Johannesburg, South Africa

AtholPlace House

Price per night from$1,271.64

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (ZAR19,130.43), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

AtholPlace House Photos

Style

The Hamptons via Africa

Setting

Laidback, leafy suburb

Explore

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AtholPlace House in scenic Sandton is your perfect pre-safari pit stop, en route to the awesome Kruger. The main house can be booked exclusively for up to 18 guests and AtholPlace Villa is an even more intimate property close by; the privacy offered here makes the house ideal for multigenerational breaks or family sojourns. Forget lions, leopards, elephants and co – the peaceful pool, brilliant restaurant, charming staff, prime location and romantic rooms are the Big Five here. While away your days in the gorgeous grounds, making the most of South Africa’s sunny climate; by night, a chef can whip up creative fusion food tailored to your tastes, paired with top-notch wines. Jo’burg’s generous supply of cultural lures, retail thrills and gourmet treasures are all within easy reach, too.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

Guests staying one night get a bottle of sparkling wine on arrival; stay two nights or more and you’ll also get one dinner for two at the restaurant (excluding drinks)

Facilities

Photos AtholPlace House facilities

Need to know

Rooms

Nine suites.

Check–Out

11am, but flexible; earliest check-in, 2pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £1054.51 (ZAR22,000), including tax at 15 per cent.

More details

Rates usually include breakfast (part buffet, part à la carte), plus soft drinks, local house wines and spirits. The full-bard rate includes all meals and with the all-inclusive rate you also get a private guided tour of Johannesburg and snacks.

Also

Massages with a fleet of offsite therapists can be arranged in advance. Also relaxing: the gardens, which are dotted with striking art pieces.

At the hotel

Gardens, library and free WiFi. In rooms: TV; desk; air-conditioning; Africology bath products; minibar; free bottled water; and tea- and coffee-making facilities.

Our favourite rooms

Don't squabble over it, but Superior Suite 3 takes pole position, on account of its winsome garden and pool views. Each of the nine rooms has a balcony, ensuite bathroom and elegant decor, so you can't really go wrong when divvying them up.

Poolside

There’s a temperature-controlled main pool with a deck and sunloungers in the garden; this has Roman steps and a shallow end, too.

Packing tips

Bring your favourite slippers or bed socks, plus a tome or two.

Children

Lucky little Smiths are very welcome. Babysitters can be booked in advance (for an extra cost), so parents can enjoy a quiet dinner à deux if they wish. There are highchairs too and meals can be tweaked for tots on request.

Food and Drink

Photos AtholPlace House food and drink

Top Table

The usual rules apply: sit out on the veranda in summer; snuggle up by the fire in winter.

Dress Code

Tight waistbands aren’t advised. Add a touch of casual glamour to honour the elegant decor and delicious dishes.

Hotel restaurant

Blush-pink chairs, wood panelling and vibrant Lionel Smit artworks decorate the dining room, and windows overlook the garden and pool. Staff will prep creative fusion food (lunch and dinner on request and for an extra charge if you're not staying full-board or all-inclusive) that riffs on its South African roots, while looking abroad to Europe and Asia. The menu changes in accordance with the seasons; previous crowd-pleasers include: springbok tartare, dahl curry, and crispy squid with kimchi and mirin. Canter through dishes on the tasting menu, which comes with optional wine pairings. 

Hotel bar

The bar is an intimate spot for gatherings with comfy sofas, a gas fireplace, direct access to the terrace and an enviable gin selection, including Fynbos gin made in South Africa (pick from Classic, Verdant or Amber) make the bar a tempting proposition.

Last orders

Eat as and when you please, just give your chef and butler a heads-up first.

Location

Photos AtholPlace House location
Address
AtholPlace House
90 Pretoria Ave, Atholl,
Johannesburg
2196
South Africa

You’ll find AtholPlace in scenic Atholl, a short distance from the commercial centre of Sandton.

Planes

Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport (JNB) is a 40-minute drive away; let Smith24 sort your flights. Single transfers cost ZAR 1,100 per car.

Trains

Gautrain Sandton station is one kilometre from the house, with services connecting to Johannesburg.

Automobiles

Johannesburg is a 10-minute drive away; the house has plenty of on-site parking. From the airport, take the R24 then continue onto the N12 (follow signs for N12/Johannesburg). At the interchange, bear left onto the N3, then take the exit toward the Eastern Bypass (M1 North). Take the ramp onto the De Villiers Graaff Motorway; turn right at the Grayston Drive/M40 off ramp; bear left into Katherine Street. After a kilometre, turn left into Pretoria Avenue. AtholPlace is on your left-hand side, at number 90.

Worth getting out of bed for

Having quizzed the friendly staff for local tips, and spent sufficient time relaxing by the pool, go exploring further afield. Set off on a guided walking tour of Maboneng, the city’s sprawling arts district, or Newtown, pausing to admire the colourful street art, sample the local food and listen to some live music. Learn about South Africa’s complex history by visiting Soweto and the Apartheid Museum at Northern Parkway and Gold Reef Road. Visit Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, at the corner of Rivonia Road and Central Sandton. Get your retail kicks in the city’s celebrated shopping districts: Rosebank, Melrose and Sandton. Discover the origins of mankind at the Sterkfontein Caves, a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Local restaurants

Fire is crucial to South African cookery, so get Marble Restaurant all in your grill. Start with Marble Bites – pork tacos, kimchi chicken thighs and lamb roll – and progress on to some flame-grilled meat: ribeye or short-rib with broccoli purée and garlic emulsion, perhaps. Experimental name; experimental cuisines: DW Eleven-13 serves inventive dishes inspired by all four corners of the globe; the wine list is also worth talking about. You’ll find this ambitious restaurant in the Dunkeld Shopping Centre.

Local cafés

Enjoy beautiful, simple flavours at Tashas, an elegant café chain run by Tasha, who comes from a family of food-lovers. Order signature dishes from the Classic Menu, which gets an annual revamp. The Atholl outpost is housed within the Atholl Square Shopping Centre, on the corner of Katherine Street and Wierda Road East Sandton.

Reviews

Photos AtholPlace House reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this relaxed hotel in Sandton and unpacked their biltong and binoculars, a full account of their South African city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside AtholPlace House in Johannesburg…

Warning: there’s one thing you will hate about AtholPlace House: leaving. You see, the house has it all: beautifully decorated rooms, serene gardens, a peaceful pool, a brilliant chef, wonderful wine, utterly lovely staff and a prime location. Treat this handsome hideaway as your scenic South African cocoon: it’s designed for total relaxation, even though the buzz and bustle of Jo’burg is just a 15-minute drive away. Enjoy ambitious, tailored-to-your-tastes fusion food in the dining room (and trust the sommelier’s clever wine pairings), have a massage in your room or suite, go for a stroll around the grounds, sip your way through the bar’s boast-worthy gin selection and spend some time chatting to the chef, bartenders and gardeners. This is a great base from which to explore the city’s museums, galleries, restaurants and bars; you can also use AtholPlace as your boutique stepping-stone to safari adventures in the awesome Kruger...

 

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Price per night from $1,271.64

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