Johannesburg - It’s Sandton’s first-ever five-star hotel – and it has just been renovated at a cost of R218-million.
“Put it another way,” said Sandton Sun general manager Peter Davidson, “that’s R635 000 pera room, and the standard rooms are 'only' 25 sq msquare metres.”
He laughed: “I think about that every time I go home at night and look at my own house and imagine even trying to compare it.”
The 20-storey hotel was built and run by legendary South African hotelier Sol Kerzner. It's an iconic property that features in the popular television advert of the development of Sandton City into Africa’s richest square mile today.
“We took a 30-year-old hotel and totally modernised it, opting to stay away from the kitsch tech you find in Dubai,” said Tsogo Sun CEOchief executive Marcel von Aulock, “like voice-operated curtains, and rather looked at trying to create a home away from home with classic yet modern furnishings, open spaces that mimic what modern homes have, and look to what the needs of our customers need.
“The worst thing you can do on a project like this is to create a hotel that’s bang on trend, because then it’s outdated next year,” he said.
The hotel is at the end of Sandton City’s brand new Diamond Walk, home to some of the richest and most expensive boutiques in the world, including allegedly the biggest Prada store in the world.
“This is despite the current economic conditions in the country,” said Von Aulock, “it’s the worst consumer trends we’ve seen since 1993, but all of this is looking beyond that trend., the fact that Sandton City got those tenants in shows the international faith in this country.”
The entire precinct is undergoing a major revamp, it’s a 40 year old building lot around a shopping centre, quipped one.
“We think we’ve got the best five-star hotel in the area again.” said Von Aulock.The hotel’s first test will be the end of the month with the Africicities conference followed by the Forum on Africa and China summit.
There’s plenty of space for heads of state, over and above the standard rooms, there are two and three bedroomed apartments for VVIPs, with adjoining rooms for the bodyguards.
And if anyone needs to get spirited out of the country, as sometimes happens, the Gautrain to Pretoria and Waterkloof Air Force Base, or just OR Tambo International, is a brisk walk away.
The Star