Ask most South Africans what makes a weekend great, and the answer usually involves a braai, good company and sport playing in the background. On 24 September, braais will be lit from Musina to Mossel Bay as South Africans from all walks of life celebrate Heritage Day. For The Capital Hotels, Apartments & Resorts, keeping things local and lekker is a year-round habit, from the people who welcome guests to the food on their plates.
“Give South Africans a braai, the rugby on a big screen and somewhere comfortable to put their feet up afterwards, and you’ve got a lekker weekend,” says Garnet Basson, COO of The Capital Hotels, Apartments and Resorts. “We’ve built a business around that feeling.”
A homegrown recipe
The Capital’s story is a proudly South African one. In 2008, during the global financial crash, founder Marc Wachsberger noticed that hotel rooms were expensive while good apartments stood empty. He leased and furnished apartments and began renting them out by the night, making The Capital one of the first to bring apart hotels to South Africa, with the space of an apartment and the service of a hotel. Plenty have tried to copy the recipe since. Like the perfect Saturday braai, everyone has their own version, and the original still has a certain something.
Local, all the way to the plate
That local thinking runs right through the business. The Capital employs more than 1,000 people, more than 95% of whom are hired locally, making the group a meaningful employer in the cities where it operates.
In the kitchen, The Capital works with proudly South African suppliers and follows a farm-to-table approach, with fresh produce travelling from local farms to the kitchen and onto guests’ plates.
“A tomato tastes better when it hasn’t done more travelling than our guests. Buying local keeps our menus fresh and keeps money in local businesses, which is about as lekker as it gets,” says Basson.
Beyond the plate, that local flavour shows up in South African design, artwork and music, and in concierge teams who know where to find the best concerts, markets, shopping and match-day atmosphere in town.
Heritage Month at The Capital
For those celebrating closer to home, The Capital On The Park in Sandton is hosting a Heritage Day braai on Thursday, 24 September, from R250 per person with a complimentary Castle Draft. On Saturday, 26 September, The Capital Mbombela brings big flavour to its Heritage Shisanyama, with a buffet and live entertainment at R395 per person.
Travellers who’d like to keep the fire going beyond September can join The Capital Circle, the group’s loyalty programme, which offers members up to 20% off when booking directly.
