The best way to get around Johannesburg is either with a driver arranged by the hotel or using Uber. The Uber network here is well-developed. You will not be able to hail taxis on the street (and we would not recommend using ) and public transport is unreliable. If you hire a car ensure you have access to online maps or get a GPS. All the major car hire firms will deliver to the hotel. Avis Car Rental is 5 mins from the hotel in Rosebank.
This is the best of the city’s arts and cultural offerings. Please check with our front desk for opening hours, transport options and tour prices.
PARKHURST 4th AVENUE
For something different and far removed from the mall-culture that envelopes Joburg head 3km from the hotel, to Parkhurst, an area that the local’s favour. The focus of the suburb is 4th Avenue. It’s a long street lined with all manner of restaurants as well as interior design boutiques, gift and clothing shops, and a concentration of hair salons and beauty parlours that could almost satisfy Paris Hilton. You often have to weave your way past the patrons on the pavements as they sit at small tables chatting, eating, drinking and enjoying the Highveld sunshine. A great place to head for lunch or some window-shopping.
44 STANLEY
The 44 Stanley site was once a series of industrial 1930′s buildings and has subsequently been developed into a neighbourhood of speciality boutiques, foodie stops and design studios. The ambiance is relaxed, friendly and a refreshing mix of quintessential Johannesburg elements. Visit the boutiques or catch a lunch in one of the delis & cafés. A short taxi ride 10km from the hotel.
AMATULI
Amatuli African Art and Artefacts has a wide range of art pieces collected from many different African countries. Much of the artwork on the hotel’s walls originates here. The shop is more of a gallery and a wander through the maze-like rooms filled with artefacts is well worth the trip even if you are not shopping. Amatuli is in Kramerville, 8km from the hotel.
APARTHEID MUSEUM
The Apartheid Museum opened in 2001 and is acknowledged as the pre-eminent museum in the world dealing with the apartheid story. Housed in an architecturally inspiring building, the museum is the first of its kind to illustrate the rise and fall of apartheid and is an essential part of the cultural history of South Africa. Starting at the ticket window where visitors are randomly assigned races and told to enter through separate turnstiles: one for whites, the other for non-whites the museum gives an experience of South Africa under apartheid. Once inside, comprehensive — and often shocking — multimedia exhibitions explore the social and political forces that gave rise to apartheid, its core features and the exhilarating, hard-won achievement of democracy. The museum is 16km from the hotel and can be visited independently or in combination with a Soweto Tour.
CONSTITUTION HILL
This is the new home of the constitutional court, the protector of South Africa’s basic rights and freedoms, post 1994. You can visit the courtroom where constitutional cases are heard (provided it is not in session) and wander the new buildings and library. Also on site is the Old Fort Prison complex, commonly known as Number Four, where thousands of ordinary people were many of South Africa’s leading political activists, including Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were detained. The museum is 10km from the hotel and can be visited independently or in combination with a Soweto or Joburg City Tour.
EVERARD READ & CIRCA GALLERY
This is Southern Africa’s most well-known commercial art gallery. Many of this region’s most celebrated painters and sculptors exhibit and sell their works here. Be sure to also head across the road into the new Circa Gallery – it hosts its own exhibitions and its unusual design is a feature on Joburg’s architectural map – as well as having a great view from the rooftop. 2km from the hotel.
GOODMAN GALLERY
Established thirty-nine years ago, the Goodman Gallery’s primary goal was to encourage contemporary South African artists to exhibit, despite Apartheid. Today, the vision remains the same and the exhibitions continue to challenge the establishment & its new-found freedoms. 4km from the hotel