 |
FAIRLAWNS LUXURY BOUTIQUE HOTEL & SPA
- Deluxe boutique hotel
- Exclusive lavish suites
- International standard gym and hydro
- La Terrazza Rosa restaurant
|
“They are small, highly individualistic operations, unlike modern purpose built hotels. They are usually buildings of character, are normally set in their own grounds in peaceful surroundings, and have high standards of hospitality and cuisine. ..To stay in one is an experience in itself rather than a functional necessity.”
The Fairlawns opened its doors as a boutique hotel in January 1998, with the original 12 courtyard suites, the restaurant and bar.
Today there are another 6 premier suites and a presidential suite, a conference centre, a large fully equipped gym and a spa.
Once the private home of John and Anna Thacker, the current owners, the property was bought from the Little Brenthurst Trust of Oppenheimer fame, (hence the Oppenheimer Suite), and consisted of a 10 acre property with horses and stables and rolling lawns (hence the name Fairlawns). Portions of the property have unfortunately been sold off, but it has managed to retain its stately, park-like ambience with huge mature trees and prolific bird-life. The external architecture is Palladian, but there are a myriad styles in the bedrooms, one to definitely suit every taste.
Apart from the beautiful surroundings, which without exception seems to elicit the response “one would never say one is in Johannesburg”, the warm, homely ambience is unerringly remarked upon as is evidenced by the comments in the visitors’ book. As one visitor commented “a home away from home, only better’. We believe that in this 21st century with its mass production of products and services which are becoming increasingly uniform across the globe, people from all walks of life appreciate being acknowledged as a very unique individual, in very unique surroundings. We strive to achieve that.
FACILITIES AND SERVICES:
- Wireless broadband internet access
- Closest hotel to airport apart from airport hotels
- Airport transfers on request - either a Vito microbus or a Rolls Royce
- complimentary transfers within the Sandton district
- Close to all the major business districts
- 4 km from Sandton City
- Easy access to golf, tennis, squash and horse riding
- Wonderful garden including large sparkling pool
- On-site Health spa facilities and Balinese spa garden
- On-site gym and steam room
- 18 hour Room service
- 24 hour reception and security services
- Secretarial services on request
- Travel assistance
- Same day laundry and valet services (except public holidays)
- à la carte restaurant
- Fully stocked bar
- Elegant private dining room
- Informal terrace dining
- Complimentary services
- Transfers to within 5kms
- Use of gym and steam room facilities
- Sherry, fruit, herbal teas, filter coffee and biscuits in suites
- Selection of newspapers in restaurant
- Complimentary, but by request only
- Cars washed
- Shoes polished
- Pressing of one garment per person per stay
- Use of boardroom for informal meetings for in house guest , availability permitting
ACCOMMODATION:
The Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa boasts 19 highly individual, world class, exclusive suites: 12 Courtyard Suites, 6 Premier Suites and a Presidential Suite.
There are a variety of accommodation packages available, such as the Deluxe Weekender, the Bridal Package, Honeymoon Packages, an Executive Destressor, and several spa packages which include overnight accommodation.
There is also a list of complimentary services which include, but are not limited to: transfers within the Sandton district; use of the gym and steam room facilities.
SUITE AMENITIES:
- Spacious en-suite marble bathrooms with separate showers and bidets
- Satellite TV, MNET and local channels
- Built-in international adaptors, Hairdryers, electric shaving sockets (220V),
- Goose down duvets, genuine cotton linen, gowns and slippers
- Extra length beds
- Working desks
- Room safes
- Mini bars
- Working fireplaces, undertile heating in bathrooms
- Individually controlled airconditioning
- Direct international dialing
- Wireless modems available for laptops or dial-up ISDN lines in suites
- Courtyard Suites
COURTYARD SUITES:
These original 12 Suites built in 1997 are 54 m2 in area, individually decorated with beautiful hand-painted techniques, high corniced ceilings, sumptuous fabrics and custom designed period furniture.
They comprise: The Windsor, The Empire, The French Provencial, The African, The Louis, The Bismark, The Swedish, The Scottish, The Mural, The English Manor, The Florentine and no 12 still known as The Honeymoon Suite.
