Southern Sun Hotels was formed in 1969[8] through a partnership between hotel magnate Sol Kerzner and South African Breweries Limited. At the time, Southern Sun Hotels was the largest[9] hotel group in the Southern Hemisphere. The group started with six hotels including the Beverly Hills[10][11] hotel in uMhlanga, near Durban.
In 1983[12] the group split, with the casino operations becoming Sun International, and the hotels remaining as Southern Sun. In 1985[13] the group acquired the Holiday Inn South Africa hotel group. This expanded operations from 27 to 50 hotels throughout the country. Between 1985 and 1990 the group became one of the largest fanchisees of Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Garden Court, and Express by Holiday Inn brands. During the 1990s the group expanded beyond South Africa. Hotels were opened and acquired in the Seychelles, Lusaka, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, and Nairobi.
In 1991 Southern Sun delisted from the JSE to become a wholly owned subsidiary of South African Breweries. In the same year Southern Sun entered into a joint venture[14] with Accor SA[15] to develop the Formula 1 and Formula Inn hotel brands in South Africa. In 1995 Tsogo Sun Holdings was constituted as a bidding consortium between Southern Sun and numerous black empowerment partners to form Tsogo Sun Gaming. In the same year the group entered into an agreement with InterContinental Hotels & Resorts to operate three hotels in South Africa. In 1999[16] Southern Sun acquired a 50% interest in a consortium with Liberty Group Limited (‘Liberty’) called The Cullinan Hotel Proprietary Limited (‘Cullinan’) which owned three hotels.
In 2000[17] the group opened the Sandton Convention Centre, one of the largest privately opened convention centres of its kind. In 2002 the group restructured resulting in Tsogo Sun having 51% black ownership from various empowerment consortiums with the balance of the shares owned by SABMiller. Subsequent to this, Hoskens Consolidated Investments (HCI) became the largest shareholder of the group. In 2005 the group rebranded several hotels to Southern Sun Hotels, Garden Court and StayEasy. The group also opened the first SunSquare branded property in the same year.
Between 2009 and 2011 the group acquired Blackrock Casino and the Caledon Casino, Hotel and Spa. A merger with Gold Reef Resorts Limited incorporated an additional seven casinos in the groups portfolio. In 2012[18] the group undertook a reverse listing on JSE to consolidate the casino businesses and Southern Sun Hotels under one brand, Tsogo Sun. In 2013[19] the group acquired Accor SA's holding in Formula 1 hotels and rebranded them () to SUN1. The group also completed the consolidation of the 734 room Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani hotel and invested $70 million into the Southern Sun Ikoyi hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.
In 2014, after 45 years, SABMiller disposed[20] of its stake in the group and the investment was placed in the local and international market. Southern Sun Abu Dhabi opened in the same year. In 2015[21] construction began on the 500 room SunSquare and StayEasy hotel complex in the Cape Town City Bowl. In 2016[22] the group began managing Crowne Plaza Rosebank and Holiday Inn Sandton. In June 2019 the business unbundled[23] into separate hotel and gaming interests. This resulted in Tsogo Sun Hotels (now Southern Sun) and Tsogo Sun Gaming being separately listed on the JSE. In February 2022 Hospitality Property Fund[24] delisted from the JSE and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Sun (previously known as Tsogo Sun Hotels).
In May 2022 Tsogo Sun Hotels rebranded[25] back to Southern Sun and in August of the same year the JSE listing changed to SSU[26] completing the rebranding process.
Brands
Southern Sun operates six hotel brands[27] and eight individually branded luxury properties.
Individually Branded Luxury Properties: 54 on Bath, Arabella Hotel, Golf & Spa, Beverly Hills, InterContinental Johannesburg O.R. Tambo Airport, Sandton Sun, Sandton Towers, Mount Grace Hotel & Spa, and Paradise Sun.
Southern Sun Hotels are a full service group of properties. These properties are 4-star graded properties.
Southern Sun Resorts are a collection of holiday resorts in locations near the Kruger National Park, uMhlanga Rocks, the central Drakensberg and Plettenberg Bay. These resorts include timeshare accommodation.
SunSquare are full service properties in urban locations.
Garden Court is a mid-tier brand widely located in South Africa and in one location in Kitwe, Zambia.
StayEasy are a budget brand with a focus on business travel.
SUN1 are focused at budget travellers with rooms designed for three sharing.
Notable Properties
Arabella Hotel, Golf & Spa
Beverly Hills - South Africa's first five star property[28] is located at 1 Lighthouse Road in uMhlanga, KwaZulu-Natal. In 2014 the hotel commemorated being in operation for 50 years.
Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani - The hotel on Durban's Golden Mile has 734 rooms, making it the largest hotel (by number of rooms) in South Africa.
The country's second largest hotel (by number of rooms) is the Southern Sun Waterfront hotel in Cape Town.
Paradise Sun - The only resort on Côte d’Or Beach on Praslin island in the Seychelles.
Beverly Hills hotel in uMhlanga
Sandton Sun & Towers - In 2022 Southern Sun rebranded[32] the InterContinental Sandton Towers Hotel to Sandton Towers.[33] The two properties offer a combined 557 rooms. Sandton Towers uniquely has direct access to the Sandton Convention Centre, and Sandton Sun is the only hotel on Sandton Sun's Diamond Walk.
Beacon Island – Located in Plettenberg Bay, this resort is one of South Africa's longest running hotels. The property is notable for its architecture[34] inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim museum design. In 2022 the property commemorated 50 Years of operation.
Sandton Convention Centre
The Sandton Convention Centre is one of South Africa's largest multi-purpose event and conference venues. The centre has 22,000m² over seven storeys, and can host up to 10,000 visitors. Since opening in 2000 it has hosted events such as Miss World, the Arnold Classic South Africa, and FIFA World Congress.
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