Name: Protea Hotel by Marriott Knysna Quays
Address: Waterfront Drive, Waterfront, Knysna, South Africa, Knysna, Garden Route District Municipality, ZA
Price range: $120–$173 per night
Rating: 8.45

What guests think

Travellers highlight Protea Hotel by Marriott Knysna Quays for its prime waterfront setting with easy access to restaurants and boat tours, and frequently praise welcoming, helpful staff and smooth check‑in, with many appreciating lagoon or harbour views from certain rooms.

Rooms are generally comfortable but somewhat dated, with recurring noise complaints and maintenance issues such as hot‑water outages, faulty remotes, broken fittings, and occasional poor mattresses. Breakfast is widely described as good to excellent, though service can be slow and the room noisy when busy; beyond breakfast there is no on‑site dining or room service, and the bar selection can be sparse. Overall, expect a convenient base with scenic surrounds and a few operational inconsistencies.

Facilities

Cleanliness

Rooms

Service

Location

Dining

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Facilities

The heated outdoor pool is a frequent plus, and parking is available but often charged (with some secure on‑site options and nearby free alternatives). A few note limited bar stock and occasional elevator or water system issues.

Related guest reviews

8

Wing Lok

Dec 19, 2022

·

Stayed 19,340 nights

Excellent harbour view. Super convenient for seafood and shopping. Breakfast is fantastic but it’s a bit awkward for no free parking

10

NATHALIE

Nov 15, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Très bel hôtel et superbe vue sur la lagune et les bateaux. Endroit charmant tout en étant animé proche de tous services. Petit déjeuner complet et délicieux. Personnel accueillant et sympathique. Piscine chauffée tout à fait agréable !!!

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8

Per

Dec 30, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Hotellet ligger på ett toppenläge i staden direkt vid Waterfront. Enkelt med parkering. Bra rum och poolområde. Det enda som drar ner lite är att det blir ganska hög ljudnivå vid frukosten.

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6

JOSE C M

Feb 24, 2026

·

Stayed 3 nights

Fiquei três noites no hotel. O televisor não estava funcionando e não foi consertado mesmo depois de várias solicitações. E, o mais lamentável, os elevadores não estavam funcionando desde o primeiro dia até nossa saída. Isso é imperdoável quando a frequência do hotel é majoritariamente de pessoas idosas.

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10

Heather

Feb 22, 2022

·

Stayed 3 nights

It was great to return to the Knysna Quays hotel . Great room ,lovely view and nice breakfast . The swimming pool is a real plus . Another enjoyable stay .

10

Torbjørn

Nov 27, 2024

·

Stayed 3 nights

Veldig fint opphold, rent rom, veldig hyggelig ansatte over alt på hotellet. God sikkerhet, nær waterfront i Knysna (2-3 minutter å gå) med mange gode resturanter. Trygg parkering på hotellets eiendom.

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10

Jonna

Oct 21, 2024

·

Stayed 1 night

Ett lite större hotell nära Waterfront. Trevliga rum, kändes rent och fräscht. Inte den bästa frukosten men i övrigt bra. Trevlig personal och lättillgänglig parkering mot en liten avgift.

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8

Peter R

Jan 3, 2022

·

Stayed 5 nights

The stay was very good. The bar was lacking some items for the ladies (Amarula, Gonger beer). otherwise no complaints.

10

Pierre

Dec 20, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great location, quiet, close to restaurants, free parking beside the hotel, great buffet breakfast, heated pool

10

Gine

Feb 5, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

For staying in Knysna it is a perfect location: we had a room with a view over the lagoon, they offer breakfast, parking (which will cost 30ZAR extra per day). The staff was super friendly and helpful. you have a nice pool area. And you are right at the waterfront which is beautiful to walk around - or you can go for dining, boat tours.

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Cleanliness

Rooms and common areas are generally clean, but housekeeping can miss basics like towels or replenishments. Maintenance and hygiene issues appear in some stays (e.g., hot‑water outages, broken fixtures, brown tap water, or an isolated pest sighting).

