Along with the 31-year-old landmark hotel’s refurbishment, the number of hotel rooms reduced by eight to 326 spacious rooms including 27 suites. “Much of the redevelopment of the suites came by opening up spaces, taking out walls, and opening up the bedrooms and lounges as much as possible. We took special advantage of the beautiful vistas and opened up the rooms to the views by redoing the windows, repositioning the mullions and taking out walls to ensure uninterrupted vistas of the beautiful Sandton skyline,” says Ryan Illgner, director of Blacksmith Interior Design.
The rooms were transformed into modern, luxurious interiors with an elegantly fresh atmosphere by pairing classical mouldings with crisp white colour and bringing in a fresh look to the formal styling. The gold accent colours in the fabrics and soft African landscape artworks solidify the interior as being elegantly South African.
Illgner notes that the large scale of the feature headboard brings some grandeur to the space, adding to the framed details of the windows and coffered ceilings. “Various mood and dimmer lighting options add to the room’s comfortable atmosphere.”
Some of the existing furniture was retained and refurbished, such as the wardrobe units that were resprayed, clad in beautiful material and given elegant new handles, and the bedside pedestals, that now feature elegant white stone tops. “Items were repurposed by cladding and the adding of relevant materials to take them up a notch,” says Illgner. “With the adding of texture and sophisticated material such as stone and textured vinyl, the refurbishment has made the décor more tactile – and more luxurious.”
Commenting on the addition of a brand new room type to the hotel, general manager Peter Davidson says, “We’ve introduced apartment suites in line with international high-rise hotel trends, creating a truly contemporary hotel experience of a studio style space. The suites offer the convenience of kitchenettes with flip-up doors and stone sinks, allowing guests to really make themselves at home.”
Sandton Sun’s makeover was undertaken in double-quick time, with the hotel re-opening in September, just six months after closing. “A refurb of this nature would normally take approximately a year but Tsogo Sun wanted to minimise the disruption to guests, so, rather than undertaking the refurb floor by floor, the decision was taken to shut down the rooms completely and we worked in double shifts and through the night – reopening ahead of schedule,” says Illgner. Since reopening, the hotel has enjoyed high occupancies and the installation of the chandelier in May completes the spectacular refurbishment.
Tsogo Sun’s Sandton Sun is situated in a prime location within the busy and exclusive business and retail hub of Sandton. The refurbishment was jointly funded by the property owners, Pareto and Liberty, with responsibility for the design concept and implementation, as well as the operational issues relating to the refurb being handled by Tsogo Sun.
