Sun International’s Sandton hotel, The Maslow – which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year – has returned to pre-COVID profitability.
This is according to GM of The Maslow, Herman Swart, who spoke to Travel News on the side lines of the hotel’s birthday celebrations last week.
Swart pointed out that The Maslow had closed for six months during the height of the pandemic and was forced to reduce its staff compliment during that time.
“Although we did not know how we were going to make it to the other side, we knew COVID would bring opportunities and we needed to be ready for it. We had to contain our costs to ensure a strong comeback. Due to this strategy, we have improved our profitability significantly post-COVID and we strive to keep recruiting back those staff that are still without work,” Swart said.
Conferencing, which Swart expected to be slow to return, instead bounced back fast as businesspeople find value in face-to-face interaction. “As a result, our conferencing venues are sold out weeks in advance.”
The hotel rooms have enjoyed the same success as the conference facilities. “We are proud to be tracking above the average occupancy in the Sandton area, which has ample rooms available,” Swart added.
The international source market is the top priority for The Maslow, however, the local market is recovering way faster. The hotel still aims to achieve a 70% international occupancy.
Swart concurred with many other hoteliers that business travellers are increasingly extending their trips.
“We are seeing businessmen staying for periods of up to 30 days,” he said.
Celebrating 10 years
The Maslow held a dinner last week to celebrate its tenth birthday and to launch a new menu.
The 281-room property opened its doors in December 2012 after a R250m (€13m) refurbishment when it became Sun International’s first business-centric hotel in its portfolio.
Before transforming into The Maslow, it was the Southern Sun Grayston Hotel, and a Holiday Inn in the 1980s.
Over the last 10 years, prominent guests at The Maslow have included Nelson Mandela, The Waterboys, The Cure, as well as leading soccer and rugby players.
As part of its ten-year celebrations, the hotel’s dining options for the Lacuna Bistro, Bar and room service have been updated, with Executive Chef Omar Menhouk and his kitchen teams working for an entire year to refine and perfect new dishes.
While favourites like the Durban chicken curry and meat platter remain to please regular guests, Menhouk has tapped into his Algerian heritage, the countries he has worked in across the African continent and the influence of global cuisine such as French and Italian, to create a menu with international flair.
“South Africans are spoilt for choice when they eat out – chefs here are encouraged to be able to cook everything so that you can deliver to every taste,” Menhouk said.
The new star dishes are the Moroccan lamb shank tagine and crispy Lebanese chicken.
The new desserts are an almost-flourless chocolate cake, baklava with pistachio nut filling, or – Chef Menhouk’s favourite – a scoop of artisan ice-cream especially flown in from Cape Town in a range of flavours including Ferrero Rocher and ginger shortbread.
There is also a new children’s menu and vegan and vegetarian options, a full steakhouse offering, seafood and tapas.
