Saxon Hotel, Villas And Spa

“Our go-to property in Johannesburg”

We spent two nights here prior to our trip to Botswana's Okavango Delta, Linyanti Selinda Concession and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Parks. We've stayed at The Saxon three times prior and have always considered this to be the highest quality accommodation in the entirety of Johannesburg. On shor… more

We spent two nights here prior to our trip to Botswana's Okavango Delta, Linyanti Selinda Concession and the Makgadikgadi Pans National Parks. We've stayed at The Saxon three times prior and have always considered this to be the highest quality accommodation in the entirety of Johannesburg. On shorter stays (especially layovers that are less than one day), we choose the excellent InterContinental at the airport, but for anything longer, The Saxon is the place. The design and decor is distinctly South African, but is thankfully done in a way where it's light and airy rather than a dark-colonial feel. The property itself is quite vast - the grounds are surrounded by nature, and many of the rooms are quite spread out to give everything a quaint feel. The main building houses the reception and lobby, as well as the bar and pool/terrace. It is also where breakfast is served. The pool terrace is a particularly calm outdoor space that features a large heated swimming pool, views of a peaceful koi pond, and casual dining served right by the water or indoors (during adverse weather). One thing we appreciate about the hotel is its level of service and amenities for a property of just 53 rooms. For instance, they offer 24-hour in-room dining, full butler service and a solid gym and spa. Speaking of the spa, that's where slight disappointment sets in - everytime we stay here, we struggle to book a reservation with a therapist. They either need to increase the number of therapists, or figure out a way to give priority only to staying guests (if that's already the case, then they really need to expand the spa and increase the personnel there). Outside of the spa, the Saxon is staffed very abundantly - everything from front desk to butlers to wait staff are everywhere; we never had to wait to flag down someone to request something. And all of them tended to us with a warm smile each time. The included breakfast is excellent - given the small number of rooms, it's not buffet style, but rather a-la carte and made to order. We generally prefer that, and especially appreciate the ability to order whatever you like in any way you choose - mixing and matching is not a problem at all. The gargantuan Presidential Suite is large, features to bathrooms and is bright, thanks to large windows and the light, muted tons of the furnishings. Although we don't feel the room to be outdated, there are a few things that could be improved. For starters, there are a dearth of power outlets in areas where we'd like to have them. The large dining table should double as one's workspace, yet there is nowhere to plug in a laptop charger. They did bring us a very long extension cord, but it would be nice if we didn't have to make such requests in the first place. In addition, the toilets are in need of Toto-fication. Given we spend some of our time in Japan, we cringe when we visit luxury properties that lack a modern washlet toilet. Not only that, but when flushing the toilets in our room, it does so extremely vigoriously, so much so that some of the water does spray out of the bowl - not good. Finally, we found the bed comforter to be way too heavy. A down comforter would be preferable. Nitpicks aside, this is a very upscale hotel by African standards and will continue to choose The Saxon for our future visits. The Four Seasons Westcliff, by the way, is not in the same league.

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