Background
The City Lodge group caters to all markets with its offering of Road Lodges (1-star), Town Lodges (2-star), City Lodges (3-star) and Courtyard Hotels (4-star). Having gone into Kenya for the first time last year, the group’s latest foray is into Botswana, with a Town Lodge property opening in Gaborone soon.
Where Is It?
The hotel is situated at O.R. Tambo International Airport, above the multi-storey parkade two, on level five. As a result, the airport itself is the ‘go-to’ place for everything from food and drink to banking and pharmacy facilities. If you fancy venturing about 10 minutes’ drive down the road, Emperors Palace offers a range of entertainment facilities, including a casino, theatres, bars, restaurants and movie theatres.
Room Facilities
The hotel has 303 air-conditioned rooms with queen or twin beds. Each room has a flat-screen TV with selected satellite TV (movies, news, sport) and radio channels, tea and coffee-making facilities, an electronic safe large enough to accommodate a laptop, and a large work station desk with extra lighting and plug points. Having sampled a number of City Lodge rooms in the past, I found this one spacious and not cramped in the least, whilst the bathroom had a separate shower and bath, which was also to my liking. The hotel is adapted nicely to the business traveller on the move, with a laundry service and a Wi-Fi offering, which consists of complimentary Wi-Fi for the first 15 minutes, after which vouchers can be purchased at the reception.
Restaurant & Bar
The hotel has an open breakfast area, serving Full English and Continental breakfasts between 06h30 and 09h00 on weekdays, and 07h00 and 10h00 on weekends and public holidays. There is also a coffee shop serving hot and cold food choices, ranging from salads to wraps, tramezzinis and hearty soups, and is open until 22h00. A sundowner bar is located by the dining area, with an option to sit outside, and that is open daily from 16h00 to 23h00. A Mr. Delivery service is available in the rooms for various nearby restaurants, or you can just take the lift down into the airport and dine at the various restaurants at the food court.
Business & Meeting Facilities
The emphasis here is on smaller meetings for those execs looking to zoot in and out of Johannesburg, although the hotel does have a conference room, which can seat 46 delegates, whilst that room can also be split in two, accommodating 24 and 22 delegates, separately. Altogether, City Lodge O.R. Tambo Airport has two conference and two boardrooms, with the standard equipment offering, in the form of flipchart, white board, sweets, water, pens, writing pads, screen, LCD TV and DVD player, whilst a data projector is available at an additional cost. Tea, coffee and refreshments are only served outside the boardroom/conference rooms.
Leisure & Fitness
There is a cosy fitness centre equipped with basic cardio-vascular equipment, a fitness ball and a few weights. It is located right next to the swimming pool, which has some outdoor furniture around and offers a relaxation space.
Verdict
Obviously, this hotel’s location is its biggest selling point – that’s if you need to be close to the airport or are just flitting in and out of Johannesburg for an early or late meeting. As with all City Lodge properties, the basics are covered in a ‘no-frills’ manner, with just about everything at your fingertips, without going the ridiculous lengths of a 5-star property.
Contact
Address: Above multi-storey parkade 2, level 5, ORTIA
Tel: +27 11 552 7600
Email: clort.resv@citylodge.co.za
Web: citylodge.co.za
Siphilile Shelembe