Suite Amenities:
- Spacious en-suite marble bathrooms with separate showers and bidets
- Satellite TV, MNET and local channels
- Built-in international adaptors, Hairdryers, electric shaving sockets (220V),
- Goose down duvets, genuine cotton linen, gowns and slippers
- Extra length beds
- Working desks
- Room safes
- Mini bars
- Working fireplaces, undertile heating in bathrooms
- Individually controlled airconditioning
- Direct international dialing
- Wireless modems available for laptops or dial-up ISDN lines in suites
PREMIER SUITES:
The Premier wing was built in time for the World Summit held in Johannesburg in August 2002. The wing comprises some of the most opulent and distinctive suites in South Africa. Unlike the Courtyard Suites which have a more Eurocentric theme, the Premier Suites are all related to some aspect of South African history and honour such distinguished men and women as Emily Hobhouse, Jan Smuts, Nelson Mandela, The Dalai Lama, Harry Openheimer and Mahatma Gandhi. Each suite is 84m2 and really qualifies as a junior presendential suite.
These suites obviously offer all the amentities of the Courtyard Suites, and some extra features, which include :
- Two TV sets per suite
- DVD players
- Jacuzzi baths
- Heated towel rails
- Lounges can be fully seperated from bedroom area if desired by means of shutter doors
- Balconies overlooking the beautiful gardens
- Guest toilets in upstairs suites
PRESIDENTIAL SUITE:
A traditional, opulent European style villa, boasting 240 square metres of unadulterated luxury. This suite was especially designed for visiting dignitaries and sophisticated world travelers. It boasts :
- Three private bedrooms : main, guest and bodyguard/driver/butler room
- The main ensuite bedroom - a truly romantic suite - boasts working fireplace, two balconies with French doors, a steam shower, a 1.8m diameter Jacuzzi bath, extra large walk-in dressing room
- Guest bedroom suite also has a Jacuzzi bath and a large double shower
- Discrete private entrance to the villa
- Equipped Study
- Large lounge with fireplace
- Dining room with cocktail cabinet
- Kitchenette
- Butler service available on request
- Guest cloakroom
RESTAURANT AND BAR:
Our focus is to provide personal, flexible service in a refined and exclusive establishment. A full English breakfast and continental are included in the room rate and may be taken anywhere, anytime.
There is no cut-off time for in-house guests, and they may request breakfast by the pool, on The Rose Terrace, or in their suite should they so desire. However, the buffet is removed at 10h30 am. The lunch and dinner menus are à la carte.
Our candlelit dinners can be served in either the Private Dining-Room, in the restaurant or on the terrace. In the summer, guests may request a table be set on the lawns under the stars, or near the lit fountains, a service which we are happy to provide.
A light lunch menu and room service menu are also available. In the evenings, relax with an aperitif on the tranquil terrace or sip cognac in front of the winter fire in the Colonial Bar, with its hand-carved elephant heads.
In winter, guests congregate around the welcoming fireplace like moths around a candle, for some good old-fashioned gemutlichkeit.
The bar is a fully stocked, award-winning bar. To date, 2 merit, 3 platinum and 1 diamond award (one of only 5 National recipients) have been awarded by Diners Club "Wine list of the year" award. The Rose Terrace is open to non-residents for breakfast, lunch and dinner, seven days a week.
BANQUETING:
Our focus is to provide personal, flexible service in a refined and exclusive establishment.
The Fairlawns is the perfect venue choice for more intimate, sophisticated functions. There is a banquet menu selector to enable guests to design their own menu. There is a limited selection of wines available on the Banquet Wine List, as only readily available wines are on offer to avoid disappointment.
A function may be defined as anything from 10 to 100 guests, and may range from private breakfasts, lunches, dinners and cocktail parties, to corporate functions that include presentations, launches or black-tie affairs. Please arrange to meet with our reservations staff who will gladly supply you with all the possible permutations, and advise you wherever possible in ways to make your function a memorable one.
We have a list of preferred suppliers for flowers, music and sound equipment, but are happy to liaise with organizers who have their regular suppliers. Please bear in mind, however, that there are cut-off times and noise level restrictions that have to be applied for the comfort of fellow guests.
For smaller, intimate functions the Private Dining Room and the La Scala Room are ideally suited. For numbers over 30, the de Beers room is available, which can seat up to 100, banquet style.
WEDDINGS:
The Fairlawns is the ideal venue for the more mature, smaller wedding. There are restrictions concerning cut-off times and music volume, so if the bridal couple have a big blast in mind, we encourage them to choose a more party-orientated venue. Ceremonies can be held in the gardens, but the actual reception is held in the de Beers function room, in view of the increasingly unstable weather conditions.
There are a selection of banquet menus from which the bride can choose, as well a selection of presentation styles, ie. Cocktail, sit-down, buffet, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Choices are made in consultation with our F & B department in order to ensure that the best option is selected for the day. As no two weddings are the same, we invite people to come on a site visit, preferably by appointment, in order to discuss your particular needs.
