Sky Venue

It's no secret that slowly but surely Durban is taking its reign back as the best holiday destination for locals in South Africa. We have the best beaches in the country with world class promenades to suit, we have a variety of shopping malls catering for everyone's tastes and our selection of eateries is forever increasing. One thing Durban has lacked though is good quality affordable accommodation but with the recent development of Suncoast Hotel and Towers, along with the upgrade and refurbishment of the Tsogo Sun Elangeni and Maharani hotels, things are changing for the better.

As you may recall I attended a special social media dinner at the Elangeni late last year to celebrate the completion of the refurb, the Panorama bar and pool deck offered splendid views of the Durban coast line but during that dinner I asked Tsogo Sun's social media manager about the old Raffles club that used to be at the top floor of the Maharani, her words to me at the time were "wait and see". Well wait I did and 2 weeks ago I received a personal invitation to the grand opening of 'Sky Venue'. Pretty appropriate name seeing that it is situated on the 31st floor off the Maharani Hotel. It offers unrivalled views of the coast and city, ideal venue to kick back and relax with a cocktail or dance the night away over looking the city lights.

With that in mind, that is exactly what Tsogo Sun did, they turned the old night club into a multi-purpose venue with custom lighting and sound to adapt to any of the offering environments. It could be a bar, a club, a theatre, a venue for what you please. One the opening night it showcased it's versatilely to the T. There was an arrivals area, a stage for the MC and performers, dance floor, most of the area was taken up by the multi station buffet showcasing the SSEM's specialities from the various restaurants. Druma, had a sushi bar with a variety of the seafood delicacy, the Grill Jichana had succulent rack of roast lamb with condiments to suite and no Durban event is complete without curry, with the curry bar of Vigour & Verve offering scrumptious currys and condiments that left people coming for more and more. 

The event kicked off with a few words from the gorgeous master of ceremonies, Jeannie D of Top Billing fame, followed by a talk from Tsogo Sun CEO Marcel Von Aulock who gave the guests an insight into the hotel groups influx of investment into their Durban assets. The revamp of the Durban beach promenade had a major role in them reinvesting into Durban, with the refurb of SSEM complete now with the opening of Sky, he made mention of the next phase of work to be done by the chain. This includes upgrades to the Garden Court Hotel which is almost done and a major refurbishment of one of Durban's most iconic hotels, Marine Parade but the big daddy had to be the 1.8 Billion Rand extension to Suncoast Casino which includes shopping mall complex, multilevel parking, more hotel rooms and a roof top aquatics park. Turning the already vibrant landmark into a world class resort. 

After the formalities, guests were treated to an exhibition of the human form by guest performers from Madam Zingara there after were entertained by Sterling EQ, who are an award winning instrumental pop band made up by 3 beautiful young ladies. The rest of the evening was left to guest being able to mingle and to chat to personnel from Tsogo Sun. The bar at Sky has a hosts of alochol to satisfy any thirst, couple this with the view of the Durban night sky, it was a wonderful evening.

Tsogo Sun have shown that they mean business with their plans for Durban which speaks volumes for the city. Now with Sky opened, it gives guests another option to visit on a night out in the town, yes it is open to everyone and anyone provided it isn't booked out for a private function, it's just a pity that the famous outside lift had to be removed due to modern health and safety rules but the eye catching LED display more than makes up for it. I foresee many visits to the establishments, especially to showcase it to out of town guest and let the view and service to the talking. See you at Sky Venue soon!

Dining with Tsogo Sun

When one has to think of Durban, the first thing that springs to mind is its beautiful beaches. Situated on the East Coast of South Africa, it boasts the warm waters of the Indian ocean that washes onto miles of KZN's shoreline. There is no doubt that it is Durban's biggest asset and its why the City undertook a major revamp to the main promenade before the 2010 World Cup. At completion, the promenade stretches over 5 kilometres and is rated as one of the best in the world along with cities such as Rio and Miami. 



