Skip to main content
  1. Hotel reviews homepage
  2. South Africa hotel reviews
  3. Gauteng hotel reviews
  4. Johannesburg hotel reviews
  5. Reviews of Sanctuary Mandela

Reviews of Sanctuary Mandela

4 13th avenue Houghton estate, Houghton, 2198 Johannesburg, South Africa

#3 of 159 hotels in Johannesburg

Guests' Choice

Review score

Based on 48 hotel reviews

9.6

Score breakdown

  • Cleanliness

    9.9

  • Comfort

    9.9

  • Location

    9.5

  • Facilities

    9.6

  • Staff

    9.9

  • Value for money

    9.5

  • Free WiFi

    8.8

100% verified reviews

Real guests. Real stays. Real opinions.

Read more- opens a dialog box
Write a review

Showing 1 – 25

  • Reviewed: 2 July 2024

    10
    Incredible
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    Nothing at all. All went well.

    The breakfast was awesome. The property location is easily accessible.

    Stayed in June 2024

  • Reviewed: 29 June 2024

    10
    Exceptional
    • Business trip
    • Solo traveller
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    It feels like “home”

    Stayed in June 2024

  • Reviewed: 21 June 2024

    9.0
    Awesome Sanctuary to view Mandela's History
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 1 night

    The rooms are awesome - but we didn't fully understand how to open the blinds/curtains, which remained closed during our stay.

    A place of historical significance within South Africa. View beautiful images & painting of Mandela. The Sanctuary Mandela opened in late 2021 - so place / furnishing is new and well maintained. The onsite restaurant, Insight caters to a fixed local dinner menu enjoyed by Mandela himself. You have to try the oxtail! Staff arranged a lovely romantic turndown for the evening!

    Stayed in June 2024

  • Reviewed: 27 May 2024

    10
    Sanctuary Mandela is Exceptional
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 1 night

    Our experience at Sanctuary Mandela was exceptional from when we arrived to when we departed. The food, ambience and service went beyond our expectations. Thank you for making our stay incredible.

    Stayed in May 2024

  • Reviewed: 20 February 2024

    9.0
    We had a lovely stay
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    Very minor point but the doors should be better soundproofed. We could hear everything from the restaurant very clearly which to some extent takes away the feeling of privacy in the bedroom

    Beautiful setting, lovely staff, great food.

    Stayed in February 2024

  • Reviewed: 12 January 2024

    10
    Perfect stay in all senses in historical site
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    Shower head could be improved in room “tata” (nothing major)

    PERFECT hotel!!! 5-star feeling, truly!!! Historical site (Mandela’s house during his presidential years, beautifully renovatex). super exciting to get to stay there and see all of the carefully curated pieces of art around Nelson Mandela’s life and history. Easy to get cabs and uber around it. Very comfortable beds, AMAZING food and bar. Super friendly staff. Simply surreal experience, can’t recommend it enough!

    Stayed in January 2024

  • Reviewed: 21 October 2023

    9.0
    A great place to stay for a night with an exceptional history
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    See my last review

    See my last review. We used the hotel as the first and last night of a safari trip

    Stayed in September 2023

  • Reviewed: 21 October 2023

    9.0
    A wonderful place to stay for a night or two
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    Same lunch and dinner menu

    Fantastic property with a great history, staff could not have been more helpful, the tour was great

    Stayed in September 2023

  • Reviewed: 20 October 2023

    10
    This is the best boutique hotel we have ever experienced over many years and all the continents!
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 3 nights

    We loved every minute of our stay. And our only regret is that we had to leave and return home. We miss everything about Sanctuary Mandela - particularly the kindest and most caring staff.

    We could not have been happier with the total experience at the Sanctuary! The staff became like family the first day of our first of 2 stays there. And now a month later, we're still in awe of them.

    Stayed in September 2023

  • Reviewed: 11 September 2023

    9.0
    Superb
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night

    The order had to be repeated twice as the eggs were not done well as per request

    Staff through out the hotel were attentive and helpful

    Stayed in September 2023

  • Reviewed: 3 September 2023

    10
    We really enjoyed our stay at the Sanctuary Mandela Hotel and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone planning to stay a
    • Leisure trip
    • Group
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    Nothing at all!

    Everything! The interior design is very attractive, both the individual rooms and the common areas. The staff were friendly and welcoming. The meals were interesting and delicious.

    Stayed in August 2023

  • Reviewed: 17 July 2023

    10
    Exceptional
    • Leisure trip
    • People with friends
    • Deluxe King Room
    • Stayed 3 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    The property was gorgeous! The staff was absolutely amazing and made us feel like family! The food was delicious! Everything was perfect and I can't imagine staying anywhere else while in Johannesburg!

    Stayed in July 2023

  • Reviewed: 24 June 2023

    9.0
    Exceeded expectations.
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    Pool was shady but not a problem for us!

