Sun International’s Sun City, in the North West, is continuing its drive to remain relevant as it progresses several successful initiatives to revamp the premier leisure and entertainment destination.

From its newly installed rooftop solar plants and newly completed five-star Lefika Villas development to new attractions, new retail brands and significant refurbishments, Sun City Resort has been undergoing a transformation.

Sharing the story of Sun City’s journey during a media tour of the resort, Sun City GM Brett Hoppé says the group continues to respond to changing trends, aspirations and market demands to remain relevant after 45 years.

The media tour followed the announcement by parent company Sun International earlier this year that it plans to invest R530-million into the resort, some of which is allocated to the complete refurbishment of the iconic Sun City Hotel.

“The Sun City Hotel was where it all began. We have planned a substantial refurbishment for our iconic hotel, which will give it a fresh, contemporary new look to attract new generations.”

The resort opened in 1979, with the Sun City ‘casino’ hotel its only hotel before the later additions of the iconic Palace of The Lost City Hotel, the Cascades hotel and the Cabanas.

“Sun City is such an exciting place . . . because we stay relevant. Sun City is constantly evolving. We are creating new experiences, we are being innovative, we are trendsetting and we are also market leaders,” says Sun International development manager Mark Pitchers, adding that the company listens to its customers, narrows the top five things needed and starts implementing them in an five-year programme.

In 2016/17, the five-star-graded Sun Central, comprising retail, restaurants and entertainment, as well as award-winning convention centre spaces, underwent a complete makeover, followed by a refurbishment in 2018/19 of 148 units of Sun Vacation Club’s (SVC’s) The Aviary and the refurbishment and major infrastructure upgrades in 2019/20 of 336 rooms at the Cascades.

During the course of 2020/21, Sun City embarked on a significant shutdown of its Valley of the Waves to undertake a pipe relining project and infrastructure upgrades.

Following this, The Palace of The Lost City was refurbished, and a spa and gym installed in 2021/22 and, in 2023, Sun City embarked on the R295-million five-star timeshare Lefika Villas SVC development, the first significant expansion at the resort since the establishment of The Aviary in 2004.

Now, the Sun City Hotel will undergo an extensive refurbishment between August this year and November 2026, with the upgrade of all 340 rooms, bedroom corridors, bedroom terraces and the Sun Terrace, along with various infrastructure upgrades, says Pitchers.

The first part of the multi-phased project will bring the first 56 refreshed rooms back in operation by the end of November, prior to the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

Blacksmith Interior Inspiration director Ryan Ilgner, who is the interior architect on the current refurbishment projects, says the new Sun City Hotel interiors combine comfort with craft in creating a uniquely African experience, paying homage to the rich Tswana culture and the unique surrounds of Sun City.

The Sun City Hotel was previously upgraded and relaunched as ‘Soho’ in 2016 as part of a R1-billion upgrade at the resort.

“It seemed an appropriate time to give the hotel its own identity but this never resonated with customers and they continued to refer to [it as] the ‘Sun City Hotel’. When we realised how affectionately the Sun City Hotel is embraced by South Africans, we restored the hotel’s original name,” Hoppé says.

Meanwhile, the group is also overhauling its SVC’s The Reserve units following the success of the Lefika Villas.

The reserve, which was created by converting an existing staff village into timeshare units, formed part of Sun International’s 1996 introduction of a new accommodation model in response to demand for self-catering units at the resort.

Over the next three years, starting in July, 236 units at The Reserve will be refurbished at a cost of R210-million.

Solar Power

Sun City has also invested more than R26-million to mitigate interruptions in energy supply and reduce its carbon footprint through the installation of solar plants atop the roofs of Sun City’s Sun Central conference and entertainment centre, as well as The Palace and the Sun City Hotel.

The first two phases of the multiphase installation has been completed, with all available space on the roof of Sun Central now covered by solar panels.

