Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch Review

After yet another flight in Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 Business Class from Doha to Johannesburg, it was time to begin our South African adventure with a stay at the Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch.

The hotel is located in the upscale Melrose Arch precinct, surrounded by restaurants, shops and other hotels. Several parts of Johannesburg are also within relatively easy reach.

Getting From Johannesburg Airport to the Hotel

Getting to the hotel from O.R. Tambo International Airport was straightforward, and surprisingly, we encountered almost no traffic despite arriving on a Friday around what I expected to be rush hour.

Check-In at Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch

Upon arrival, the bellmen immediately helped unload our luggage while we made our way into the beautifully decorated lobby. Palesa, a friendly front desk attendant, checked us in. She went over the hotel’s amenities and explained my benefits as a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite member.

We were also approached and welcomed by Naledi, whom I believe was the front desk manager on duty. Our room was on the fifth floor, which is the hotel’s concierge level.

Unfortunately, there was no upgrade available during our stay. I had also applied my Suite Night Awards to the reservation, but those didn’t clear either since there were no suites available. You win some, you lose some.

Read More:
Andaz Macau Review

1 King Superior Room

While we didn’t get a suite, the 1 King Superior Room turned out to be quite spacious. In fact, it felt almost as large as the Junior Suite we had been upgraded to at the Sheraton Milan San Siro about a week earlier.

Similar to the rooms at the Lagos Marriott Hotel Ikeja, this room overlooked the pool and had a king-size bed with a nightstand on each side and pendant lights hanging above them. The rest of the room included an armchair, two additional chairs with a table, a TV, coffee machine, refrigerator, robe and slippers. There was plenty of room to move around, and despite technically being a standard room, it certainly didn’t feel cramped.

Bathroom

The bathroom was fairly simple but modern. It featured a walk-in shower, single vanity sink and toilet, along with the usual bath products.

M Club Lounge

One of my Marriott Titanium benefits was access to the M Club, located on the ground floor. The lounge had a contemporary design with a mixture of sofas, restaurant-style tables and chairs, a coffee machine, two computers with a printer, and a TV mounted on the wall. It was a comfortable place to sit, get some work done or grab something to eat.

The evening happy hour turned out to be pretty good. There was enough food available that we basically made dinner out of it, and I actually enjoyed the food. Unlike breakfast the next morning.

Read More:
Conrad New York Midtown

Breakfast at the M Club

Johannesburg gets bright surprisingly early, and at around 5:00 in the morning, we were already awake and hungry. So, we eventually made our way downstairs for breakfast at the M Club. And this is where things started to go downhill a little.

Breakfast itself was a bit of a letdown for me. My biggest disappointment was that I couldn’t find a single local South African dish. Come on, we’re in Africa. This would have been a perfect opportunity to show off some South African food to visitors from around the world. Instead, most of what was available was the kind of standard hotel breakfast you could find almost anywhere.

Breakfast at Keystone Bistro

Since the rate I booked already included breakfast, I decided to also check out Keystone Bistro to see whether the main restaurant offered something different. The restaurant itself certainly looked the part. The decor was beautiful, and the overall design and aesthetics were difficult to ignore.

Read More:
The Westin Singapore

There was an egg and waffle station inside the semi-open kitchen, multiple coffee stations and a larger breakfast spread than what was available in the M Club. Unfortunately, while there were a few more choices, the food was still mostly similar to what we had seen in the lounge.

And since I’m already talking about breakfast, I might as well say it: I didn’t find much of the food particularly flavorful. Of course, food is very subjective, and I’m sure other guests will completely disagree with me.

But between the M Club and Keystone Bistro, breakfast was probably the weakest part of my stay. Which was funny, because the food served during the previous evening’s M Club happy hour had actually been quite good.

One Thing You Shouldn’t Miss: The Fresh Croissants

There was, however, one breakfast item worth talking about. The croissants.

The croissants came out warm, fresh and easily became one of my favorite things at breakfast. The bakery section in general was one of the better parts of the spread. If you’re staying here and having breakfast at Keystone Bistro, don’t skip the croissants.

Around the Hotel and Melrose Arch

One of the biggest advantages of this hotel is its location. The Johannesburg Marriott sits directly inside Melrose Arch, a mixed-use precinct filled with restaurants, cafés and shops. That means you aren’t limited to eating inside the hotel, and there are plenty of places within walking distance if you want to get out for a while.

Outside Melrose Arch, Johannesburg also has several other areas worth checking out for dining and shopping. Maboneng offers a more creative, urban feel, with restaurants, cafés, galleries and independent shops centered around areas such as Fox Street and Arts on Main.

Sandton is more polished and upscale, with plenty of dining and shopping around Nelson Mandela Square and the adjoining Sandton City mall.

Read More:
JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa

Fitness Center

The fitness center is located on the first floor and overlooks the pool. It was a good size for a hotel gym and had more than enough equipment for a proper workout, including treadmills, elliptical machines, exercise bikes, a rowing machine, free weights, strength equipment and weight machines. It certainly wasn’t one of those hotel gyms with two treadmills and a few dumbbells thrown into a room.

Swimming Pool

Just outside the fitness center is the hotel’s outdoor pool and pool deck. The pool area fit nicely with the modern design of the rest of the hotel and provided another place to relax away from the lobby and restaurants. Our room also overlooked this area from the fifth floor.

Bottled Water

Now for one of the stranger parts of the stay. The complimentary bottled water in the room was ridiculously difficult to open. And I don’t mean mildly annoying. While trying to get one of the caps open, the sharp edge actually poked my finger badly enough that I started bleeding.

I don’t know whether this was an issue with one particular batch of bottles, but I find it hard to believe I’m the first guest who has struggled with them. This is one small thing I’d genuinely suggest hotel management take a look at. Complimentary water shouldn’t require a fight to get into, and it definitely shouldn’t draw blood.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed our stay at the Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch. We didn’t receive a suite upgrade despite my Titanium status and Suite Night Awards request, but our Superior King room was spacious enough that it really didn’t bother me.

The location in Melrose Arch was one of the biggest positives, the hotel itself was modern and well maintained, the staff we interacted with were friendly, and having access to the M Club added some value to the stay. The lounge’s evening happy hour was also good enough that we made dinner out of it. Breakfast, however, was a different story.

I would have loved to see more South African dishes and flavors represented, especially at a hotel welcoming international guests to Johannesburg. The fresh croissants at Keystone Bistro helped redeem breakfast somewhat, but the overall food selection and flavor didn’t quite do it for me. And somebody really needs to do something about those water bottles.

Would I stay at the Johannesburg Marriott Hotel Melrose Arch again? Absolutely. The location, room size, M Club access and overall quality of the hotel would easily put it back on my list whenever I’m in Johannesburg.