Nostalgic tweet gets couple a room at Sani Pass Hotel for R10

Fifty years ago, you could stay at the Sani Pass Hotel in KwaZulu-Natal for R5 – per day – all inclusive. A lot has changed since then, which is why you will now pay up to R1,180 for two people per night, without breakfast.

Journalist Janine Stephen recently tweeted a blast-from-the-past tribute of these long-gone rates. Stephen’s parents went on their honeymoon at the Sani Pass Hotel in 1968, and spent R10 per couple per day, breakfast included.

She took a chance and used their anniversary as an opportunity to not only let people know how cheap it was to have a decent holiday, but in the hopes of the Sani Pass Hotel allowing her parents to commemorate their marriage by once again visiting the hotel, and pay 1968 rates.

“So my sister sent Premier Hotels a Facebook message, with proof of the 50-year-old celebrations …”, the tweet read.

In a stroke of luck, Premier Hotels responded in no time, citing that their GM had agreed to let Stephen’s parents once again visit the hotel, and pay 1968 rates for a room. They lamented, however, that food could not be included at the rates of half a century ago.

Many of us cannot picture a world where the ZAR was trading at less than R1 to the US dollar, which is why we cannot begin to fathom paying so little for a room in a fancy hotel.

So, let’s stretch the nostalgia even further. Wheels24 asked their loyal readers to share petrol prices from decades ago. One reader said that in the late 60s, petrol prices were a whopping 19c per litre.

This seems accurate, considering that in 1984, my dad paid just R5,000 for his Toyota Corolla 1.6GL.

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