Travel and vacations - Carlton Hotel, Johannesburg

Colin,

Unfortunately the Carlton Hotel ceased operation as a hotel quite a
few years back. It is situated in what has become a rather dodgy area
not suited to tourists.

It is a very common mistake for visitors to assume that visiting
Johannesburg means staying in the city centre. When South Africans
refer to Johannesburg we mean the greater Johannesburg area which is
ENORMOUS. It includes the cities of Sandton, Randburg, Edenvale,
Kempton Park etc, and it stretches about 50km North/South and 75km
East West. It is generally NOT a good idea to stay in a hotel in the
city centre.

Do you know what you'd like to do while in Johannesburg? The reason I
ask is that I can then recommend hotels that are best suited to your
stay. There are plenty of decent hotels and B+B's in your price range.

Have a look at http://www.flysaa.com for online bookings for internal
flights. They have some very cheap internal flights available if you
pick the right dates and times to fly.

Please feel free to e-mail me directly on
(obviously you must edit the ddress and remove the capital letters)
about your plans etc. and I'll be more than happy to advise, make
recommendadtions, suggestions etc. I'm not involved in the tourism
industry in any way, I just like to help visitors enjoy the country I
love. :-) I often voulunteer (as long as it's convenient) to meet
people at the airport and take them to their hotel, show them around a
bit etc. I don't ask or expect any form of payment, I feel it is my
patriotic duty to turn visitors into ambasadors for my country :-)

Please bear in mind that there are areas of Johannesburg that are very
dangerous. You need to be aware of these areas and avoid them.
Otherwise, Johannesburg is a fascinating city with great restaurants,
nightlife, business pulse, shopping, museums, sports, events etc.

April is a very nice time to visit Johannesburg. It's cooling off at
that time, and everything is still pretty green. If you're a golfer,
it's the perfect time to visit.

Regards,
Marc

On Sun, 16 Oct 2005 20:58:55 GMT, "colin."
wrote:

Is the Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg still open? I have heard my parents
talk fondly of it from their time there in the 60s and 70s, and as I will be
making my first trip to ZA in April I thought it would be nice to stay
there.

Failing that, can anyone recommend a nice hotel in Johannesburg for around
R400-500 per night?

Also, would it be cheaper for me to purchase internal flights once I get
there, or to do them from here?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.

Colin
Glasgow, UK