HoneyM

I have read a lot on this site about where to stay for a quick overnight in jo'burg. we are thinking we will go with the mondior.

but i cant find any information on hotels that offer bookings just for a period of the day (i was going to say 'by the hour' but i wasnt sure what responses i may get?!). we arrive in at johannesburg (from Sydney) at 3pm and leave again around 9hrs later at 00:30pm for Zanzibar... any suggestions on either a hotel that offers this sort of booking or at least a hotel spa you could book a massage at and then use the facilities- shower etc? we would be happy to check out of a hotel much earlier and only have it to shower and relax for a while if they required us to leave by a certain time.

if we can book in somewhere briefly we could then leave our bags there during the trip which would be very useful.

appreciate your thoughts.

for anyone who has contributed to the rest of our honeymoon planning, i will post our final itinerary up in the next few weeks... thanks again

divine54

honey
are you vacating the room at 0030AM i guess. if that's the case then
just book the room for the day of arrival and leave at 0030AM.
you pay the normal rate which you would in any case.



cannot help with spa information....

HoneyM

just found a link about a departure lounge at the Intercon so that may be an option for a few hours, although i read that it closed at 6pm? anyone know of other options like this at/near the airport? can you use the spa at the intercontinental.

If it does and we head to Emperors complex is there enough to do for a few 4hrs or so/ safe until we leave at 11pm.

maybe we should just get a normal hotel room?

HoneyM

think you are right divine54. maybe we will just book another night at the mondior.

is the shuttle safe/run around 11:30pm back to the airport or would we be better to just organise a private transfer?

divine54

honey
they run the shuttles every 30 minutes.
generally speaking: if there are coming and going fights - they shuttle!

if i were in your shoes i would book the room for that night and advise them in advance of your transfer times.

the have lots of restaurants in the complex as well as casino!

the d'oreale has a very nice garden to have dinner - depending on the season/weather.

and i cannot think of a reason you might be neglected the use of their spa other they close early.

regarding the interconti spa: no idea. have stayed there several time and made ít a base for in between stays of bot and sa safaris. but never used the spa. don't even know whether they have got one....

enlehman76

My husband and I (both are 32) are traveling to SA for the first time in 6 weeks. We have one overnight stay in JNB before traveling to VicFalls the next morning. There is a casino complex with three hotels across the street from JNB. We are staying at the Metcourt Laurel. I am not sure about hourly rates but the hotel price was reasonable and was rated well on tripadvisor. The casino complex is called www.emperorspalace.com---check out the website. It looks really fun and nice to us! Good Luck!

Back2Sabi

Just stayed at the Metcourt Laurel two weeks ago 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. 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 weird. Would stay there again, but at the Mondior as they have true windows, I believe. Breakfast was excellent.

Tanya_in_Kenya

Hi -

A few years back I had a similar stop-over in Jo'burg en route to Australia.

There is a hotel inside the airport (you don't even leave the airport building)...it may not be the most exciting thing to do, but it allows you to shower and sleep - they'll even call you when you have to check in for your onward flight. You can book hourly (and pay accordingly), as opposed to having to book an entire day. When I was there, it was very busy so important to book in advance. Unfortunately I cannot remember the name of the hotel, but if you google "hotel inside Jo'burg airport", I'm sure you'll find it...

Tanya
http://www.wildernessdiary.com

ArthurSA

Here's the link to that airport hotel. It's one of the Protea Hotel Group hotels.

www.proteahotels.com/protea-hotel-transit.html

Only for International transit passengers, so as far as I know you can't exit through Immigration/Customs.