Courtyard Hotel Waterfall City — Hotel in Gauteng

This was my first time staying at the Hotel and had high expectations when booking but unfortunately I was sorely dissapointed. I've stayed at other establishments of the group but never the courtyard and thought of it as an upgrade from the Road, City and Town Lodges.

Check in We arrived a bit early and was informed that none of the rooms were available which was understandable. We came back a bit after the 14:00 check in and found that only one room was ready. I had requested that I receive a room with a view as it was my birthday and wanted something a bit special for myslef. The receptionist said that I should have requested it before arrival when booking but the website didn't provide that option (or atleast I didn't see it), which didn't sit well with me as I've never had this problem on my previous stays with The Group. We checked in and received the room key but no directions to the elevators or how to to utilize them. Thank God for the couple who got in the elevator after me going up and down aimlessly between floors. I've stayed at The Road lodge in Rustenburg several times and none of the times have the staff who are familiar with me given me a 'you should have known' attitude I received from this hotel.

The room The website pictures provided made it seem as if the studio room had a kitchenette and a seating area for breakfast. I was very dissapointed walking in and only found a standard room with a bar fridge. The staff later informed me that it was only provided in the suites which weren't an option on the website. Again, another you should have known moment from the reception. I was checked into room 120 which had a view of construction. I had to call and ask reception to move me and asked again for a better view. We were moved into room 411 which had a much better view. The admin of relocating again was something not to look foward to. We had a lot of luggage due to traveling and unpredictable weather. The porter was greatly appreciated. Wonderful service from him.

The room had a refreshing esthetic and a bit different from the usual City Lodge Group design (Road, City and Town Lodge). So I was happy with that but unfortunately the finishes felt rushed and needed more fine tuning. Overall basic materials being re-purposed in a crafty way. Not necessarily high end finishes from this hotel. The paint job also a bit rushed both on the walls and the black on the hardware such as plugs.

Functionality The bed was very uncomfortable as it was only the mattress on what appeared to be a wood/steel frame. Everytime you made a slight movement a squel followed. You couldn't sit on the bed without it making a squeaky sound. The edges of the bed were very sharp and we bumped into them more times than our feet could bare. Very painful to say the least. I wanted to check out immediately after arrival but due to exhaustion after a Safari break, I had no will to find an alternative hotel/accommodation.

The restaurant There are 2 restaurants on the premises on the ground and 9th floor. The 9th floor was more of a bar feel that had your typical bar food e.g. wings, pizza, ribs. The ground level had more 'meal' options which made sense but inconvenient for a tapas/ variety ordering kind of girl. I felt like splitting myslef just to get what I actually wanted. We settled on the restaurant downstairs and the food was okay. I ordered a medium sirloin which came rare and chicken stew which was a bit dry.

The location This was the best thing about the hotel. Being at a close proximity to The Mall of Africa was honestly the saving grace for me. The only reason why we stayed really.

The hotel might be great for business due to it's great work facilities such as work share lounge but not necessarily for a city break. The security was also great as I've mentioned you couldn't operate the elevator or go to another floor without the room key. This was reassuring. We were also able to walk to and from the...

If you didn’t know, then now you will, that there was a stunningly built Courtyard Hotel at Waterfall City

This 4-star 168 room Hotel was opened in March 2021

This is the groups 63rd Hotel in the City Lodge Group, and a whopping 56th in South Africa, and only 5 are Courtyard hotels brand. The other Courtyards are located in areas such as Rosebank, Sandton, Arcadia and Gqeberha.

Being the Flagship hotel, they brought onboard Louise Nogueira Dracopoulos to bring together the interior designs, and to give the hotel a sleek and timeless feel to it, showcasing our South African roots.

Key features of the hotel include:

• 164 rooms and four penthouse suites

• The Protea (ground floor) and The Highline (ninth floor) restaurants, plus Club Lounge (ground floor)

• Three event areas cater for conferencing and banqueting of 40 people each or combined for 120 people (currently 20 people each, combined for 60 people as per Covid-19 regulations)

• Boardroom that seats six people (currently three as per Covid-19 regulations)

• Co-working spaces

• Lobby lounge

• Fitness room

• Swimming pool

Also, not forgetting, the complimentary Wi-Fi throughout; contactless check-in; QR codes for restaurant menus; an app that controls guest room doors, air conditioners and televisions; as well as free, secure underground parking; same-day laundry and dry-cleaning service; photocopy services; and 24-hour security. It really is impressive.

