Gardens. Well worth the extra cost. The hotel itself is superbly situated and the presentation and decor of a high standard. We enjoyed the bar and restaurant. The regular menu is supplemented by daily specials, some great fish and we were lucky - lobster on our last night. The food was very good. Nice service too. We enjoyed the breakfasts - the hot food is buffet. And that brings me to the staff. Just like the people make the island special, so too in the hotel. Mr Itayi on reception gave us a very warm welcome and was helpful and fun all week. We had great service also from Junaid, Juliet, Jingle and Shadie and others whose names I can’t recall. Some of our favourite hotels on our travels have been those where the manager is visible and chats to his or her customers. That’s certainly the case here with Ian. A well run ship! So this is a lovely hotel on an awesome island. Go there and enjoy!