Join Brian Berkman as he explores Home* Suites Home Bristol, Johannesburg’s latest boutique hotel.
Almost 16 months into a newly launched South African hotel marque, four months of which have been decimated by the impact of Covid-19, there remains light at the end of the tunnel of one of the country’s newest boutique hotel brands.
The money behind the project, a R350 million hotel fund, (just shy of £16 million) Lucid Ventures, is designed to take advantage of tax-deduction incentives via a 12J SARS certification.
The people behind the fund have travel and hospitality nous in spades. Gidon Novick, the founder of low-cost airline kulula.com and the SLOW lounge concept, Graham Wood, former head of gaming and hotel group Tsogo Sun and current COO of Sun International and head of urban developer K&S, Andrew Kuming.
The Home* Suites Home concept is, simply, larger rooms, better internet, fabulous interior designs, and the no-fuss that savvy travellers want nowadays.
Pitched at the four-star hotel market, there is plenty of luxury in the finish and feel of the rooms and a grown-up approach to providing the kind of experience that actually benefits travellers. Rather than supply robes and slippers in each room, it is available on request, at no additional charge. So too, the pillow menu, typically associated with five-star offerings, is available as needed.
Home* Suites Home Bristol, so named because of its location on Bristol Road in Rosebank, Johannesburg is conveniently located just off Oxford Road and a few blocks from the Rosebank Mall.
If you need to work out and are not already a member of the Virgin Active network of health clubs they have vouchers available for guest use. They also have a partnership with a local dog rescue outreach, Oscars Arc and Hazel, the hotel’s official dog, will welcome you with a sniff and tail wag. In each wardrobe, there are Street Store hangers promoting another social initiative if you want to donate an item of clothing to the needy.
And, recreationally, they have partnered with Dr Eve, the sexuality expert to provide a range of adult toys and other products on the premises for purchase.
The food and drink offering is based on a small menu but the ground-floor kitchen is happy to prepare something to your taste for service either in the lobby-area eatery, on the top-floor-pool and bar deck or, indeed, in your room.
Some of the technology advances include super-fast internet with a password per room as a secure connection. There is a smart TV into which you can plug your own Netflix credentials or stream from your Android device or YouTube. Also, WhatsApp is the preferred mode of communication for food, drink and even house-keeping requests. And, while magnetic cards are available to operate the room doors, so too is the digital app that sends your key to your mobile phone.
Tonic Design, who also designed the SLOW lounges, have created interiors that are a pleasure to be in. There’s plenty of space on the bedside table and plugs and USB power points and good lighting. Curtains provide proper blackout so you can sleep no matter the time and the private en-suite bathroom has a power shower and great, locally sourced amenities.
Additional Home* Suite Homes are slated for Sandton and Cape Town’s Sea Point and De Waterkant in the next year.
There is also a separate working and meeting space which is available to hotel guests.
Other properties to come on stream will also fall within the 15 to 40-key room builds.
And, what’s better than a cheery “welcome home”, when you arrive.
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Tell Me More About Home* Suites Home, Johannesburg
Home* Suite Home, Bristol, 50 Bristol Road, Corner Oxford Road, Rosebank, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2196.
T:+ 27 (0) 10 5001 557,
E:reservations@homesuitehotels.com
From £69 per room.