In terms of Restaurants, The Protea which is on the ground floor, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Highline, on the 9th Floor specialises in gourmet light Tapas style meals for lunch and dinner only, so that you can casually watch the sunset over the view outside. The club lounge also on the ground floor, has a space for private events or special occasions. Executive Chef Keegan Maistry heads up the kitchen and has put a lot of thought and effort into his menus to please all palates.

While walking around, we got to see the various types of rooms available for bookings:

Guest rooms offer the following:

164 rooms and four suites: spacious, air-conditioned rooms with queen or twin beds; suites have king beds; 16 family rooms with interleading doors

Secure key access to bedroom floors Well-appointed bathroom with spacious shower Mini fridge Tea and coffee making facilities Hairdryer Electronic safe large enough to accommodate a laptop Desk with lighting and plugs for easy connectivity Television with selected DStv channels and radio stations Selected rooms designed to meet the needs of the physically disabled Courtyard Ambassador rooming and assisting guests in suites

If you are in need of some pampering there is also a SPA – Skin Renewal Waterfall Aesthetic Clinic available for all your pampering needs.

We got to eat, drink and see what this hotel has to offer and its really a stunning addition to the Group of hotels. From the highline we nibbled on Crumbed Chicken wings, Beef Meatballs in teriyaki sauce, Crumbed Mushrooms, Olives nuts and crisps, biltong nuts and crisps. The from the Protea Menu we got to taste the Caesar Salad (Yum), Calamari (delicious), Crusted Line fish (Soothing), Mushroom Risotto (lacked a bit of flavour), Traditional Chicken Curry (which for me sadly was not the Durban style I was expecting as mentioned), Fillet with a Madagascan Pepper sauce (Divine). For dessert we were taken to other space to have some Coffee as well, where we were served our final course for the day a Infused Orange and Chocolate Torte sadly this wasn’t for me, I am not a dark chocolate lover and especially not with Orange thyme sorbet and Orange crisp, but everyone else seemed to love...

Courtyard Hotel Waterfall City is conveniently located in the hub of Waterfall City. ||The Mall of Africa's Entrance 10 is directly opposite the main entrance of the hotel should you wish to visit the largest mall in the Southern Africa. ||Public transport routes, the Gautrain bus routes, as well as access to e-hailing services providers make it easy to travel to and from the Courtyard Hotel Waterfall City. ||If you do have your own vehicle, there is safe and secure underground parking with disabled parking facilities, as the hotel caters for people with disabilities throughout the property including specially fitted interleading rooms.|The Courtyard Hotel offers conferencing rooms, as well as co-working spaces for hotel guests as well as the public. A neat gym facility with a full changing room and shower is provided should you require them before check-in or after check-out. ||The fine dining Protea restaurant caters for every palate, and there is a separate Halaal kitchen with utensils upon request. Sealed Halaal meals can also be pre-ordered before checking at an extra charge, but there are Halaal certified eateries and prayer facilities at the Mall of Africa. ||The rooms are very spacious and include a work desk, beverage station, and mini-fridge. The bathroom is only fitted with a shower. The suites which are located on the top floor of the hotel are bigger and are generally used for self-catering purposes. ||There is a room called Club Lounge that can be booked out for private functions which opens out to the luscious gardens and pool area. ||At the top of the hotel is the Highline where you can enjoy a light meal and drink while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Johannesburg skyline. ||A private Spa business is also located on the property. ||Our stay was only one night but we managed to enjoy quite a bit of the facilities the Courtyard Hotel had to offer. We were very impressed with the warm welcome and accessibility of the staff. Even though there is a full contactless system in place we were still assisted by friendly staff and management throughout our stay. Our requests exceeded our expectation, and were always met with enthusiasm. ||The room was impeccably kept and the cleanliness of the entire hotel was of a very high standard. ||Pricing of the room is very competitive and good value for money. There are always specials running on weekends, and even now during December with extra savings. ||We definitely recommend the Courtyard Hotel Waterfall City, and hope to visit...