» Hotel Accommodation

Liz at Lancaster: AA Quality Assurance in the Superior category renewed for 2012

liz — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:17:11 +0000

The AA’s assessor visits anually to monitor and check on the standards of the Guesthouse. Nothing escapes Bev Balusik’s eagle eye! Here are some comments from her report submitted to the board of the AA Quality Assurance:

Such seamless but thoughtful touches in all areas:

a splendid, attractive notice board in main core public area
guest internet station provided
high attention to energy-saving measures including solar geysers, CFLs, solar garden lighting, water-saving shower roses, etc.
generous provision of heating, a real plus for travellers including under-carpet heating
complimentary bottled water & quality home-baked crunchies, Liz’s own muesli & a delightful easy-pour honey tube on breakfast tables
breakfast room with LED DSTV
easy instructions for complimentary internet access in rooms
various menus, maps, evacuation & fire procedures in all rooms, quality paper holder, recycling info on waste bins
generous DSTV in rooms
fridges stocked incl fresh milk, and so on.

Really excellent & indicative of high levels of general efficiency. The exceptional provision of guest comforts for both leisure & corporate guests and the high standards of personal yet professional service and hospitality continue to set this establishment at an exceptionally confident Superior level.

More on walking tours of Joburg’s inner city

liz — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:57:52 +0000

Gerald Garner who wrote Spaces and Places Johannesburg as well as Johannesburg 10Ahead, has recently started walking tour of Jozi’s inner city. On 28th Jan a tour will leave from Mary Fitzgerald Square at 9 am. Billed to see the public art in Newtown, Turbine Hall, Chancellor House, the Anglo American campus, the Ashanti Hotel and Dogon apartments, Main Street Mall, Gandhi Square, The City Hall, Ernest Oppenheimer Park and, time permitting trendy Braamfontein. You will definitely need your walking shoes. See www.joburgplaces.com

Cost R230 per person To book email gerald@joburgplaces.com Tel 082 894 5216

Southern Sun set to do major overhaul on The Grace hotel in Rosebank

liz — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:22:20 +0000

Southern Sun recently bought The Grace hotel in Rosebank for R85m. They are planning to do major refurbishments to the 73 room hotel and turning it into a boutique hotel targeting corporates, but with an intimate feel. Southern Sun managing director Graham Wood said it will be Southern Sun’s first “boutique deluxe” in Johannesburg. This will be the first Southern Sun hotel in the Rosebank node, an area Wood says has major growth potential.

A destination guesthouse: Satyagraha in Orchards

liz — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 09:04:23 +0000

Ghandi's statue in Ghandi Square Central Joburg

Ghandi’s philosphy of Satyagraha (non-violent non-cooperation) was born in South Africa and more specifically in what was then the Transvaal, in the first decade of the 20th Century. Ghandi arrived in Johannebsurg in 1893 and stayed at various places during the 12 years he was in Johannesburg. For more on this see Eric Itzkin’s excellent book Ghandi’s Johannesburg. One of the places where Ghandi lived in Johannesburg has been restored by a French Travel Company as a guest house and heritage resource – a really wonderful example of adaptive re-use and sustainable heritage. The Kraal at 15 Pine Road in Orchards was built by the famous architect Hermann Kallenbach who was a great freind of Ghandi’s. C ompleted in 1908 Gandhi and Kallenbach lived there until the end of 1909.

Free tours of the house are available, with or without lunch. It is open from 8am to 5pm, Mondays to Sundays. Book a 45-minute tour on 011 485 5928.

Tripadvisor continues to be widely used by international travellers

liz — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:44:50 +0000

Another excellent review for Liz at Lancaster on Tripadvisor the influential international travel site. See http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g312578-d574068-Reviews-Liz_at_Lancaster_Guesthouse-Johannesburg_Johannesburg_Gauteng.html

Luxury hotels suffer in the accommodation squeeze

liz — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:09:14 +0000

The Luxurious Monarch Hotel, which was supposed to hit the auction floor on September 28, has been withdrawn from auction by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The hotel will remain standing empty until the IDC decides what to do with it, according to Warren Aronson of Auction Alliance. For more on the Monarch Hotel see http://www.rosebank.co.za/view/index/monarch_on_auction/62/1/134

Rosebank’s development continues

liz — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:49:04 +0000

The Gautrain station opening in Rosebank has added a further impetus to the fast growth and development in Rosebank which is seeing an increase in new office and retail spaces. see http://www.rosebank.co.za/view/index/additions_to_thriving_rosebank/62/1/134 Liz at Lancaster is ideally place for easy access to Rosebank being a mere 2.8 km from the Gautrain station. And where possible, we provide a shuttle service from the station.

What makes Rosebank such a special leisure destination?

liz — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:52:52 +0000

What makes Rosebank so different from say, for example, Sandton. While Sandton’s leisure and shopping area is focused on the huge enlcosed megamall of Sandton City and the central space of Mandela Square modelled on an Italian piazza. Rosebank however has a greater variety of smaller malls linked by open air areas each with their own different identity. There is the Rosebank Mall with its now famous Rooftop Market on a Sunday and Craft market all week, the Zone for urban fashion designers and Bollywood movies, the Zone 2 behind the Holiday Inne and the exclusive Firs linked to the Hyatt Hotel. What makes this such a fun urban area is the way in which these malls all interlink with open spaces filled with stalls, open-air eateries, gently flowing fountains and interesting arcades. One of the many eateries is Koi – a specialist seafood restaurant in the arcade outside the Firs corner Cradock and Bierman Avenues, Rosebank 011 447 2440. See http://www.jhblive.com/reviews/restaurants/the_joy_of_koi/86530 There is easy close parking at the Galleria Rooftop parking in Cradock Street right opposite Koi.

011 447 2440

Last week in October sees some exciting events in Joburg

liz — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:46:12 +0000

Upcoming events in Joburg include Winex at Sandton Convention Centre 26-28 Oct followed by the Antique Dealers Fair at Wanderers 28-30 Oct. Liz at Lancaster is only 7 km from Sandton Convention Centre and 5km from Wanderers (up Bompas Rd and down Corlett Drive). So book now!

Rosebank in the forefront again during September’s Fashion Week

liz — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:18:26 +0000

SA Fashion Week, SA’s premier designer platform, prepares to launch the Winter 2012 Designer Collections in Johannesburg from 22 – 25 September. The SA Fashion Week Winter 2012 Designer Collections will be staged at the Rosebank Hotel. Tickets are R180 and may be booked directly from www.safashionweek.co.za from 1 September.

The following week the Summer 2011 Designer Pop Up Shop goes live for three days in Sandton City’s Fountain Court from 30 September – 2 October 2011.