Related guest reviews

10

SONIA

Feb 16, 2022

·

Stayed 3 nights

Absolutely amazing. Loved the comfy king size bed. Absolutely spotlessly clean

6

Grant

Nov 10, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

1) No hot water for 2 days , had to inform staff 4 times before I was moved to another room 2) Battery of aircon dis not work , surely this is standard in checking a room before handing it over to a customer 3) Curtain rail did not work and had to be fixed 4) Matress was terrible you either rolled off to one side of the bed or to the other side

6

Sarah

Jul 15, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

The positioning of this hotel is great; it’s right by the Waterfront. Parking is available at an additional charge. The reception staff were extremely friendly and welcoming, the room required a little maintenance – silly things like the fridge door screeched on opening, and the aircon remote wasn’t working but the shower was awesome. I don’t like a combined bodywash/conditioning shampoo which was provided, but that is a personal quirk. The Wi-Fi password (which didn’t require a separate password, linked to your room, once you had logged in), was hidden on a blue slip of paper in the keycard holder, not sure why as it was on the board, right by reception! Breakfast on Sunday was a disaster, the hotel was full (it was the oyster festival) and there weren’t enough tables, or when you found a table, it hadn’t had the cutlery replaced, coffee took for-ever to arrive (in a cup with no teaspoon….). The next day the hotel was a lot quieter, but service at breakfast was no better! The food, however, was standard breakfast food, enough variety to keep me happy (and I love breakfast!)

6

MARCOS F

Aug 3, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Estávamos em família e fechamos 2 quartos com vista para o lago em uma viagem de 20 dias pela África do Sul. Meu quarto tinha um problema na jalena que não fechava totalmente em um frio lascado...por isso o quarto ficava sempre frio. No quarto do meu filho uma barata apareceu. No segundo dia a água ficou marrom. Disseram que era um problema na cidade. Em resumo: fechei para ficar 3 noites e na segunda noite fizemos check out e fomos embora. Não voltaria e não recomendo. Uma pena. Ficamos do Protea de Johanesburgo e foi uma ótima experiência.

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6

John

Feb 11, 2023

·

Stayed 3 nights

We have stayed at Marriott Quays on a previous occasion so booked again for our visit to Knysna. Unfortunately our room was a disappointment. There is a light at head height fastened to the wall at the side of the bed. This hit your head turning from he fridge and if moved, getting out of bed. We eventually found the switch for this along the floor! There was only one bedside table and this was a double bed so couldn’t be used by both. Have you tried to be comfortable with your glasses, book,glass of water and your early morning pill at the other side of the room? I requested a bedside table to be told all the rooms only had one so none were forth coming. We were there three nights and for the first two showers taken between 5&6 pm the water was COLD, we thought people had used all there was but reported this and there was warm water on our last night. The one excellent thing was the breakfast - a lovely selection and freshly cooked egg dishes and the waiting staff were cheerful and friendly. There is a charge for overnight parking. Not much but it gave you the feeling that they were grasping for every penny. We won’t be back in a rush. There are so many places offering accommodation in Knysna!

6

JOSE C M

Feb 24, 2026

·

Stayed 3 nights

Fiquei três noites no hotel. O televisor não estava funcionando e não foi consertado mesmo depois de várias solicitações. E, o mais lamentável, os elevadores não estavam funcionando desde o primeiro dia até nossa saída. Isso é imperdoável quando a frequência do hotel é majoritariamente de pessoas idosas.

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10

Darla

Apr 10, 2022

·

Stayed 1 night

The hotel was very clean and in an excellent location. The staff were extremely accommodating and welcoming. The breakfast included with our stay was very good. We would highly recommend this hotel.

6

Pia

Jan 4, 2024

·

Stayed 3 nights

Bra läge, frukost o pool. Service inte bra. Inga handdukar på rummet, fick ringa receptionen flera ggr för att åtgärda.

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10

Torbjørn

Nov 27, 2024

·

Stayed 3 nights

Veldig fint opphold, rent rom, veldig hyggelig ansatte over alt på hotellet. God sikkerhet, nær waterfront i Knysna (2-3 minutter å gå) med mange gode resturanter. Trygg parkering på hotellets eiendom.

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6

Maphefo

Jan 11, 2026

·

Stayed 2 nights

On our first day everything was good from the potters to the reception and so forth. On the second day it’s almost like our rooms were not serviced at all with towels missing , complementary waters not being replenished. It felt like a disaster.

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Rooms

Many find the rooms comfortable with good showers and attractive lagoon or harbour views, though decor can feel dated. Noise is a recurring complaint (thin walls or inward‑facing rooms), and bed comfort varies.

Related guest reviews

10

Ryan

Dec 13, 2022

·

Stayed 2 nights

Its always great! Staff excellent. Only complaint is the bed which needs to be replaced. Awoke with both our bodies sore. Thx

10

Gabriela

Mar 28, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Localização ótima, bem do lado do pier com lojinhas e restaurantes. O hotel no geral é super bom, quartos um pouco mais antigos, mas tamanho ótimo e banheiro muito bom também. A localização dele foi o ponto forte. Knysna é uma cidade muito fofa e acolhedora, vale a pena passar por lá para conhecer.

