Hotels in Port Elizabeth reveal history and hospitality

Port Elizabeth is South Africa’s ‘friendly city’, a flagship of typical Eastern Cape hospitality. The atmosphere is relaxed and slow for a big city (without being sleepy). Families love it, to visit or stay permanently, as it is one of the best places to raise children.

If you’re visiting, make a reservation at one of the hotels in Port Elizabeth like the Garden Court King’s Beach. It has a privileged location near the virgin beach, which stretches as far as the eye can see. It is not unusual, but it is always very special, to see a school of dolphins swimming by.

Hotels in Port Elizabeth, like this one, provide a level of comfort and convenience that makes a vacation worthwhile. Garden Court King’s Beach is in the suburb of Humewood, just a short distance from Hobie Beach, where sailors rig their catamarans to sail Algoa Bay. It’s a very colorful sight on a busy day.

You don’t have to venture far from the beach or most Port Elizabeth hotels for entertainment. The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World has transformed the beach in the neighboring suburb, Summerstrand, with a complex that includes a casino, a sports cafe, and a retail component developed around a man-made lake. For those who use hotels in Port Elizabeth for business purposes, there is a convention center in the complex, as well as a conference center at the Garden Court King’s Beach hotel. Downtime is well catered for with a variety of restaurants, specialty shops, a movie theater, an amphitheater, and children’s entertainment facilities on the Boardwalk.

Golfers will delight in the undulating fairways nestled within the thick coastal vegetation at Humewood Golf Club, one of the top 20 courses in South Africa. It is only 2 km from Port Elizabeth hotels.

Some argue that the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, rivals the Cape Town Stadium in aesthetic appeal. It is also in the area, offering a capacity of 48,459 people for concerts and sports matches.

The award-winning Red Location Museum, built in tribute to the liberation struggle during the apartheid era, is a must-see in the New Brighton area, while the No. 7 Castle Hill Museum showcases some English settler history from the city. Built around 1829, the building has yellow wooden floors and beams, and a restored slate ceiling, and is filled with early Victorian furniture and other household items that a typical middle-class English family would have used.