My old company was situated around the Melville area and thus I made quite a few trips to the City of Gold. Sometimes I believe in finding something good and sticking it. There is something nice (and predictable) about knowing what you’re getting into.
As lots of my colleagues travel up and down between Cape Town and Joburg, I always like to hear their opinions about the places they stay (why re-invent the wheel, right!?). A colleague of mine really disliked her stay at the 7th Street Guesthouse. She complained that they had a power out in the area but due to the guesthouse having no generator, she spent the night in the dark. She also complained about the (lack of) breakfast options and the eud de (dog) parfum in the breakfast area (due to the dog running up and down in the house). I did not experience those problems there although I agree that the breakfast options were limited. However, another of my colleagues complained about how cold it was in the room at night and that prompted us to try another place.
JeanJean Guesthouse and Conference Venue
JeanJean was fairly easy to find. As with 7th Street Guesthouse, you need to ring the buzzer to be let in and wait for someone to open for you (in other words, the gate is not automated – apparently a safety feature).
JeanJean is very pretty. The rooms are decorated in a modern, clean way. All the rooms have bar fridges and some rooms have a microwave. Certain rooms are in a freestanding complex where they have a nice lounge area and a shared microwave. I liked the convenience of having a hairdryer in my room.
I stayed in JeanJean several times and thus had the opportunity to check out several of the rooms.
Room 1
Room 2
Room 3
By my third visit there I started to experience a problem with the hot water. I complained and the staff were quite surprised as they have so many geysers. Time after time I would find the water hot for about 5 minutes and then cools down drastically. After that I started to take baths instead rather than risking a cold shower.
Just another general thing about the bathrooms – the showers did not have screens or doors and always seemed to be quite close to the toilet paper. I imagined the place must go through the toilet paper very quickly as a result!
Breakfast
I enjoyed breakfast thoroughly! They had eggs and mushrooms pre-made and all you need to do is show up and dish it. There was also salad and some yummy savouries (which I was avoiding as my diet was still going strong). A colleague of mine complained to me about the lack of variety with regard to the egg and mushrooms. I didn’t mind though, I get hungry just thinking about those mushrooms!
Summary
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at JeanJean. It’s a good place to work from and to sneak in some R&R. The lack of hot water in the shower was definitely a problem but I managed to work a way around it. The staff were extremely friendly and I hope that if I’m ever in Melville again, I’ll find myself in JeanJean.
– Rif
JeanJean Guesthouse and Conference Venue
2 Winchester Street, Melville
Johannesburg, 2092
Gauteng, South Africahttp://www.jeanjean.co.za/