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8

Wing Lok

Dec 19, 2022

·

Stayed 19,340 nights

Excellent harbour view. Super convenient for seafood and shopping. Breakfast is fantastic but it’s a bit awkward for no free parking

10

Donald

Feb 8, 2023

·

Stayed 6 nights

A very convenient and pleasant hotel in which to stay. Well worth paying the extra for a room with a lagoon view. Breakfast was excellent.

10

Douglas Elias

Jan 31, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

Hotel muito bem localizado, literalmente ao lado do waterfront da cidade onde tem lojas de artesanato, restaurantes e saem passeios de barco. Ótimos quartos, cama espaçosa e confortável, bom chuveiro. Café da manhã simples, mas atende o que precisamos para começar o dia. Tivemos um imprevisto de saúde na viagem e a recepção nos ajudou muito com ligações e instruções. Infelizmente não anotei o nome da mulher, acredito que Sheila, que foi muito atenciosa e solicita. Muita gratidão! Com certeza voltaria a Knysna e a me hospedar nesse no Protea!

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8

Manfred

Nov 28, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

das Zimmer war sehr schön und die Lage des Hotel war optimal.

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8

JB

Mar 1, 2022

·

Stayed 1 night

Everyrhing was nice and acceptable. Website misleading, showing lagoon view photos of standard rooms, yet they all face inland.. on bus depot which is rather noisy. Only rooms with 2x double beds, i.e. more than 2 persons available at increased cost..2+ persons!

8

David

Mar 22, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

We stayed for two nights in a room with a view over the harbour. The room felt a bit dated and the walls quite thin (so much so we got a call from reception asking us to turn our tv volume down as next door found it too loud - this was before 10pm). Reasonable breakfast options. We ate dinner at two local restaurants, as the hotel restaurant is only for breakfast, but getting a table could be a challenge on busy days.

10

Gine

Feb 5, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

For staying in Knysna it is a perfect location: we had a room with a view over the lagoon, they offer breakfast, parking (which will cost 30ZAR extra per day). The staff was super friendly and helpful. you have a nice pool area. And you are right at the waterfront which is beautiful to walk around - or you can go for dining, boat tours.

8

ann

Feb 20, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Good pool area to relax. Safe and easy walk to town and on the doorstep of harbour restaurants. Nice view of harbour from room. A little dated compared to other hotels we’ve stayed during our travels but good and convenient nonetheless.

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Service

Staff are frequently praised as friendly, helpful and efficient, with quick check‑in and accommodating front desk support. However, service lapses do occur, including slow or disorganized breakfast service, missed room servicing, and uneven communication or follow‑up on issues.

Related guest reviews

6

Sarah

Jul 15, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

The positioning of this hotel is great; it’s right by the Waterfront. Parking is available at an additional charge. The reception staff were extremely friendly and welcoming, the room required a little maintenance – silly things like the fridge door screeched on opening, and the aircon remote wasn’t working but the shower was awesome. I don’t like a combined bodywash/conditioning shampoo which was provided, but that is a personal quirk. The Wi-Fi password (which didn’t require a separate password, linked to your room, once you had logged in), was hidden on a blue slip of paper in the keycard holder, not sure why as it was on the board, right by reception! Breakfast on Sunday was a disaster, the hotel was full (it was the oyster festival) and there weren’t enough tables, or when you found a table, it hadn’t had the cutlery replaced, coffee took for-ever to arrive (in a cup with no teaspoon….). The next day the hotel was a lot quieter, but service at breakfast was no better! The food, however, was standard breakfast food, enough variety to keep me happy (and I love breakfast!)

8

Therese

Feb 14, 2026

·

Stayed 6 nights

Sehr freundliches Personal. Schönes Frühstücksbuffet. Ideale Lage

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10

Aidriaan

Aug 14, 2023

·

Stayed 10 nights

We enjoyed communicating with the staff. The front desk manager Lee was very friendly and accommodating. Overall stay was awesome

10

Adriano

Jan 7, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

O hotel é excelente, muito bem localizado. A equipe muito eficiente e atenciosa

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10

Douglas Elias

Jan 31, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

Hotel muito bem localizado, literalmente ao lado do waterfront da cidade onde tem lojas de artesanato, restaurantes e saem passeios de barco. Ótimos quartos, cama espaçosa e confortável, bom chuveiro. Café da manhã simples, mas atende o que precisamos para começar o dia. Tivemos um imprevisto de saúde na viagem e a recepção nos ajudou muito com ligações e instruções. Infelizmente não anotei o nome da mulher, acredito que Sheila, que foi muito atenciosa e solicita. Muita gratidão! Com certeza voltaria a Knysna e a me hospedar nesse no Protea!

