Review: InterContinental Johannesburg Airport

READ MORE FROM THIS TRIP

• Introduction: The Surprise Trip Of A Lifetime (Hopefully?)
• Review: American Airlines A319 First Class
• Review: Delta Air Lines CRJ-900 First Class
• Review: Air France La Premiere Lounge & Spa New York JFK
• Review: Air France La Premiere 777-300ER
• Review: Park Suite At Park Hyatt Paris Vendome
• How My Dad Flew To South Africa Without Knowing It
• Review: Air France La Premiere Lounge Paris
• Review: Air France 777 First Class
• Review: InterContinental Johannesburg Airport

We landed from Paris at around 10AM, and were departing the next morning at 10:30AM. We were in South Africa to go on safari, but rather than continuing to our first camp immediately, we decided to first spend a night in Johannesburg:

Given that safari was costing an arm and a leg, I wanted to be 100% sure that we didn’t get into a situation where a delay caused us to misconnect
Given that we were getting off a long haul flight, I figured it would be good to have a day to recover, rest, get caught up on work, etc.

So for our roughly 24 hours in Johannesburg we decided to book the most convenient hotel to the airport, which is the InterContinental Johannesburg OR Tambo Airport.

Booking The InterContinental Johannesburg Airport

The paid rate at the InterContinental Johannesburg Airport was super high, over $300 per night per room. Fortunately I managed to book two rooms using free night certificates and points:

For one room I redeemed a free night certificate offered with the IHG^® Rewards Club Premier Credit Card; paying a sub-$100 annual fee and getting a free night certificate that can be redeemed at a property like this is a heck of a value
For the second room I redeemed 30,000 points; you can buy IHG points for ~0.5 cents each during promotions, so that’s like paying $150 per night including taxes and fees

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport Review

The InterContinental at Johannesburg Airport couldn’t be more conveniently located. Sometimes at airport hotels I wonder why I even bother — you have to wait 30 minutes for a shuttle, and then it’s a 10 minute drive, and then I wonder why I didn’t just stay in the city.

That’s not the case here. The InterContinental is less than a minute walk from the international arrivals area. We exited the terminal and there was a sign pointing right to the hotel.

Signage to InterContinental Johannesburg Airport

It doesn’t get easier than that!

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport exterior

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport entrance

Reception was immediately inside the entrance. The two associates checking us in were friendly, though we were informed there was a 500ZAR (~34USD) early check-in fee since we were arriving before 2PM. While that caught me off guard at first, that seemed fair enough, especially since both rooms were ready.

I was also impressed that both rooms were upgraded to executive rooms on account of IHG Platinum status (I rarely get any sort of “real” upgrades at an InterContinental as an IHG Platinum member).

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport reception

Within a few minutes we had our keys, and headed up to our rooms. The elevators were just down the hall in the lobby.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport lobby

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport lobby seating

Ford and I were assigned room 508, an executive room on the fifth floor.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport hallway

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport room exterior

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport floorplan

The room was actually… really nice? One of the nicest I’ve ever had at an airport hotel. There was an entryway with the door to the bathroom on the left, and then that led into the rest of the room.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room entryway

Here’s a question, because I saw this at multiple hotels in South Africa — what is this, and why? I assume it’s some sort of liquor, but is the intention that you can just drink it for free? And why is it so common in South Africa? I guess it’s a nice touch, though given that it’s an “open” bottle that presumably isn’t replaced between guests, I’m not quite sure what to make of it.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room

Anyway, the executive room was huge and well appointed.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room

It featured a very comfortable king size bed, a desk with a rolling chair, and a sitting area with two chairs.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room bed

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room sitting area

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room desk

In the back corner of the room was a minibar, a Nespresso machine, and a kettle.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive tea & coffee

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room minibar

The bathroom was back towards the entrance, and featured a walk-in shower, a bathtub, a toilet in a separate room, and a sink.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room bathroom

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room bathtub

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room toilet

Toiletries were from Agraria, and were nice.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room toiletries

This was a corner room with views in two directions, though in both directions we just had views of the terminal and departures area, so unfortunately there were no plane views.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport executive room view

Overall I thought the room was awesome, and the wifi was also fast and free.

As far as the hotel’s other features go, the spa and gym were located on the eighth floor. While it’s nice that they have a pool, it was amusingly small, and also kind of awkward. The spa reception is right by the pool, so if you’re in the pool you’re being watched by the spa receptionist the whole time.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport pool

The gym was right behind the pool, and was fairly well appointed. What I liked most was the runway views, which made being on the treadmill all the more fun.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport gym

For the next 24 hours we were more or less stuck eating at the hotel, since it’s not like the airport had great dining options either. Ford and I napped when we landed, and when we woke up we ordered room service. I had a chicken salad, while Ford had a chicken burger with sweet potato fries.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport room service

In the afternoon I was feeling quite tired, so headed down to the lobby lounge for a coffee.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport lobby bar

The menu read as follows:

The cappuccino I ordered was excellent.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport cappuccino

The InterContinental has a single all-day dining restaurant, which is Quills Restaurant. When we checked in we were informed that reservations were recommended there. While that seemed like a bit of an overkill, we did indeed make a reservation there for dinner.

InterContinental Johannesburg Airport restaurant

The menu read as follows (as a reminder, one USD is roughly 14.7ZAR):

For an airport hotel restaurant this was really nice, with white tablecloths and all. We were offered a selection of warm bread when we sat down.