Three small rondavels built in the middle of nowhere 70 years ago have since grown into the now legendary Balalaika Hotel in the heart of Sandton.
The hotel, which is located on Maude Street and often referred to as the Wall Street of South Africa, was first built in 1948 by Gerard Le Grand and has undergone many changes over the years, while still maintaining its old-world feel.
Le Grand came across the Good Hope Tea Room, which was used as a resting point between Johannesburg and Pretoria as there was no other development in the area at the time.
Seeing the potential in the location, Le Grand began to build a couple of small rooms so that travellers could stay for a night or spend an afternoon in what was then the countryside.
The hotel first boasted 20 rooms and during the ‘50s it added another 10. At that time the hotel developed into a popular dinner-and-dance restaurant in what was predominantly a farming community.
The hotel has been around longer than Sandton itself and had been open for two decades the year that Sandton officially became a municipality.
Ivan van Rensburg, the director of the Balalaika Hotel recalled how there were no businesses in the area at the time.
Rivonia Road was a narrow road and all the houses were situated on three-acre plots.
Van Rensburg has been a part of the Balalaika Hotel since 1978 and said that it was very interesting running a hotel back then. All of the operations were done manually and reservations would be made by mail – three months in advance.
The head chef at the time, John Zulu, would go to the hotel at 4am in order to get the coal stove ready in time for breakfast.
In the decade that followed, the development of Sandton City transformed the municipality into the bustling business centre that is known by many today.
As the city has grown drastically, so too has the hotel, which now boasts over 300 rooms.
In 2000, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange relocated to Sandton, opposite the hotel and The Bull Run restaurant opened up at the hotel in the same year.
The term ‘bull run’ is often used in trading and mirrors the hotel’s ideal location opposite the stock exchange.
Van Rensburg concluded that he is most fondly attached to the oak tree which is still standing next to
The Bull Run restaurant.
The oak tree used to be the first sight that would welcome travellers to the hotel.
