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Entrepreneur Gidon Novick is the founder of venture capital company Lucid Ventures, whose latest project, Home* Suite Hotels, is in a league of its own.
Last week, we attended the opening of the boutique hotel brand’s first offering, located on the corner of Oxford and Bristol roads in Rosebank, Johannesburg.
Guests, comprising Novick’s business partners and family members, enjoyed canapés and cocktails on the rooftop of this vibrant new hotel.
True to its name, the Home* Suite Hotels brand represents a home away from home.
For starters, there’s a resident dog, adopted from a local shelter.
And, on entering the trendy, 28-room space, you’re greeted by a smiling guest relations manager, who offers you a beverage of choice while you wait for your two-minute check-in.
The group has done away with conventional time-consuming check-ins. Instead, after downloading an app on to your phone, a mobile key is sent to your phone.
Cushioned comfort is the order of the day in the lobby. They add a soft touch to the brown, grey and red walls that give the three-storey hotel its urban look and feel.
The menu is simple but delicious, offering such homely meals as pies; beef or chicken burgers – complete with mature cheddar, bacon, smoky barbecue sauce, red onion chutney, pickles and tomatoes – accompanied by potato wedges; and a superfood salad filled with bulgur wheat, quinoa, charred broccoli, sweet potato, baby spinach, nuts, seeds, avocado and feta.
The rooms are spacious and include a chrome-cast entertainment system and personalised Wi-Fi.
Guests have access to Virgin Active clubs in the area.
Novick says travellers are looking for accommodation that incorporates the facilities of a large international hotel and the intimacy of a smaller boutique establishment.
The hotel chain is targeting seasoned business travellers and tourists.
In attendance at the launch was Ronen Aires, chief executive of youth agency Student Village, who described the hotel as “portraying Gidon’s excellence and innovative nature”.
Another invited guest had this to say of the luxurious new hotel: “I have seen it periodically, right from developmental stage, and never imagined it to be like this. When you come here, it feels like home, but with a modern and classy touch.”
A second hotel is being developed, also in Rosebank, and another in Sandton.
Three hotels are planned for Cape Town – in Sea Point, Gardens and De Waterkant.
Rates at Home* Suite Hotels start at R2 100 per room per night (single or double occupancy)
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