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6

JOSE C M

Feb 24, 2026

·

Stayed 3 nights

Fiquei três noites no hotel. O televisor não estava funcionando e não foi consertado mesmo depois de várias solicitações. E, o mais lamentável, os elevadores não estavam funcionando desde o primeiro dia até nossa saída. Isso é imperdoável quando a frequência do hotel é majoritariamente de pessoas idosas.

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10

Adriano

Jan 7, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

O hotel é ótimo e muito bem localizado. Excelente atendimento de todos os funcionários. Em frente a uma marina linda, com ótimos restaurantes ao redor. Adoramos a hospedagem.

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6

Maphefo

Jan 11, 2026

·

Stayed 2 nights

On our first day everything was good from the potters to the reception and so forth. On the second day it’s almost like our rooms were not serviced at all with towels missing , complementary waters not being replenished. It felt like a disaster.

4

Maureen

Mar 29, 2023

·

Stayed 2 nights

Felt the staff were not well trained and very disinterested. No one told us when we arrived our rate included breakfast so missed it the first day. Also the tap water was very brown, again not explained on arrival, on asking just told OK to drink! Frankly I didnt want to shower in it ! Everyone we asked in town said not to drink the water. The manager did take the time to come and apologise which was appreciated.

10

Guillaume

Jan 20, 2026

·

Stayed 3 nights

Staff is extremely lovely and helpful. Super fast checking. First room was a little bit noisy but the manage the transition to a new one super easily.

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Location

Outstanding waterfront location with easy, safe walking to restaurants, shops and boat tours, and many enjoy harbour or lagoon views.

Related guest reviews

10

Sonia

Jan 19, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great value for money. Convenient location.

10

Gabriela

Mar 28, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

Localização ótima, bem do lado do pier com lojinhas e restaurantes. O hotel no geral é super bom, quartos um pouco mais antigos, mas tamanho ótimo e banheiro muito bom também. A localização dele foi o ponto forte. Knysna é uma cidade muito fofa e acolhedora, vale a pena passar por lá para conhecer.

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10

Deidre

Oct 16, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great location, easy walking, close to great dining options.

8

Therese

Feb 14, 2026

·

Stayed 6 nights

Sehr freundliches Personal. Schönes Frühstücksbuffet. Ideale Lage

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10

Douglas Elias

Jan 31, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

Hotel muito bem localizado, literalmente ao lado do waterfront da cidade onde tem lojas de artesanato, restaurantes e saem passeios de barco. Ótimos quartos, cama espaçosa e confortável, bom chuveiro. Café da manhã simples, mas atende o que precisamos para começar o dia. Tivemos um imprevisto de saúde na viagem e a recepção nos ajudou muito com ligações e instruções. Infelizmente não anotei o nome da mulher, acredito que Sheila, que foi muito atenciosa e solicita. Muita gratidão! Com certeza voltaria a Knysna e a me hospedar nesse no Protea!

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10

Adriano

Jan 7, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

O hotel é ótimo e muito bem localizado. Excelente atendimento de todos os funcionários. Em frente a uma marina linda, com ótimos restaurantes ao redor. Adoramos a hospedagem.

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10

Therese

Jan 28, 2025

·

Stayed 6 nights

Das Hotel ist ideal an der Waterfront gelegen mit vielen Einkaufsmöglichkeiten und Restaurants in unmittelbarer Nähe

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10

Pierre

Dec 20, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Great location, quiet, close to restaurants, free parking beside the hotel, great buffet breakfast, heated pool

10

Gine

Feb 5, 2025

·

Stayed 1 night

For staying in Knysna it is a perfect location: we had a room with a view over the lagoon, they offer breakfast, parking (which will cost 30ZAR extra per day). The staff was super friendly and helpful. you have a nice pool area. And you are right at the waterfront which is beautiful to walk around - or you can go for dining, boat tours.

8

ann

Feb 20, 2024

·

Stayed 2 nights

Good pool area to relax. Safe and easy walk to town and on the doorstep of harbour restaurants. Nice view of harbour from room. A little dated compared to other hotels we’ve stayed during our travels but good and convenient nonetheless.

