The Grand Hotel at GrandWest Casino and Entertainment World in Goodwood, Cape Town, is undergoing a R122 million upgrade.
GrandWest is part of the Sun International Group and the biggest casino and leisure complex in SA. It is also the first of the group’s sites to install green energy solutions as a pilot for its other projects. One of the green features include an R18m water purification plant giving the hotel capability to go entirely off the grid.
The first phase of the project will add 68 rooms to the hotel, bringing its total capacity to 103.
While the site will boast modern features, the hotel also pays homage to Cape Town’s heritage by recreating the design of a hotel built in 1894 (and demolished in 1951) on the corner of Adderley and Strand Streets in Cape Town CBD.
GrandWest General Manager Mervyn Naidoo said retaining this style was one of the challenges for architects:
“Uniquely, all of GrandWest’s façades are scaled-down recreations of old Cape Town buildings – the much-mourned Tivoli Music Hall (demolished in the 1930s), the sorely missed Alhambra Theatre (demolished in 1970), the Old Railway Station (1905 – 1968), and Cartwright’s Corner, that now-vanished Adderley Street landmark upon which the hotel is based. We aim to honour Cape Town’s rich history and cultures while simultaneously looking to the future with cleaner, greener structures.”
Construction began in November 2022 with completion scheduled for November 2023.
