First NIght Hotel Near JNB?
 

What would be a good first night hotel near JNB that would be easy to get to, comfortble, and offers a good meal? If possible, less expensive than the Intercontinental?

I'll be arriving from the US about 4 pm for an 8 week stay and would like a good night's rest and meal before getting the car and making my first foray into South Africa.

Thanks for your advice.

airport interconti. just across the street from intl. arrival building.

my favourite in order to get rid of transfers and hussle and bustle.

i either choose the airport interconti or the saxon. no in between.

div

The Southern Sun OR Tambo is just a ten minute shuttle ride from JNB and less expensive the Intercontinental. They offer buffet at dinner and breakfast or menu service. The buffet has always been good when we've stayed there.
They also host a wine and cheese happy hour in the lobby.

The shuttle is easy to catch and runs every fifteen minutes.

Several people on this board like the Emperor's Palace complex because it offers 3 hotels at different prices, all fine to nice, entertainment and several restaurants.
There's a free airport shuttle to the complex, 10 minutes from the airport. The most luxurious is the D'Oreale Grande. Mondior Concorde and the Metcourt Laurel are less grand but comfortable (I stayed at the Concorde and the D'Oreale and thought I didn't need to pay D'Oreale prices). Take a look at emperorspalace.com

I'll vouch for the Metcourt Laurel, stayed two nights in Sep of 2008. Cost was close to $140 per night. Large nice room and a great buffet breakfast. Catch the free shuttle where all of the hotel shuttle buses pickup. FWIW, the "attached" Emperors Palace complex has large variety of restaurants and a gambling area.

regards - tom

I agree with cary999.
Metcourt Laurel in the Emperor's Palace complex is reasonably priced at about $125, a very short and free shuttle ride from JNB, and the complex includes a number of restaurants (from fast-food to pub-style to a bit nicer).

yup, metcourt laurel - Holiday Inn type, sort of, but with very big rooms, wide hallways, good breakfast. And, we had a nice meal in the Emperors Palace food court - I think the restaurants name was Tribes.

I also stayed at the Southern Sun during my last overnight layover, and it was very nice, with a great buffet and free, easy shuttle.

Agree, Southern Sun is also very nice, but, room rates seem to vary widely day by day.

regards - tom

Always Southern Sun OR Tambo for me. It works well at a reasonable cost and free shuttle You can birdwatch on the grounds--mostly Hadida Ibis.

Food is good with great variety.

Thank you for the replies. Both the Emperors Court and Southern Sun look like what I want.

Dirk

We stayed at the Metcourt Laurel in June 2008 during a layover on honeymoon. Room was very clean and complex was nice (though pretty empty.)

And it was a bit strange to feel like you were in some Las Vegas casino in South Africa. Once you were inside the complex, you could have been anywhere. (We call it "Airport Vegas" in our house.)

But it was clean. And VERY easy to get to/from airport. Which is everything we could ask for in a layover! And the breakfast was excellent.

Word of warning: Some of the rooms at the Metcourt don't have real windows. Ours looked out into a hallway. Not a big deal, but just a little strange. Would stay there again in a heartbeat, but ask for an exterior room or stay at the Mondior as they have true windows, I believe.

Had a nice sitdown dinner at the food court.

And our favorite part of the Metcourt was that it was cheap, given the amenities and location!

I've stayed several times for 1 night at the City Lodge - Johannesburg International Airport, before heading off on safaris. Shuttle available to/from JNB. Don't know what your budget is, but this place won't break it.

There are a lot of nice guest houses where an airport pick-up and return (breakfast too) is included in the price of the room, and this can be quite cost effective. After a long flight, it's nice to be picked up and not have to worry about finding a bus, no matter how easy that might be when well rested. Anyway, it's an alternative that worked well for me.

