Keep Up To Date With Southern Sun Ridgeway

Johannesburg, Thursday, 6 February 2025 – Southern Sun has once again showcased its commitment to excellence in hospitality, securing multiple accolades at the prestigious 2025 Booking.com Traveller Review Awards.

This year, an impressive 42 of the group’s properties have been recognised, achieving outstanding guest feedback over the past three years.

The Booking.com Traveller Review Awards are a hallmark of quality and service, celebrating properties that have consistently delivered exceptional experiences. To qualify, a property must maintain an average review score of at least 8.0, based on guest ratings published between 1 December 2021 and 30 November 2024. Southern Sun’s continued success in these awards is a testament to its unwavering focus on guest satisfaction and service excellence.

Award-Winning Southern Sun Hotels and Resorts
The following Southern Sun properties were recognised in the 2025 Booking.com Traveller Review Awards:

• 54 on Bath
• Arabella Hotel, Golf & Spa
• Beverly Hills
• Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre
• InterContinental OR Tambo Airport
• Mount Grace Hotel & Spa
• Paradise Sun
• Sandton Sun & Towers
• Southern Sun Abu Dhabi
• Southern Sun Cape Sun
• Southern Sun Dar es Salaam
• Southern Sun de Wagen
• Southern Sun Elangeni & Maharani
• Southern Sun Hyde Park Sandton
• Southern Sun Katherine Street
• Southern Sun Mbombela
• Southern Sun Newlands
• Southern Sun Ridgeway Lusaka
• Southern Sun Rosebank
• Southern Sun Sandton
• Southern Sun The Cullinan
• Southern Sun The Marine
• Southern Sun Waterfront Cape Town
• Drakensberg Sun Resort
• Pine Lake Resort
• Riverside Sun
• Sabi River Sun Resort
• Tete Ferry Sun
• The Edward
• SunSquare Cape Town City Bowl
• SunSquare Cape Town Gardens
• Garden Court Hatfield
• Garden Court Kings Beach
• Garden Court Kitwe
• Garden Court Morningside Sandton
• Garden Court Mthatha
• Garden Court Polokwane
• Garden Court Sandton City
• Garden Court uMhlanga
• Garden Court Victoria Junction
• StayEasy Cape Town City Bowl
• StayEasy Lusaka
• StayEasy Maputo
• StayEasy Mbombela
• SUN1 Port Elizabeth

Southern Sun CEO, Marcel von Aulock, expressed his pride in the group’s achievements, stating, “These awards reflect Southern Sun’s commitment to hospitality excellence and recognise the unwavering dedication of our staff, who consistently go above and beyond to deliver world-class hospitality. We are incredibly grateful to our guests for their trust and feedback, and we remain committed to providing exceptional experiences across all our properties”

The 2025 awards reinforce Southern Sun’s position as a leading hospitality provider across South Africa, Africa, and the Middle East. Many of its hotels and resorts have shown consistent year-on-year improvements, demonstrating the group’s investment in service, comfort, and guest satisfaction.

A Mark of Trust for Travellers
As the travel industry grows increasingly competitive, the Booking.com Traveller Review Awards serve as a valuable guide for travellers seeking high-quality accommodations backed by genuine guest experiences. Southern Sun’s hotels and resorts continue to set the benchmark for exceptional stays, whether for business travel, luxury escapes or family-friendly destinations.

December 2019 - Southern Sun Ridgeway Lusaka, located in Lusaka, Zambia, has completed a long-awaited refurbishment, to the value of over $7 million.

The newly-unveiled rooms and public areas bring a fresh, contemporary design to one of Zambia’s oldest hotels, first opened in 1953.
 
“As part of our continued programme of reinvesting in our products, we have given our accommodation an elegant makeover. A city landmark, Southern Sun Ridgeway has been the hotel of choice for business professionals, NGOs, Lusaka-locals and adventure seekers over the decades,” explains General Manager, Paul Norman.
 
Inspiration for the refurbished rooms focused on the rich copper and gemstone resources of the southern African country, with the rich colours of emeralds, amethyst, aquamarine, tourmaline, garnet and rose quartz informing the hotel’s new colour palette. The country’s heritage is further reflected through the distinct pattern carpets, and the natural wonders of Zambia are highlighted through the wall art featuring magnificent indigenous trees.
 
Every room is equipped for a great night’s sleep with blackout curtains, soft and spacious beds and walk-in showers. Feel-at-home comforts include complimentary WiFi, flat-screen DStv and 24-hour room service.
 
In addition, Southern Sun Ridgeway Lusaka has completed upgrades to its reception area, public toilets, and business centre. An additional boardroom is also now available, seating 16 people. The Musuku Restaurant is currently being refurbished and is expected to be completed by the end of November 2019.
 
Southern Sun Ridgeway Lusaka has 154 rooms, 6 meeting rooms, a restaurant, bar and terrace, and a swimming pool and fitness centre. One of the hotel’s most renowned features is the pond-courtyard complete with resident reed-home weavers and baby crocodiles - a Lusaka central destination for dinner dates, business breakfasts and ladies lunches.

Southern Sun Ridgeway celebrates a milestone 70th anniversary in 2023, marking seven platinum decades of hospitality in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.

Originally known as the ‘Ridgeway Hotel’, it was one of the city’s first hotels to open in 1953. Over the years it has undergone various rebrands and refurbishments, and today is one of Southern Sun’s most renowned hotels.

Southern Sun’s journey into Zambia began when the group signed a management contract with Anglo American Corporation (Central Africa) in 1994, and the hotel was converted into a Holiday Inn Garden Court, and subsequently upgraded to a Holiday Inn a year later in 1995. This involved a major refurbishment of the entire hotel together with the addition of 35 rooms, bringing the total to 154, which set the course for it to become one of Zambia’s leading hotels.

Having managed the hotel for a number of years, in October 2008 Southern Sun acquired it from Anglo American and rebranded it Southern Sun Ridgeway, aligning it with the iconic Southern Sun legacy brand. This further solidified the hotel’s presence in Lusaka and reinforced its position as a world-class accommodation provider delivering impeccable service. In keeping with the group’s high standards, the hotel underwent another refurbishment in 2019. The public areas were refreshed with a contemporary look and feel, and the rooms were beautifully refurbished with décor reflecting Zambia’s unique natural heritage.

Operating at consistently high occupancies for many successful years, the hotel has been the proud recipient of numerous awards, including seven TripAdvisor Certificates of Excellence (2011-2018), a TripAdvisor Hall of Fame Award (2019), a TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Award (2020), a Booking.com Traveller Review Award (2022), as well as the Zambia Tourism Award for Sports Tourism (2009), and the prestigious Award for Distinguished Service from the president of the Republic of Zambia (2008).

Commenting on the hotel’s memorable milestone, Marcel von Aulock, chief executive of Southern Sun said, “We’re extremely proud of what Southern Sun Ridgeway represents, not only to the group because it was our first hotel in the country, but also to Lusaka and the Zambian tourism industry as it is regarded as a city landmark and the destination of choice in the nation’s capital. We are delighted to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee this year and look forward to welcoming guests for many years to come.”

Visit www.southernsun.com/southern-sun-ridgeway-lusaka to find out more or to make a reservation.