This is Soweto

First off, apologies etc... get over it, more brilliance up ahead. Soweto Hotel. Shut your mouth! You have no idea. A brilliant concept, set in what at first seems to be somehow the wrong location... except Soweto is what the South Africans call the Location... and like with real estate location is everything. Look out any window of the hotel and all you will see is Location,literally. You might call Soweto the most famous servants' quarters (if you are candid) /or the beating heart of the revolution (if you are romantic) /you can call it apartheid's failed experiment or policy (if you get all didactic) but dude, Soweto has a long, long history which encompasses many view points, after all it is home to a diverse range of millions of South Africans.

All that is irrelevant when you walk through the doors of this hotel. Don't worry the sense of where you are will come back to hit you when you least expect it, and then that is when you might just appreciate the sheer brilliance of situating a four star (yes four,**** Four!) establishment in Soweto's heart, Kliptown, the oldest part of Soweto. In the doors you go and you find a simple, and dare I say it, elegant foyer. Front desk to your left, friendly and attentive staff (a trainee, Dolly, in my case) Keep venturing forward instead of turning right to the elevators and you pass a small lounge, small business center (free internet... FREE!) and a small bar (Rusty's Cocktail Bar), and finally Jazz Maniacs, the restaurant. Just like life in Soweto, the hotel is simple, and in a very literal sense, straight forward.

Now... at first seasoned travelers may think, "...but why Soweto Hotel, that name is a tad obvious seeing as it is smack dab in Soweto." But simplicity triumphs every time in many situations. That very same simplicity belies the real genius of the place, innocuous names like Rusty's, Jazz Maniacs all have a historical weight behind them. Rusty is an international enough name, and you may know someone called Rusty, or of a place called Rusty's... when you inquire why Rusty's Cocktail Bar is so named, you will find out that it is the name of a certain Lionel "Rusty" Bernstein (a white man and yes very, very Jewish) Claim to fame...? Two words; Freedom Charter. Still scratching you head...? Ask about Jazz Maniacs and you will be told that it was a well known group of jazz musicians from the 50's. The restaurant that carries their name even sports a small stage where local jazz artists sometimes preform at the restaurant. It starts to dawn on one that you are steeped in history here, not just about human right abuses but many more richer stories, all relating to South Africa somehow but from the perspective of Soweto, where you would currently be staying.

Beautiful photos, predominantly black and white, line the walls in the public areas. However you will immediately notice that there isn't a single image of students being brutalised, not even the image of the most famous child martyr of South Africa's freedom struggle, Hector Peterson. This is a place to relax and celebrate the hard won victories of many, many people, some of which you can very well toast as they smile down at you from their framed photographs. Photographs of men and women doing normal things, except it might be Walter Sisulu, Abigale Kubeka or Dorothy Masuka.Whatever you can't learn from the highly knowledgeable staff about Soweto's history, don't be shy to google away at one of the two computers providing free internet... better yet go for a walk or a bicycle tour, you are right on the scene of a historic gathering of people who convened to draft the Congress of the People (no... not them) in 1955.

The Freedom Square itself looks like something you would see in Europe. So austere, concrete and honest in design and purpose. Staring at the top, where there are a series of pillars, you would be met with beautiful straight lines, bordering great expanses of space to accommodate local business and informal retailers. There is an art gallery, executive suites and a space that can be use for social gatherings of any kind, from weddings to seminars or even concerts. However looking on past where the concrete square stops, you see a plethora of tiny houses that are an undeniable and comforting indicator that you are not in Europe but Soweto, actually. Just in case you need further reminding of the significance of the area, go into the conical brick structure half way down the Square and take in the words etched in series of wedges arranged around an eternal flame that are the very foundation of the movement that brought a significant percentage of South Africa from bondage into freedom. Heady stuff... do return to the hotel just across the square.

Lets go up stairs to one of the 46 deluxe rooms, the two suites (Chief Albert Luthuli and O.R. Thambo suites) will have to wait for a wedding or something. A room with or without a balcony is a thoroughly contemporary South African affair, with interiors that again reflect where you are, Mzanzi Africa. You may have a picture over your bed featuring Nelson Mandela, younger, fatter and still smiling while standing with a group of people outside what might be a courthouse. Look at the people in the photograph, white women and an Indian man in the background, it's South Africa, the rainbow nation, even back then in the bad old days. All the mod cons are there, universal electrical sockets galore for all things electrical, internet access, shower, bath, safe, direct dialing phone, room service, and satellite television. Check out Soweto TV and marvel at, frankly, the most random set of TV programs anywhere, but they all mostly are about life in Soweto. Its the small touches that suddenly awaken you to just how unique a culture Soweto has, the little blanket at the foot of your bed. It is one you would notice at many a church service or funeral, wrapped around the shoulders of old women. The cushions emblazoned with 'MAIZE 70KG" a reference to the staple diet of many Africans, corn. The cereal crop was sometimes distributed in hessian bags much rougher then these clever little cushions.

Enough gushing from me, this is one stop you have to make, even if it isn't to immerse yourself in local history... Many affluent Sowetans who have moved else where but still come back home have the option of enjoying their old hood with the creature comforts of their new hood. The seemingly unlikely placement of such a multipurpose architectural marvel in exactly the right place makes even the name Soweto Hotel suddenly ring with added significance. Soweto is where South Africa is from (in a manner of speaking) and it is also where South Africa is going... however, above all, it works! If you are planning to enjoy the 2010 soccer fest anywhere where in South Africa, make it Soweto. I would... even though I don't give a toss about soccer.