The Capital Menlyn Maine breaks even in two months as The Capital Hotel Group continues to outperform

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The Capital Menlyn Maine recently hosted their launch party

South Africa’s fastest-growing hotel group, The Capital, continues to outperform the sector, with its latest hotel in Tshwane breaking even within two months. I recently had the opportunity to stay at the Capital Menlyn Maine and attend their official launch party.

The launch was hosted at the hotel’s pool deck and Metro FM’s DJ Fresh keeping partygoers entertained with his commercial and house beats.

The Capital Menlyn Maine, located in the green Menlyn Maine precinct in the east of Tshwane, was profitable within three months of its opening on 15 March 2017, Marc Wachsberger, Managing Director of The Capital Hotel Group, announced recently.

With 200 state-of-the-art-rooms and perched on top of the high-end Central Square shopping centre, The Capital Menlyn Maine cost just under R300-million to build.

DJ Fresh and justjody.co.za Editor Jody Hendricks at The Capital Menlyn Main launch party

Wachsberger added that occupancy rates were also above expectations.

“It has been amazing,” he says, “It has turned out better than expected as the Menlyn Maine node has been very well-received by the market. Occupancy rates have been extremely high since opening just 12 weeks ago which shows that The Capital Menlyn Maine is on track to equal the 80% occupancy rate of our other hotels.

“The occupancy rate and the acceptance of the rates have exceeded our forecasts. This has proved our theory that Tshwane deserved the best and once we delivered it, clients would come flocking.”

Wachsberger says Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE) is proving to be a key sector for the The Capital Menlyn Maine, with corporates holding conferences constituting most of its customers in the first three months of operation. The Capital Menlyn Maine has two boardrooms which can accommodate up to eight people each; a conference room which can accommodate between 190 and 350 people; two meeting rooms and an events area on the deck.

Breakfast at the The Capital Menlyn Main

Wachsberger also announced that the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa has endorsed The Capital Menlyn Maine as a five-star hotel. But he emphasises that this will not mean the hotel will increase its rates.

“While it is fantastic to have the TGCSA endorsement, our rates will remain four-star. The philosophy of The Capital Hotel Group has always been delivering value-for-money luxury accommodation, and we will stick to this philosophy regardless of our grading,” he says.

Wachsberger says following the successful launch of The Capital Menlyn Maine, the apartment hotel group will open new hotels towards the end of the year as the group expands into KwaZulu-Natal.

Wachsberger says South Africa’s recent investment ratings downgrade and the announcement that the country is in recession has not impacted on the group’s plans.

“We still intend to open two hotels a year. Now that we have achieved our goal of becoming a national operation, we will turn our attention to expanding into Africa in the next two years,” he says. “The Capital Hotel Group has always taken advantage of tough economic conditions for expansion as we know the property sector swings from oversupply to undersupply every four years or so.

“In bad times we are able to secure sites from more realistic sellers and potentially even acquire some distressed properties like we did following the 2010 World Cup. By sticking to our no-frills approach and delivering great value to our clients, we trade well in tough times as corporates shift more business to those delivering on value.”