We stayed at the Southern Sun in Pietermaritzburg, a comfortable and convenient hotel for our meetings in the city. Breakfast was a real treat.
Southern Sun Pietermaritzburg – Golden Horse Casino Review
While $89/night is on the higher side for South Africa, I thought it was a good price considering the secure location, comfortable and clean rooms, and a great breakfast in the morning. The hotel has 96-rooms.
Room
I was assigned room 237, a standard king room with a garden view on the second floor. While the room was not large, the bed was comfortable, the bathroom spacious, and I loved the view from the room and the low winter afternoon sunlight streaming through the window.
The bathroom:
Powdered coffee, tea, and a hot water kettle were available in the room.
Dining
The hotel offers several dining options.
Breakfast At Vigour & Verve
Breakfast is complimentary for all guests. I really enjoyed breakfast most of all because of the superb barista-made coffee.
My first cup–a perfect double-shot flat white.
My second cup–another perfect double-shot flat white.
When I went back for a third cup, the barista burst out laughing. What kind of a guy drinks six shots of espresso at once? The third cup came with special latte art…
The made-to-order omelets were nice too (I ordered an egg white omelet with “everything” inside and enjoyed it so much I had another).
Fresh fruit, yogurt, all sorts of pastries and rolls, and sausage, bacon, potatoes, and scrambled eggs were available from the buffet.
Rockafella’s Theatre of Food
The casino buffet.
Asian Fusion
As the name implies, a fusion of Indian, Southeast Asian, and Middle Eastern food
John Dory’s
Fish and sushi are the specialties.
Room Service
Room service was available and I thought the prices were very reasonable.
Casino + Racetrack
I don’t gamble at all in casinos and I especially don’t gamble on church trips! But the casino looked like any other casino, though I did notice there was a separate smoking and non-smoking section, which is a nice benefit for guests.
Pool
A small outdoor pool is open from sunrise to sunset. It was packed when I arrived…a lot of young people having fun and making noise. Thankfully, that did not last long.
Fitness Center
Surprisingly (to me), the hotel offers no fitness center, let alone a spa.
CONCLUSION
This was a clean, cool place for our to rest our heads for one night and I would return. The breakfast, particularly the coffee, was a very nice treat. If you’re visiting Pietermaritzburg or the KwaZulu-Natal province, this is a solid choice.
Games of chance are strictly forbidden by Deuteronomy 7
You mention secure location. Could you elaborate? Does that mean you can stroll the neighborhood? I’m noticing a pattern in security mentions by you on this trip when it’s normally not something you bring up at all.
Is there any reason for a normal tourist to visit the town?
Probably not a place for a normal tourist to go, but there’s some real natural beauty nearby that I’ll outline in my next segment.
I mentioned security because there was horrific rioting and looting in 2021 in KwaZulu-Natal and many businesses and homes in the vicinity were severely damaged or destroyed:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57996373
There was no rioting or looting in Durban. Just mostly peaceful protests against colonial apartheid.
Matthew, great to have reviews about South Africa and in particular, close to my home town. Thanks. Fantastico, clearly you weren’t here during the riots last year where entire huge shopping malls in Durban as well as businesses in the rest of KZN province were destroyed by the rioters & many lost their lives or livelihoods. Suggest you check the historical news!
South Africa is still a land of opportunity.Lovely SA billionaire businesswoman Magda Wierzycka arrived a penniless Polish immigrant.Her family fled the communist chaos of the 80s,and landed in SA after digging ditches in an Austrian refugee camp to earn money.
Security is, unfortunately, a factor to always be aware of in South Africa. That’s not to say there aren’t perfectly safe places, or that you aren’t generally quite safe, but rather, it’s best to just be aware of your environment. Of course, it’s probably the same general advice wherever one travels, but it’s amplified advice in some parts of SA.
Pietermaritzburg is quite a distance from King Shaka International Airport, so it would take a dedicated two hours or so of driving to reach it. It’s an old town, and houses one of the University of KwaZulu-Natal campuses (formerly University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg) and has a political role in the province.
I have friends that live that side, but I hope they don’t mind me saying that it’s not the most exciting place to be, and unless you have a destination on the other side of it, it’s not really on any recommended holiday itinerary I’d ever draw up.
Of course, there are some cultural or sports events that crop up, and I’ve been to a few (participant and attendee) but there are many better alternatives if your time is limited.
Walking around a neighborhood can put you at risk especially if you’re an obvious tourist, so from that perspective security is more about protecting from crime rather than the civil unrest / riots which were heavily motivated by political motives.
Place is beautiful
There is a spa near the food court , Livwell Boutique and Mobile Spa.