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Dining

Breakfast is generally good to excellent with decent variety, but the room can be noisy and service slow when busy. Beyond breakfast there are no on‑site dining options or room service, and the bar selection can be limited.

Related guest reviews

10

Alida

Oct 11, 2023

·

Stayed 3 nights

Excellent breakfast and very good location

10

Donald

Feb 8, 2023

·

Stayed 6 nights

A very convenient and pleasant hotel in which to stay. Well worth paying the extra for a room with a lagoon view. Breakfast was excellent.

8

Per

Dec 30, 2025

·

Stayed 3 nights

Hotellet ligger på ett toppenläge i staden direkt vid Waterfront. Enkelt med parkering. Bra rum och poolområde. Det enda som drar ner lite är att det blir ganska hög ljudnivå vid frukosten.

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6

Sarah

Jul 15, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

The positioning of this hotel is great; it’s right by the Waterfront. Parking is available at an additional charge. The reception staff were extremely friendly and welcoming, the room required a little maintenance – silly things like the fridge door screeched on opening, and the aircon remote wasn’t working but the shower was awesome. I don’t like a combined bodywash/conditioning shampoo which was provided, but that is a personal quirk. The Wi-Fi password (which didn’t require a separate password, linked to your room, once you had logged in), was hidden on a blue slip of paper in the keycard holder, not sure why as it was on the board, right by reception! Breakfast on Sunday was a disaster, the hotel was full (it was the oyster festival) and there weren’t enough tables, or when you found a table, it hadn’t had the cutlery replaced, coffee took for-ever to arrive (in a cup with no teaspoon….). The next day the hotel was a lot quieter, but service at breakfast was no better! The food, however, was standard breakfast food, enough variety to keep me happy (and I love breakfast!)

8

Therese

Feb 14, 2026

·

Stayed 6 nights

Sehr freundliches Personal. Schönes Frühstücksbuffet. Ideale Lage

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6

CANDIDA

Feb 15, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

Equipe boa, quartos bons! Não gostei do café da manhã, aparência não muito boa.

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10

Douglas Elias

Jan 31, 2026

·

Stayed 1 night

Hotel muito bem localizado, literalmente ao lado do waterfront da cidade onde tem lojas de artesanato, restaurantes e saem passeios de barco. Ótimos quartos, cama espaçosa e confortável, bom chuveiro. Café da manhã simples, mas atende o que precisamos para começar o dia. Tivemos um imprevisto de saúde na viagem e a recepção nos ajudou muito com ligações e instruções. Infelizmente não anotei o nome da mulher, acredito que Sheila, que foi muito atenciosa e solicita. Muita gratidão! Com certeza voltaria a Knysna e a me hospedar nesse no Protea!

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8

salma

Dec 30, 2023

·

Stayed 3 nights

No dining options or room service

8

David

Mar 22, 2025

·

Stayed 2 nights

We stayed for two nights in a room with a view over the harbour. The room felt a bit dated and the walls quite thin (so much so we got a call from reception asking us to turn our tv volume down as next door found it too loud - this was before 10pm). Reasonable breakfast options. We ate dinner at two local restaurants, as the hotel restaurant is only for breakfast, but getting a table could be a challenge on busy days.

8

Peter R

Jan 3, 2022

·

Stayed 5 nights

The stay was very good. The bar was lacking some items for the ladies (Amarula, Gonger beer). otherwise no complaints.

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AI-generated summary based on recent guest reviews

Month	Average price
January	$143
February	$146
March	$132
April	$123
May	$137
June	$116
July	$127
August	$117
September	$121
October	$145
November	$151
December	$137

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
		1	2	3	4 $138	5 $141
6 $143	7 $130	8 $130	9 $134	10 $122	11 $120	12 $162
13 $157	14 $159	15 $149	16	17 $122	18 $122	19 $139
20 $133	21 $159	22 $154	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
				1 $151	2 $135	3
4	5	6	7 $132	8	9 $135	10
11 $140	12 $135	13	14	15 $140	16	17 $130
18	19 $137	20 $163	21 $137	22	23 $120	24
25 $173	26 $134	27	28 $135	29 $139	30 $136	31 $164

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Monthly average prices

About this property

Location

Guest reviews

Very good

Who stays here?

What guests think

Property Policies

Check-in instructions

Good to know

Optional extras

FAQs about Protea Hotel by Marriott Knysna Quays

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