Background
The City Lodge Hotel Group consists of 1-star Road Lodges, 2-star Town Lodges, 3-star City Lodges and 4-star Courtyard Hotels. The group has 52 properties with 6,440 rooms across South Africa and recently made its first foray into the rest of Africa. City Lodge acquired a 50% stake in Fairview Hotel Limited, which owns and operates the Fairview Hotel and the adjacent Country Lodge in Nairobi.
Where is it?
The Courtyard Eastgate overlooks Bruma Lake and is situated halfway between the Johannesburg CBD and O.R. Tambo International Airport, which are five and eight kilometres away, respectively. The hotel is within walking distance of shops and restaurants and a kilometre from Eastgate shopping centre. Also in close proximity is the Bruma Flea Market.
What’s it Like?
The hotel is Tuscan in character and City Lodge has gone for a big first impression, with a welcoming double-volume lobby that leads to a lakeside patio. The welcoming area is tastefully decorated, with beautiful fountains, and I was in no doubt that this was one of their premium brand properties. There were also some nice touches, such as the welcome gift set in my room, consisting of lip balm, bath salts and chocolate, even though a lot of quality hotels are going this route nowdays. As with all Courtyard properties, there’s also the complimentary ‘muffin-for-the-road’, when you check out.
Room Facilities
The hotel has 69 units, comprising studio or one- and two-bedroom rooms. There are the standard features, in the form of air-conditioning, selected satellite TV channels, tea/coffee-making facilities and a safe large enough to accommodate a laptop. Most importantly, there is complimentary Wi-Fi, which ticked an important box for me. The work station was functional. I had one of the studio apartments and a couple of things stood out – the space, the view of the lake and the chrysalis linen. The kitchenette was fully-equipped with appliances such as a fridge, microwave and toaster, whilst there was also a table and chairs in a kitchenette area. Probably the ideal sort of accommodation for a business traveller on a long stay. Bathrooms are always an important element for me, and this one was clean, with separate shower and bath – very important!
Restaurant and Bar
Breakfast options in the dining room are Full English or Continental. For dinner, menus from local restaurants are placed in the rooms, whilst the hotel also offers a personal shopping service from Woolworths, should you wish to have your kitchenette stocked. There is also a complimentary daily shuttle, if you choose to dine out in the area. It services Eastgate shopping centre and Bedford centre from 19h00 to 21h00. A nice Courtyard feature is the complimentary drinks and snacks at the hotel bar, between 17h00 and 19H00.
Meeting and Business Facilities
Pretty standard City Lodge fare, with a fully-equipped boardroom, accommodating 12 delegates, and another boardroom which can accommodate 40. There’s the usual support, with flip charts, pens, telephone, DVD and VHS recorder, mineral water, cordials and mints. A data projector is also available at an additional cost. Lunch and fruit juice is included in the conference package, except when you have booked the venue only.
Leisure Facilities
A nice feature of the hotel is the swimming pool area with deck chairs, which is situated lakeside. Other facilities include same-day laundry and dry cleaning (weekdays) service, and a 24-hour launderette.
Verdict
A great option for the business traveller who needs to be in close proximity to the airport or CBD.
Contact
Address: Zulberg Close off Ernest Oppenheimer Rd, Bruma Lake, +27 11 622 8436, citylodge.co.za
Siphilile Shelembe