We're up-cycling Johannesburg’s city centre by redesigning disused spaces, to create stunning homes. This spacious 3-bedroom penthouse, in the former Barclay’s Bank HQ building, is in Johannesburg’s hidden re-emerging gem, Marshalltown. With high speed internet, a washer and dryer, together with a Hot Tub and Braai on its private roof terrace, this penthouse is perfect as a base to explore Joburg. A calm rooftop retreat in the historic city central, that is characterful, and carefully managed The space Spend your money on the things you want to experience in Johannesburg, whilst staying in a beautiful and secure (the building has 24hr security) penthouse apartment. If Sandton is Johannesburg’s polished business district, Marshalltown is its historic heart — central, layered, and full of character, with culture, history, and renewal on your doorstep. Save thousands of Rands per night by staying in this reemerging area and driving (or Ubering) to all the city’s historic sites and great bars, restaurants and shopping sites. Check for yourself. Build a wish list of all the apartments with the amenities that you are looking for and compare. That said, Joburg city isn’t for everybody. If you want to walk to the night clubs and restaurants and don’t like the idea of a busy inner-city location during the day whilst being very quiet at night, you might prefer somewhere else. Sandton City, for example. Please note that we don’t allow events - e.g. birthday parties, or bachelorettes. If this penthouse is not available for all the dates that you require, you can see the other apartments in the building (including other penthouses) at the bottom of our profile page - click on the 'Meet The Host' section of the listing. Many guests also book a combination of this and other apartments in the building, to enable longer stays, if no individual apartment is an available for the whole duration of their planned stay. This property is part of the exclusive 'African Penthouses' portfolio of homes developed with a vision for revitalising emerging neighbourhoods. Experience the best of a beautifully renovated home while being part of the exciting evolution of an up-and-coming neighborhood. Our experiential aim, is to help you ‘cultivate an experience’ of authentic Joburg by connecting you with some of the right drivers, tour guides, restaurants, experiences etc. to support your planning and make the most of your time in town, with our apartment as your home base. Featured on the Tastemakers Africa Johannesburg list of best Airbnb's in Africa and in the British Airways in-flight magazine full page article on the rise of Joburg CBD, this huge (2500sqft/230sqm) apartment is spread over the 9th, 10th and 11th floor of the heritage (listed), former Barclays Bank HQ, building on the oldest street in Johannesburg. If you’re coming all the way to Johannesburg looking for a Dubai type experience, then this isn’t the home or location for you. I’d suggest you look at areas like Sandton City, in the Northern suburbs, instead. Providing a different (some say more authentic) Johannesburg experience to the Northern suburbs, it is less than 10min Uber ride to Maboneng, Braamfontein and Newtown, making it perfectly located to experience the city's urban revival and access the coolest parts of Jo'burg, whilst not having to put up with the noise that goes with actually staying in these 'lively' areas. Yet also access the Northern Suburbs with short and inexpensive drive. Many don't realise that Johannesburg is also a pan-African cultural centre. As an early-stage gentrification area, the location of this apartment gives much easier access to those aspects of our city. The apartment is less than 10 minutes walk to the closest Citysightseeing open-top hop-on-hop-off tour bus stop, about 25 minutes drive from Johannesburg airport and 10 minutes away from the Gautrain station, giving direct access to Rosebank, Sandton, Pretoria and the airport. The layout of the apartment was designed so that the main living spaces would all benefited from outdoor space and the amazing city views. On the entrance floor of the apartment there is a Master bedroom suite which incorporates a large en-suite bathroom (with a huge walk in shower as well as a separate bath) walk-in-wardrobe and extra length queen sized bespoke four-poster bed; a second bedroom which has two extra length single beds; a cupboard and a desk; a third bedroom with two extra length single beds; and another bathroom. The middle floor of the apartment has an open plan living area (with a fabulous woodburning stove), dining area (with a six-seater dining table) and gourmet kitchen with slate counters, bespoke handmade cabinetry and stainless steel Smeg appliances. All of which creates an amazing homely room to hang out in. The Middle floor also has newly installed air conditioning. A wrap around balcony that gives some of the best views of Johannesburg's historic old city centre, available. All of the bedrooms and the main living area have triple-glazed windows to keep the city sounds out and the warmth in, during the short South African winters. Each of the bedrooms has a fan. An iron spiral staircase leads up from the living area, to the top floor deck room, with access to the roof deck which serves as our garden. There is no lawn but it has ample seating around a fire pit, plus a built in bbq/braai and Jacuzzi with North facing (sunny side) city views. The apartment also has a solar powered hot water system 3 things guests like about my place... It's 5 minutes away from the party capital of Maboneng, but far enough away to be quiet at night. Chilling out on the amazing roof terrace. The open plan main floor, with back-up power that can make you forget there is loadshedding, the amazing kitchen and roaring fireplace 3 things they don't like... It's not in a posher suburb like Sandton. The Jacuzzi takes a long time to heat up. The spiral staircase that leads to the roof is quite narrow. Guest access Guest will have exclusive access to the entire apartment plus wifi, satellite TV, the Jacuzzi and the roof deck. You will also have access to the communal (shared) roof top swimming pool. Other things to note Well monitored shared building with long-term residents. Guest-only policy (no outside visitors). Rooftop hot-tub for private, quiet use. It is one of the oldest buildings in town, there are often film shoots happening either in the building, or on the surrounding streets, at the weekend (the area looks like NY or London, but is cheaper and has better light). They're sometimes a bit of a pain as you may have to wait for a break in shooting, to get past. There is quite a distance between the solar hot water tank, on the roof, and the bathrooms, so you need to run the taps for a couple of minutes to get the hot water. Parking access is tight (too tight for a van) The entrance to the parking is quite tight, so please don't come with a van. It won't fit! And the ramp is a little steep, such that it takes a little getting used to. The largest vehicles I’ve seen in the basement parking are a Mercedes’ vaneo and Toyota Landcruiser. Both had to fold in their wing mirrors to enter the parking. If your vehicle has lowered suspension, it is likely to scrape the surface if the ramp on the way up/down. We have invested in a backup power system for the main interior lights, WiFi and tv in this apartment, that will keep them operational during the, all to frequent, power outages that occur in South Africa. The pool is a communal pool, for all the building’s residents From cold, the hot-tub takes 4-5 hours to heat up. For safety reasons, we cannot leave it running when nobody is in the apartment. Thus 1-night bookings are not recommended, if the hit-tub/jacuzzi is your main attraction.