By June 10, Sun City had saved and produced 2.2 MW, avoided 1 976.5 t of carbon dioxide emissions equivalent and realised a financial saving of about R3.1-million from July 2023 to May 2024.

“We are now in Phase 3 of our solar plant installation. This phase will add an additional 690 kWp [generated off the roofs of both the Sun City Hotel and The Palace], increasing our total to nearly 4 000 solar panels installed across the resort,” says Hoppé.

The completion of this next phase on the roofs of The Palace and the Sun City Hotel will see the resort’s demand on the national grid drop by an estimated 2.25 MW.

Outlining the progress of the project and the meticulous planning required to minimise the risk and disruption to Sun City’s operations, Hoppé says that conventional installation methods, such as cranes, would have inconvenienced guests and, given the scale of the project, the group decided that airlifting the equipment was the best and quickest solution while ensuring the safety of both guests and the structural integrity of the buildings.

“At its highest point, The Palace is 70 m high, so lifting 1 191 solar panels and the supporting steel structures onto the roof is no mean feat. The hefty panels were packed into crates, with each one weighing just under a tonne.”

Sun City is working on a further large-scale energy project to reduce reliance on the national grid, while adding about 20% to 30% in excess of its own electricity requirements.

Hoppé further emphasises that the roll-out of the panels forms part of a broader, phased environmental strategy.

“Sun City is an enormous property with many moving parts to power up, but we believe our ground-breaking project not only reduces our resort’s demand and consumption of energy, but that it will also meet Sun International’s broader environmental commitment.”

This innovative approach protects the architectural heritage of the resort while aligning with Sun City’s commitment to sustainable and responsible energy solutions, he says, adding that the solar plant installation marks a significant technological advancement, setting a new standard for integrating renewable energy solutions in heritage- sensitive environments.

“Sun City’s Convention Centre and our hotels receive an ever-increasing number of enquiries from groups and individuals wanting to know about our accreditation/ certification on environmental sustainability and what measures we are putting in place to conserve the environment for the future,” Sun City sustainability manager Lwazi Mswelanto says.

“With a growing focus on environmental, social and governance, conference organisers and companies in particular, are keen to know how much water, waste and energy they have used for their conference so that they can determine how green their conference was.”

In line with this, Sun City achieved a recertification for its environmental management system, with an ISO 14001 certification received for the responsible manner in which it interacts with the environment and uses scarce resources.

“This reflects how Sun City has embedded environmental sustainability practices within our operations as a responsible, future-focused organisation,” says Mswelanto.

The system audit assessment focused on four main areas: how the resort manages water and wastewater; initiatives and processes in place to prevent, reduce, reuse, recycle and recover waste; what is being done to reduce carbon emissions and increase green energy capacity; mitigation of environmental risks and compliance to licenses and permits; and plans and processes in place to mitigate environmental impact on the community in which the resort operates.

“The resort’s sustainability agenda is focused on not only shrinking its environmental footprint, but also on uplifting our surrounding communities,” Mswelanto continues, explaining that the resort works closely with all partners to ensure that members of the surrounding communities are employed, trained and upskilled to service the technology during the building and after the completion of the project.

New Attractions

The resort is also adding new attractions and welcoming new retail brands into its fold.

“We regularly review our attractions. With the recent resurgence of interest in tennis, we will upgrade our existing courts, and we are extremely excited to announce that by the end of July, Sun City will have four international-standard Padel courts,” Hoppé notes.

Four new Padel courts, with a project cost of R8-million, opened at the end of July, with plans in place to host Padel tournaments and an option to potentially host finals in the Sun City Super Bowl with a special pop-up Padel court.

“Sun City is keen to host not only regional, but also national and even international Padel events at our new world-class facility. The sport has taken the world by storm, so it is possible that one day Padel could even become an Olympic sport. A game at Sun City could spark a passion for the game that ends with a South African team winning gold.”

Further, popular urban brands such as Krispy Kreme, Ben’s Bubble Tea and Brix Lego Wonderland, besides others, are establishing a presence at the resort.