SOUTHERN Sun hotels will be able to offer flve-star four-star and three-star accommodation to business and leisure visitors to Montecasino from next month, with the opening of the Pivot, Priva Naidoo, the communications officer for the hotel group, said yesterday.
The Pivot is a R700 million development that includes offices, up-market shops, a conference centre and a 200-room hotel.

Southern Sun already has the five-star Palazzo and the three-star Sun Square hotels on the piazza, within walking distance of Tsogo Sun’s Monte- casino entertainment centre, which is a major attraction for visitors to the area north of Randburg in the evenings and at weekends.

Naidoo pointed out that the new hotel, which is due to open officially next month, but will have its first, invited guests later this month, would enable the group to cater for all segments of the market.

She said the new three-star hotel was included in the brochure issued by Match, the accommodation agents for Fifa during the soccer World Cup, and would start taking bookings by the end of this month.

The Pivot is a joint venture between developers Abland, Tsogo Sun and Absa Bank. The roofwetting ceremony wifi be held today.

Steve Howell, the general manager of Montecasino, said that over the past eight years the precinct had “grown to become one of Gauteng’s most visited venues”.

Tenants in the new office blocks will enjoy the close proximity to Montecasino’s many attractions from its theatres and restaurants to the Bird Gardens and the “select service retail available on site”.

Kevin Page, the director of development for the Tsogo Sun group, said that until now Montecasino had only been “predominantly an off-peak destination, busiest after hours and at weekends. “We have found that offices and hotels work well together. The Pivot also offers a conference centre of 120m2, which completes the package.”

Source: Business Report – Audrey D Angelo