THE Rosebank Hotel reopened its doors this year to reveal its R305m refurbishment, which began more than 18 months ago.

Andrew Rogers, chief operating officer of Hospitality Property Fund and owner of hotel, says: “We have created a high quality hotel that will offer the best of South African hospitality in the face of a growing tourism market ahead of the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup.”

The hotel’s 318 rooms have been upgraded and the lobbies and entrances have been

“We put a lot of thought into the design, amenities and accessibility of the hotel. Time saving and convenience are important for the professionals, while luxury is important for the holiday maker,” says Rogers.

Nicole Mason, an architect at DSA, the firm which was briefed to refurbish the hotel, says the towers were completely redone and the windows were replaced with new contemporary materials — rough plaster with fragments of glass embedded in it. “The new entrance, the bar and the lounge are one, big light capturing space,” says Mason. “It’s a large volume, open-plan area, designed to let in as much light and be as airy as possible.”

Mason says some of the challenges for the firm were the positioning of the pool, which was moved from what is now the sunken lounge to outside the spa, and had to be built above an existing parking basement. This meant they could not dig into the foundations, but had to build the pool from the ground up.

Source: Business Day