The Grace Hotel, Rosebank – 2 nights

In the morning I had called The Grace Hotel to see if they had accommodation available for two nights. I was told that they had standard rooms and suites. The one bedroom suite was ZAR 3,200 (US$400) per night BB. I was advised we could check in early (11:00 am).

We got to the hotel at 11:00 am. The front entrance is small, and there is little room to park a car. Our bags were taken in. Reception advised us that there were no rooms ready, and we would have to wait. We asked to be shown to the spa.

At the spa, we booked various treatments for that day and next day. There are two treatment rooms, and they use two products (Elemis, and Africana). The staff were very professional and courteous. The treatments were fantastic. My only complaint was traffic noise. It got irritating when you are trying to relax.

Within 5 minutes of being at the Spa, reception called and said our room was ready (I don’t think she realised we had a suite). We went back to reception, and collected our key. I realised later on in the stay that there is a lounge next to the reception that serves complimentary tea/coffee and pastries in the morning, cakes during the day and canapés in the evening. None of this was explained to us at check in.

We were on the 10th floor, and the suite was spacious. You walk into a small foyer that had a cloakroom. Beyond the foyer was a lounge area that had a round dining table with 4 chairs, 2 single seater sofa’s and a long sofa, a mini bar area, a writing desk with average chair, and an old small TV (no flat screen). Double doors lead to the bedroom. There was a king bed (comfortable, but the pillows were too small), another small old TV, a wardrobe, and another writing desk and chair. The bathroom was small with a single vanity, small shower (one meter x one meter), a bathtub and toilet. There was also a heated towel rail. We felt that the room was just adequately equipped but the TV’s needed upgrading. The room is not well sound proofed. We could hear outside traffic (we were on the 10th floor, imagine being lower down), as well as the lifts.

The Grace Hotel has a restaurant called the Dining Room, which it advertises as being in the Top 100 restaurants in South Africa. This is misleading, as it was in the Top 100 restaurants in South Africa in 2002 (6 years ago). We dined there one evening, and the restaurant lacked atmosphere, the food was average, but service was good. Breakfast and lunch is also served here. There is an outdoor garden (the restaurant is on the 4th floor), with a heated lap pool. On our first day, we asked the waiter just for a sandwich, and a very tasty sandwich with crisps, and a salad was served. This was impressive. Breakfast was a grand affair. Hot food is ordered from a menu (choice of traditional English Breakfast, waffles, Eggs Benedict, etc.). There was a good selection of fresh juices, fresh fruit, lots of smoked salmon (thickly cut), breads and pastries, etc. Service was good, and the food was fresh and tasty.

Every morning in the lift lobby, there was a sheet showing the weather for the day, sunrise/sunset, etc. This was helpful.

The hotel is located next to the Rosebank Shopping Mall, which has a huge selection of shops, and restaurants. One night we dined at an Italian restaurant called Sophia Loraine which was brilliant.

Next to the Rosebank Mall is The Zone, which is another shopping mall with cool pub type restaurants, and a huge cinema complex. This area felt more real and much more fun then Sandton.

We enjoyed our stay at the Grace Hotel, and would definitely return there again when in Johannesburg. They do need to renovate the rooms and the lifts (very slow).

Check out was quick, and we were in no time in an Avis car heading to the airport.