In view of the small and intimate nature of the hotel, it is ideal for weddings that have to cater for overseas visitors, who can enjoy the excitement and ambience of the day in a congenial, exclusive environment. Either the entire hotel, or the Courtyard section, or the Premier Wing section can be block-booked. Please note, however, that total exclusivity cannot be ensured unless the entire hotel is booked.
The Hotel also has a gold Rolls Royce Silver Shadow which is available for transferring the bride and her father. What bride doesn’t want to feel queen for a day, and what better way than arriving in style?
Should the bridal couple decide to spend their first honeymoon night at the hotel, we have a selection of magnificent honeymoon suites. The Presidential Suite has also recently been made available for honeymooners at a very special rate, in order to fully utilize the wonderfully romantic main bedroom and bathroom with its 1.8m diameter Jacuzzi bath and steam shower. The standard extras for honeymoon packages are sparkling wine, fruit, flowers, candles and a petal turn-down, but by arrangement special requests can be organized.
CONFERENCES:
Our conference facilities are ideal for more intimate team building or management strategy or brain-storming meetings, ensuring privacy and pleasant surroundings. There are few clues that one is actually in the middle of the city. After conferencing, delegates are welcome to gather in the bar, or sit on The Rose Terrace to enjoy a sundowner. A full day conference package (DCP) is offered, although half day options are available, as well as tailor made accommodation packages. A dedicated, fully equipped conference centre offers the following meeting rooms:
BOARDROOM:
Size: 6.5 x 6.8 m
Description: Boardroom
No of delegates:
Boardroom style 12
DE BEERS:
Size: 15 x 9.8 m
Description: Conference / Banquet
No of delegates:
U-Shape 40
Schoolroom 78
Cinema 120
Banquet 100
CECIL J RHODES:
Size: 6 x 8 m
Description: Boardroom
No of delegates:
Horseshoe boardroom table 16
Voice conferencing facilities
BARNEY BARNATO:
Size: 15 x 9.8 m
Description: Conference / Banquet
No of delegates:
U-Shape 40
Schoolroom 78
Cinema 120
Banquet 100
LA SCALA:
This is a lovely combination room with both seating and dining facilities, perfect for smaller functions wishing private pre-dinner drinks, or conferencing in a more relaxed atmosphere, with 2 french doors leading onto the garden.
Standard Day Conference Package (DCP) : includes arrival, mid-morning and mid-afternoon tea/coffee/snacks; lunch ; use of standard equipment; venue hire; pens, pads, mints, mineral water.
Standard equipment: screen, whiteboard, flipchart, TV, video
Additional charges : Sound equipment, data projector, video conferencing
24 hour overnight conferencing package, which includes standard DCP, plus accommodation on a dinner (set menu), bed and breakfast basis
SPA:
Spas are no longer the domain of the spoilt and pampered. In the frenetic pace of urban life we ignore looking after our bodies, mental equilibrium and spiritual well-being at our peril.
We need to occasionally relax, empty our minds and soothe our souls in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. For those of us who cannot find the time or means to visit tropical spas, The Spa @ The Fairlawns, right in the heart of Sandton, seeks to recreate the principles of holistic healing in a pampering environment.
The newly built Balinese Spa Garden, with its hydrotherapy treatments, relaxation and dining pavilions and outdoor massage areas is as close as one is going to get this side of the Indian Ocean to what we all instinctively crave – time-out to renew our batteries, get our skins to glow and our energies to flow.
Welcome to our haven.
Spa guests are welcome to make use of the Balinese Spa Garden, with its hydrotherapy, relaxation and dining areas. It is, however, for the exclusive use of guests who have booked treatment packages.
Essential Grooming:
Manicures
Pedicures
Anti-aging Hand & Foot Care
Waxing
Tints
JOHANNESBURG:
HISTORY:
The region surrounding Johannesburg has been inhabited for millions of years. One of the oldest human skeletons ever found was discovered in a cave in Sterkfontein, to the northwest of Johannesburg in 1998. The skeleton, nicknamed Mrs Ples, is one of the few examples of Australopithecus africanus ever found, and is believed to be approximately 3.5 million years old.
Johannesburg, to all intents and purposes the economic capital of South Africa and indeed even sub-Saharan Africa, arose from a dusty and underdeveloped mining town to become a metropolis attracting scores of immigrants from northern african countries to find work in the city colloqually known as eGoli, the City of Gold.