With a world class attraction such as that, it was only time before the hotels along the beach front began to do face lifts and renovations to match the new look. Tsogo Sun being one of them, is one of SA's largest hotel groups and boasts 8 hotels in Durban. They have 5 along the beach front and the two oldest being the Maharani and Elangeni, both of which recently under went renovations.



Last week I was invited to the relaunch of the Hotel, although the Elangeni and Maharani being two buildings separated by an apartment block, it was interesting to learn that they now function as one hotel. Whether you're staying at the Maharani Towers or Elangeni, you can make use of all the facilities both have to offer. Which is quite cool, as both offer many great bars, restaurants and a spa. 



The evening started off at the Panorama bar situated on the second floor of the Elangeni Tower, it was one of the floors that was renovated and it clearly showed with a fresh coat of paint, some lovely new additions like a Froyo stand for the kids but main focus was the bar for obvious reasons. Gentle lighting with clever use of LED's gave the bar a welcoming feel. The bar leads onto the deck where the pool is situated, pity that due to the weather we were restricted to sit inside as its perfect for sundowners or evening drinks with mates. The bar offers various cocktails served up by their trained mixologists.






After the meet and greet with Tsogo Sun's Social Media Manager and the other invited guests, we made our way down to the new Grill Jichana which has taken place of the Jewel of India. Before making our way to the restaurant we were taken through to the other establishments, Connors Bar which really has an English Pub feel to it and then we popped into Daruma Japanese restaurant. It really is one of the gems of the hotel as I have been told on numerous occasions of how it is really one of the best Japanese eateries in SA and that all the food on offer, from Sushi to the Teppanyaki is absolutely delicious. 




There after it was time to dine, but before being seated the manger of the Grill gave us a tour of their specially made temperature controlled glass wine room. They have a vast selection of wines both local and international, I'm not a wine drinker of note hence a small tray that was lying on a table to the side caught my attention. On it was some of finest whisky's money can buy, which included Johnnie Walker King George Blue Label Whisky. 




Once back at the table, a melody of salads were pre-ordered for us, veg, chicken, duck, seafood and beef. All of which were accompanied by special dressings, the one which I really enjoyed was the chicken with pomegranate dressing, which had a bit of everything with the spiciness of the chicken, crisp leaves of lettuce and the sweetness of the pomegranate dressing worked wonderful together. 




Before ordering our mains, we were educated on the selection of meats, cuts and pairing of sides that compliment each meal. I opted for the Duo of Lamb which was a double leg chop and double rib chop. Both cuts marinated in a special rub and grilled to a medium rare, to perfection. I ordered Bafana chips (think cut fries) and onion rings as sides and a Madagascan Pepper Sauce which I was told has quite a bite. The rub which the meat was marinated in tasted superb, which made my pepper sauce redundant but I did use it as a dip for my chips and onion rings. The lamb was grilled perfectly, having that char grilled crispy on the outside and the meat a juicy pink inside. As you could imagine, it didn't last very long on my plate.



The mains along with the starter salads was pretty filling but there was always place left for dessert! The pick of the bunch was the Chocolate Bomb, what it essentially is, white chocolate mousse with normal chocolate mousse, inside a duo of chocolate ball, which then has hot chocolate sauce poured over it and when the shell melts it sort of explodes, exposing its contents. 5 types of chocolate was a bit much for me so I opted for the de-constructed milk tart which was equally good. Two layers of milk tart with caramel sauce and berries was a lovely way to end of the dinner. 



Once the evening was concluded, I had a chance to walk around the hotel as well as outside to have a look both buildings. The Maharani which is almost 40 years old underwent a full revamp, very cleverly they used the old external lift shaft as a lighting well which houses colour changing LED's which really makes the building stand out for the rest. Both buildings also received a new coat of paint so they really look fresh and new. Overall I am very impressed with what Tsogo Sun has done, its a great investment not only in their asset but to Durban's Golden Mile.