Peermont Metcourt Hotel — Hotel in Gauteng

Spending a few days in a hotel adjacent to a casino conjures up a number of vivid, high contrast images: gold leaf, statues, crimson carpets and guys with ear pieces and suits trying to blend in. I have watched too many movies as the Peermont is a sobering reality with zero suggestion of those images. It is considerably more modest not dissimilar to a stereotypical Holiday Inn . In fact, all your assumptions about an airport hotel are personified likely due its almost neighbourly proximity to OR Tambo airport. The good news is there is a short shuttle bus that transfers you between the airport and the hotel. The rooms (and hotel) are a study of utilitarianism but with fast reliable WiFi, a shower, a sink which is in the 'living area' of the room, a comfortable enough bed and surprisingly quiet despite being in the middle of a large compound. My engagement with any of the staff here was always pleasant; they are friendly and approachable and - to be honest - are the best thing about the hotel. The gym is large (for a hotel) Despite the inspiring wallpaper of heavy weightlifters and Olympians, it is abundantly clear that these athletes did not train anywhere like this given the saturation mostly cardio equipment (as is often the case with hotel gyms). The hotel should invest in a barbell rack, a cable machine and or at least a dumbbell set. The breakfast was included in my room rate (this was booked by an agency for me so I could not tell you whether that is standard for everyone). For me, a hotel breakfast can be the thing that brings you back again and again. A wide variety of options of high-quality presented and laid out like a cornucopia. This was partly realized here; there were a number of good options including your typical continental pastry and cereal options, fresh fruit, yoghurts, and eggs station and nods towards more international items from East Asia and southern Asia. While there are a breadth of options here it nonetheless retains that very functional feeling that pervades the hotel. And this is the point: the Peermont is transactional. If you are here on business or passing through Johannesburg looking for an overnight stay to connect to another flight elsewhere, you may not want to throw down a lot of money for somewhere that you will not spend enough time to recoup the benefits. With that in mind this might be an ideal stay given the proximity to the airport and the modest hotel rate. If you are looking for something a little more modern, special or luxurious, I would encourage you to continue searching.

Would I stay here...

Extremely Disappointed – Standards at Metcourt Have Dropped Drastically

As regular guests of the Metcourt Hotel at Emperors Palace, we are appalled by how far the standards have fallen. What used to be a convenient and pleasant stay has now turned into a consistently frustrating experience — and sadly, this most recent visit was the worst yet.

Let’s start with the breakfast staff. The ladies working in the breakfast area, at the front are beyond rude — it’s as if they’ve been instructed to treat guests with disdain. The attitude is condescending, and they carry themselves with a superiority complex that is both unwarranted and completely unprofessional. This is not a one-off experience; we’ve noticed this same unacceptable behavior over multiple stays. At this point, it seems deeply ingrained in the service culture, which is unacceptable for a hotel of this supposed caliber. We are demanding a formal apology for the way we’ve been treated.

Unfortunately, the problems don’t end there. The rooms are barely functional. On this stay alone, the air conditioning was faulty, which left the room stuffy and uncomfortable. Half the appliances simply don’t work — lights flicker or don’t switch on, plugs are loose, and maintenance seems to be nonexistent. The TV doesn’t work properly, cutting out channels and freezing regularly. As for the WiFi, it’s practically unusable. In 2025, this is inexcusable — especially for a hotel that charges “premium rates”.

We’ve been loyal to Metcourt for a long time, but at this rate, we’re seriously reconsidering. The consistent lack of respect from the breakfast staff, coupled with the rapidly deteriorating condition of the rooms and unreliable amenities, has left us feeling deeply disappointed. If management is reading this, you owe your guests better — and you certainly owe us an apology. Fix your staff. Fix your rooms. Or you’ll keep losing the guests who used to believe...

While the rooms at the Peermont Metcourt Hotel at Emperor’s Palace are lovely, our experience was not. I prebooked a Family Room for four, but when we checked in, we were given a room with one double bed. I went back to reception, where the wait was quite long. We were then given another room with the extra beds. Not long after unpacking, we discovered that the balcony sliding door, which was next to our kids’ beds, would not lock. It was very easily opened onto the balcony, which was shared with the room next door. The railing had quite large gaps, and we feared that our kids would want to explore while we were sleeping. So I went once more to the reception desk, waited in the queue and asked for a key to the balcony door. They gave us another room on the ground floor instead. So we packed up our things again and moved to the new room. This room had the right number of beds, no balcony... and no WiFi. The kids, who were watching YouTube on our iPad were quite annoyed, but we didn’t want to try for a fourth room, so just stayed. When our two year old battled to sleep in the single bed, we went back to reception to request a camp cot. I was told there was only one left, but no bedding. I said that was fine, and that I’d use the bedding from the bed. They took our room number and told us it would be there shortly. A very painful two hours later, with a very tired little girl, the camp cot has still not arrived. When we try to call reception from the room it just rings and rings. (It also did this the day I tried to book, after no less than 8 calls not picked up). Our latest room is on the ground floor, near a popular lift which beeps and chimes each time it opens, also next to the noisy ice machine and across from the gym which, at 10:30pm is still blaring Jacaranda FM...