Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa

High walls and old trees line the streets of Sandhurst, the residential suburb beside Sandton in northern Johannesburg, and behind one set of gates stands the Saxon Hotel, Villas and Spa. It began as a private house, and much of its fame comes from one long stay by one guest. Nelson Mandela lived here for several months in the early 1990s and worked on the manuscript of his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom, published in 1994.

History

The house belonged to Douw Steyn, the insurance entrepreneur behind Auto & General, and Mandela stayed as his guest. When Steyn turned the property into a hotel at the turn of the millennium, it kept the scale and privacy of a home. The hotel still trades on that: a small number of large suites rather than long corridors of rooms, and a staff large in proportion to the number of guests.

The Saxon later grew by adding villas within the estate, each with its own entrance and facilities, so that families and groups can take a self-contained house with hotel service. The original house stays at the centre of it all.

Architecture and design

The buildings are low and broad, arranged around pools of still water and gardens planted with trees and indigenous shrubs. Interiors combine dark timber, stone and neutral fabrics with a large collection of African art and craft, including carvings, masks and textiles. Tall windows and screens bring in light, and most of the public rooms open onto terraces. Johannesburg sits at about 1,750 metres, and its dry, sunny winters suit a building that turns outward to its gardens. Water runs through the grounds in channels and still pools, which cool the terraces on summer afternoons.

Rooms and suites

All accommodation is in suites, each with a separate living area, a large bathroom and a terrace or balcony over the gardens. The villas add several bedrooms, private pools, kitchens and their own staff.

Dining

The hotel's restaurant serves tasting menus at dinner and draws Johannesburg diners as well as guests. A wine cellar holds South African and imported bottles, and breakfast and lunch are served on the terraces beside the pool.

Wellness

The Saxon Spa has treatment rooms, a relaxation area, a gym and a heated pool.

Weddings and events

The hotel hosts weddings, private dinners and small meetings. Its rooms suit board meetings and gatherings of modest size rather than large conferences, and the gardens are used for receptions.

Location

Sandhurst lies immediately west of Sandton, Johannesburg's main business district. Johannesburg grew out of the gold rush on the Witwatersrand after 1886, and the northern suburbs, Sandhurst among them, were laid out during the twentieth century as the city spread north.The Gautrain, which opened its airport line in 2010, runs from Sandton station to O. R. Tambo International Airport in about 15 minutes, and by car the airport is 30 to 40 minutes away, depending on traffic. Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square, where a six-metre bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled in 2004, are a short drive from the hotel.

Further afield, the Cradle of Humankind, a World Heritage Site of fossil caves that includes Sterkfontein, lies about an hour to the north-west, and Pretoria is under an hour to the north. Lanseria International Airport, to the north-west, handles many private and regional flights.For travellers on safari, the Saxon is often the first or last night in the country, between an international flight and a light aircraft to the bush. As a luxury hotel in Johannesburg, it competes on privacy rather than on size.