NB83 - how easy is it to find/use a telephone at JNB to call guest house for pick-up?

regards - tom

I didn't have to call them; they were there waiting for me with a sign! It doesn't get any easier! They had my flight info and were there, waited while I went to an ATM, etc. Maybe it's not always this easy, but I really like staying at small places with personal touch anyway. And I don't mind saving money either. :)

The names of the guest houses, please.

In 2006 we stayed near JNB at Doves Nest Guest House. Nice family run place, pickup at JNB, less than half cost of airport hotels.

regards - tom

Thanks, Tom.

Kay

I've stayed at Afton House before. It's a B&B and they have great service. Included in the room rate are: pick up/delivery from the airport (they wait with a sign with your name), you are driven to dinner at a choice of a couple of very good restaurants, and they prepare a very nice breakfast. The B&B is in a residential area very near the airport and it seemed very safe.
http://www.aftonguesthouse.com/

We had a great stay and transit experience at Afton Guest House; I also read good reviews of AfricaSky and Marben Manor..

How funny is that to have two posts about the same guest house at the same moment in time? When we were there, they offered a very nice home cooked braai for $20, so we never left the site til it was time to go back to the airport..

That is funny! When we were there we opted for the steak house (no invite to a braai) and it was so very good. And cheap. We did that both times.

Wow, such prompt and useful replies! Thank you so much.

Another big vote for the Southern Sun OR Tambo. We always stay there when transiting JNB and have never been disappointed.

We have just returned from SA. We picked up our car upon arrival and drive about 8km to The Courtyard Eastgate hotel (located on Bruma Lake). No dinner restaurant (I think they were renovating), butthey run a shuttle bus to a nearby mall with plenty of retaurants I believe. Great breakfast. Ver clean, comfortable and an economical first night's accommodation. We paid R1500 for 2 studio apartments.

PRLCH, I stayed at a Courtyard (Cape Town) at least once many years ago, and I found it a great hotel if you prefer something larger than a single room and one that also has a basic kitchenette.

But visualising the route I was very surprised that you say that the Courtyard Edenvale is only 8 km from OR Tambo. So I went to their website (they are part of the City Lodge Group, www.citylodge.co.za) and it does claim that. But checking my map I'd say it's a least twice that distance. I measured it roughly as 17-18 km.

ArthurSA,
It was Courtyard Eastgate (not Edenvale)- right on Bruma Lake. I cannot say definately that it was 8km, but what I can say is, it was really close and easy to get to. Just looking at my JHB and Midrand Map now, I would estimate it at 12km - but don't hold me to it.

Apologies, there is no such hotel as Courtyard Edenvale, I did mean Eastgate. Edenvale is a major area not far away and the name probably caught my eye when I looked at the map to measure the distance. (You see, I really did!)

But I'm still amazed they can hoodwink travellers (not referring to you PRLCH) who might be paying and budgeting for taxi rates. Because I still think it's at least 16 km, which is twice the advertised distance. I'll try and remember to measure at least part of the route when I'm next in the area! :-)

And now that the cynic in me is aroused, it's interesting that they use Eastgate in the name and not Bruma Lake. The former is on the other diagonal side of a busy road, and the hotel is right in the Bruma Lake area, which is probably almost as well-known locally as the Eastgate shopping mall. Bruma Lake has had a chequered reputation over many years, not least for the varying condition of the Lake and the lack of success in developing its shopping and restaurant outlets. And despite the growth of Jo'burg's "new" Chinatown just up the road.

For me that's a big plus for that area, it's just a stroll away from Chinatown, in Derrick Avenue. Many restaurants there, some of them favourites of mine for a very casual inexpensive meal. How about a two-course whole Peking Duck for two, for about R165 (just over $8 per person)? I think only a little more for the 3-course version.

Now that I've hijacked this thread and promoted Chinatown, I'd better add that it's nothing like the scope of Chinatown in most or even all other large cities. You also have to be prepared for mostly bright fluorescent lighting, formica tables, sometimes very casual service, cash only not credit cards, and relatively early closing of kitchens at night.