Johannesburg - The City Lodge Hotel Group has opened the first 49 rooms at its 90-room Road Lodge Pietermaritzburg and expects to have the hotel fully operational by December 1.
In a statement, the listed group says the hotel, which is in the one star category, is aimed a budget conscious business and leisure travellers.
With a total development cost of around R45 million - including land, building, furniture and fittings - the hotel is the 22nd Road Lodge in the country and the 56th hotel in the City Lodge Hotel Group.
This comes after the group said in August that it would expand its hotel portfolio by 15 percent to 7 837 rooms over the next few years as it moves ahead with development plans.
Road Lodge is the budget brand within the four-brand City Lodge Hotel Group - the other three brands being the four-star Courtyard Hotel, the three-star City Lodge Hotel and the two-star Town Lodge brands.
The group celebrated its 30th birthday on August 1.
For the last full year, it reported revenue up 22.6 percent to R1.3 billion, assisted by a contribution from City Lodge Hotel Waterfall City, which became fully operational in February, and from the acquisition of Hospitality Property Fund’s 50 percent stake in the Courtyard Joint Venture with effect from May for R77.5 million.
City Lodge Hotel Newtown (148 rooms) and Road Lodge Pietermaritzburg (90 rooms) are on schedule for a phased opening towards the end of the fourth quarter, with both hotels fully operational early in 2016, it has said.
In addition, construction on the 169-room City Lodge Hotel Two Rivers in Nairobi was set to start in September with completion expected in the first quarter of 2017. Construction on the 147-room City Lodge Hotel Dar es Salaam was also expected to begin during September, with completion also targeted for the first quarter of 2017.
Road Lodge Pietermaritzburg is situated on the corner of New England Road and Hesketh Drive in Hayfields, Pietermaritzburg, and employs a staff of 15.
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