Gaming, hotel and entertainment group Peermont announced on Monday that it is to develop a fourth hotel at its flagship Emperors Palace resort near OR Tambo International Airport, east of Johannesburg.

The new hotel will complement the existing 5-star D'oreale Grande, the deluxe 3-star Mondior and existing 3-star Metcourt hotel properties.

The 248 key, top end 3-star hotel will be developed at a cost of some 170 million rand and will create a new standard of modern, contemporary convenience and functionality. It is scheduled for opening in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The site for the new hotel is on the northwest boundary of the Emperors Palace complex on Jones Road.

The Metcourt will have a comfortably large ground floor reception area with a number of on-site amenities that include a business centre, board room, residents pool area and a buffet-style restaurant, all with Wi-Fi Internet access. Large dedicated facilities for the arrival and check-in of tour groups will allow for even more convenient passage through registration.

Anthony Puttergill, CEO of Peermont commented: "We are delighted to be able to grow our number of hotel rooms at Emperors Palace from the current 426 to 674 when the new Metcourt is completed.

"The current and projected air traffic growth at neighbouring OR Tambo International Airport and the growing South African economy and subsequent hotel demands by business travellers provide us with a unique opportunity to broaden our platform in the rapidly expanding tourism and convention market at a sustainable level," he added.