For someone just landing in JNB, this hotel provides a great 1st stop for rest & relaxing. The lobby, eating & bar decor provide a trip back in aviation time. We found all the bar & serving staff full of life & laughter. And, the outdoor pool area, while loud with road noise, provided a great area to sit with a drink or morning coffee.

We'll look for more Protea hotels as we travel South Africa.

Regards,
GG

I stayed two days following two weeks in the Kalahari and the Mpumalanga.
I had special needs to include the locked storage of Firearms. I E-mailed management two a months before the trip and subsequently the reservation.
The Manager and his front deck manager promptly responded with cordially and promptly providing the assurance I sought.
When I arrived there was a little confusion about the storage issues with the night staff, but it was resolved in about five minutes after shared the E-mails from the Management.
From then on, if a question or issues arouse the manager, one of his assistants and even one in training was there to respond.
The Room was very Nice and large. But the ambience of the hotel is stark. Most of the guest were Businesspersons or on Holiday from Europe and the USA. Most were cordial.
Restaurant was surprisingly good. The SA (ZA) Steak was delicious and prepared just right. And the Breakfast buffet, with cooked to order entrees and a myriad of buffet items, was exception and an exception value. The wait staff was pretty good. But seem disingenuous under the trained smiles.
Anyone traveling to South Africa is, however, forewarned that there is a culture of expected gratuities that is out of control. Every one the dose anything has there hand out and will try to imitate one in to a larger gratuity. If a person is mopping the rest room floor, driving the scuttle to the airport. If some one approaches you help you thought check, the airport personnel. And it goes on. And you are at risk of armed robbery any time at Nelson Mandela Square (shopping centre). I was warned not to ware my “expensive” watch or any jewelry there or on city trains.
The biggest story in the Sunday paper was how much it costing the taxpayers to Support the Presidents four first ladies. So much for our problems.

I made my reservation on line, looking for a hotel close to airport. I selected this hotel based on its name: Protea Hotel O.R. Tambo Airport. Unfortunately the name is very misleading, since the hotel is not close to airport. There are at list a dozen of other hotels more close to airport and in better location. However due to misliding name, Protea is one of the first listed on Trip Advisor search.
Trying to find the hotel is a challenge. I enter in GPS the address from hotel website and I drove for 45 minutes trying to find the hotel. The official address is Corner York & Gladiator street, wich cannot be entered in GPS.
After few turns in dark streets trying to follow the GPS address, I returned back to airport and try to follow the street signs, which was quite dificult in a rainy evening. When I finally got to the hotel I had to rush to airport and return the rental car hoping that I will catch the hotel shuttle before 22.30 when is the last one.
The rooms are very basic with tiny windows, no full bathroom with shower and sink in the room.
Bottom line if you are looking for a hotel close to Johannesburg O.R. Tambo International Airport, try other hotels that are much closer to the airport even if do not have word "airport" part of their name. My opinion is that the use of "O.R.Tambo Airport" by Protea Hotel is false advertising, used to mislead customer about real location.

We recently stayed at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo on two occasions, both before and after a safari in Kruger Park. Our travel agent booked this hotel for us, and our safari guide, who was also familiar with the hotel and stayed there on our first night, said it was an excellent choice.

Looking at the street view in Google Maps, it didn't look to be in a particularly nice area, with an old, apparently abandoned caravan parked on the side street adjacent to the hotel; but upon arrival we found it to be much better than expected, and the caravan was no longer there.

It's a nice, moeden hotel, not too large or cavernous in size, positioned very conveniently. The rooms were small, but comfortable. We're not too fussy about room size, given we were there to rest overnight before and after our safari trip, and that hotel rooms are never intended to the highlight of our trips.

The interior is modern and funky, and as an aviation enthusiast, the aviation-themed decor was a nice touch. For plane lovers, there is a very nice view of large aircraft at the airport just across the R21.

The restaurant offered a nice selection of food and wines and the service was good. We ate breakfast and dinner at the restaurant on both stays. Service was prompt, friendly and good.

The bar area and outdoor pool and grassy areas were very pleasant and welcoming, and while we didn't use those facilities, they looked quite inviting.

For our plans, the Protea Hotel OR Tambo was a good choice, located very close to the airport, with nice decor, comfortable rooms and good service. The shuttle service to and from the airport was very frequent, and there were good amenities, including WiFi Internet access.

The only negative aspect was disturbed sleep on one night due to some noisy people in the corridors; but in all fairness, this was not a fault of the hotel.

Unless we were planning to spend any time in Jo'burg, we'd be more than happy to stay at the Protea Hotel OR Tambo again in transit during future visits to South Africa.