The city is straddled in the middle of South Africa, no harbour or seafrontage to provide wealth, as is the case with other major metropolitan centres in the country, Durban or Cape Town. That Johannesburg became what it is today is testament to the gold rush in the region towards the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. Having initially discovered gold in the nearby Eastern regions of Barberton and the area now known as Pilgrims Rest in the 1880's, prospectors soon discovered that even richer pickings were to be had on the Witwatersrand region which now incorporates Johannesburg and the Vaal Triangle.
The town was initially much the same as any small prospecting settlement, but as word spread, people flocked to the area from all other regions of the country as well as from North America, the UK and Europe. As the value of control of the land increased, tensions developed between the Afrikaaners, who controlled the region during the nineteenth century and the English, culminating in the Anglo Boer War of 1899 to 1902. The Boers lost the war and control of this province, known as Transvaal, to the English.
When the British declared South Africa a Union in 1910, this paved the way for a more organised mining structure. The South African government instituted a harsh racial system whereby blacks and indians were heavily taxed, barred from holding skilled jobs and consequently forced to work as migrant labour on Johannesburg's growing crop of goldmines.
The regulations of apartheid were abandoned in February 1990, and since the 1994 elections, Johannesburg has, in theory, been free of discriminatory laws. The black townships have been integrated into the municipal government system, and to some extent, the suburbs have become multiracial.
GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE:
Johannesburg is located in the eastern plateau area of South Africa, known as the Highveld, at an elevation of 1753 metres. The city enjoys a dry, sunny climate with the exception of occasional late afternoon downpours from the months of October to April.
Temperatures in Johannesburg are usually fairly mild, with the average maximum daytime temperature in summer of around 27°C, dropping to an average maximum of around 20°C in winter. During the winter, the temperature occasionally drops to below freezing, causing frost. The annual average rainfall is 600 mm to 800 mm, which is mostly concentrated in the summer months.
Johannesburg's relatively dry climate has not stopped local residents and the city council from planting an abundance of trees, and the city prides itself on having the most planted trees of any city, or about six million, which has created a forest-like appearance, especially in the lush northern suburbs.
The different suburbs of Johannesburg are generally categorised by compass direction, as different areas of the city have greatly different personalities. Since Johannesburg is such a large city, there is great variety in the suburbs that comprise it. While the Central Business District and the surrounding areas were formerly highly desired wealthy areas, they have lost their former reputation after migrants took over abandoned buildings, and the crime level rose accordingly. The suburbs to the south of the city are mainly lower-class residential suburbs along with some townships, although most suburbs in the South tend to be extremely large and undistinguished.
The northern and northwestern suburbs have become the centre for the wealthy, containing the high-end retail shops and well as several upper-class residential areas including Houghton, where Nelson Mandela makes his home. The northwestern area in particular is vibrant and lively, with the mostly-black suburb of Sophiatown a hotbed of political activity and the Bohemian-flavoured Melville featuring lively gathering places and nightlife. Auckland Park is home to the headquarters of the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the University of Johannesburg.
To the southwest of the City Centre is Soweto, a mostly black urban area constructed during the apartheid regime specifically for housing African people who were then living in areas designated by the government for white settlement.
TOURISM:
Johannesburg is a transit point for connecting flights to Cape Town, Durban, and the Kruger National Park, hosts touristic attractions in and around the city, and is geographically close to rural game lodges and similar tourist attractions. Consequently, most international visitors to South Africa pass through Johannesburg at least once, which has led to the development of more attractions for tourists. Recent additions have centred around history museums, such as the Apartheid Museum and the Hector Pieterson Museum. Gold Reef City, a large amusement park to the south of the Central Business District, is also a large draw for tourists in the city. The Johannesburg Zoo is also one of the largest in South Africa.
Because Johannesburg is the economic and business hub of South Africa, it remains quite tourist friendly aside from issues such as crime. It features a variety of world-class hotels, shops, malls, restaurants and casinos, as well as safe drinking water, adequately maintained roads and infrastructure on par with other major global cities. English is spoken everywhere as a primary language.
The city also has several art museums, such as the Johannesburg Art Gallery, which features South African and European landscape and figurative paintings. The Museum Africa covers the history of the city of Johannesburg, as well as housing a large collection of rock art. The Market Theatre complex attained notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s by staging anti-apartheid plays, and has now become a centre for modern South African playwriting.
There is also a large industry around visiting former townships, such as Soweto and Alexandra. Most visitors to Soweto go to see the Mandela Museum, which is located in the former home of Nelson Mandela.
The Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is 25 kilometres to the northwest of the city. The Sterkfontein fossil site is famous for being the world's richest hominid site and produced the first adult Australopithecus africanus and the first near-complete skeleton of an early Australopithecine. |
|
, 
& 
merchants.