    Great breakfast , staff were friendly and went above and beyond to help us celebrate our daughter-in-law’s birthday

    Stayed in June 2023

  • Reviewed: 2 June 2023

    9.0
    we were welcomed home when we arrived and that was exactly how we felt for our entire stay of three nights
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 3 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    everything

    Stayed in May 2023

  • Reviewed: 2 June 2023

    10
    From the moment we booked the staff were so helpful It is a destination in its own right. A perfect place to spend a nig
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    Everything, it oozed with warmth, happiness and history. The food is also fabulous.

    Stayed in June 2023

  • Reviewed: 21 May 2023

    10
    Exceptional
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    Nothing!!

    Attentive staff with sweet & extremely thoughtful personalised touches for our stay. Our room and bathroom were great. Breakfast (included) and dinner were super delicious and Mandela’s previous chef was part of the team - how amazing is that!? Talk about eating with history. The hotel itself is full of history and we loved the tour around residence. Highly highly recommend this hotel!

    Stayed in May 2023

  • Reviewed: 18 May 2023

    10
    It was breathtaking absolutely heavenly, unique and very intimate for those that enjoy not crowded places.
    • Leisure trip
    • Family with young children
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    I love everything about this gem. However it will be great if they can consider to have rates for locals, unless their niche market is Europeans /Foreign nationals who pay with💰and £

    The staff member’s smile with the words “ Welcome Home” I travel a lot and never have I been welcomed like this. I felt like I was home and my family & friends were welcomed exactly the same way hours later after my check in. Throughout our stay the staff’s professionalism was impeccable. Their love for people is commendable, the food is on another level👌🏾

    Stayed in May 2023

  • Reviewed: 22 March 2023

    10
    Heaven!
    • Leisure trip
    • Solo traveller
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    Absolutely nothing. Could stay there endlessly.

    Omg... I loved everything. From parking until I checked out. What a pleasant experience. The people, facilities, breakfast. I did not want to leave. One of my best experiences. The staff is the best

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: 20 March 2023

    10
    Absolutely fabulous
    • Business trip
    • Solo traveller
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night

    The service was the best and friendliest service iv'e have Nationally as well as internationally.

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: 6 March 2023

    10
    Exceptional
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    Our stay was exceptional in everyway!!! The warmth of all the staff was above and beyond anything we have experienced anywhere. Truely, memorable.

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: 6 March 2023

    10
    Exceptional
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night

    There is nothing notable. It was great! I cant fault the hotel on anything at this time. They have been communicative, they were attentive and the experience was amazing.

    The staff were so warm and welcoming. They were extremely attentive and the room was spacious, it was decorated superbly and it was a great night out. We were surprised by the attentiveness of the staff at every turn. We had left for a dinner reservation outside of the hotel and when we had returned, we had already had our turndown service sorted and a small cookie and water waiting when we had returned. The shower was great and the amenities were really top class. Sleep was amazing. Room is really dark so we had a really great sleep. In the morning, we had the most amazing breakfast and the staff were really attentive and even remembered that my partner was allergic to mushrooms and had noted it on the breakfast plate. Thank you for the most amazing visit. We will be back!

    Stayed in March 2023

  • Reviewed: 5 February 2023

    10
    Exceptional
    • Leisure trip
    • Couple
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 1 night
    • Submitted via mobile

    There's nothing we didn't like.

    Everything was on point. 💯

    Stayed in February 2023

  • Reviewed: 12 November 2022

    10
    Sanctuary Mandela is a place to feel at home, welcomed and nurtured.
    • Leisure trip
    • Solo traveller
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 2 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    The only feedback for something to improve is the speed of the restaurant at breakfast time. The food is delicious, but if one is rushed to get into a meeting or tour, then needs to plan well ahead. Coffee, cappuccino and lattes are made right away but eggs and other items took to long.

    Arriving into Sanctuary Mandela one feels a sense of peace. A beautiful home with large rooms, secure, clean, and tastefully decorated with art and photographs that reminds us of Mandela and his life. Everyone in the staff was amazingly welcoming, warm, making sure I felt “at home”. Beautiful people all around, who engaged me with kindness, and respect, making sure I had anything I needed. Delicious food at the restaurant, following Mandela’s own favorite meals. Full bar including coffee with wonderful bar tenders who made sure drinks were just right. I loved watching the mentoring of new interns that I saw happening at the hotel. Kindness all around. Library and music. Kevin, the manager, went out of his way to make sure my stay was perfect, and also reached me at the airport to hand me a tube of pictures I had bought from a Soweto artist and had forgotten at the hotel when I checked out to go to the airport, "I brought them because I knew they mattered to you" he said. His gesture was the final touch on an amazing stay.

    Stayed in October 2022

  • Reviewed: 22 October 2022

    10
    I can only think of one word Excellent!
    • Leisure trip
    • Solo traveller
    • Deluxe Room
    • Stayed 5 nights
    • Submitted via mobile

    There was nothing I didn’t like about the property.

    The property was very beautiful and filled with many historical facts about the life of Nelson Mandela.

    Stayed in October 2022

Showing 1 – 25

We Price Match
We Price Match
Low rates • No booking fees • Find cheaper? We'll refund the difference!