Sun King raises a glass to 50 five-star years
Former employees hail Sol Kerzner on hotel’s anniversary
SUN King billionaire Sol Kerzner wiped away a tear at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Durban this week as he relived memories of his 50 years in the hospitality industry.
The hotel, which opened its doors in 1964, was Kerzner’s — and South Africa’s — first fivestar establishment.
The hotel mogul, who changed South Africa’s hospitality landscape with his luxury hotels and casinos, almost did not make it to the hotel’s lavish 50th anniversary celebration in Durban on Thursday night.
Kerzner, 79, who is based in London and was accompanied by his daughter Andrea, told about 150 guests that he had been scheduled to travel from Paris to Joburg, but was informed that his Air France flight had been cancelled.
“Thankfully the girl at Air France mentioned that there was a flight leaving to Cape Town.
“But they didn’t have any first-class seats,” he said to gasps of sympathy from the
Working with him was glamorous and fun . . . the best years of my life
cash-flush crowd.
Kerzner, however, worked his charm to score a business-class seat.
It was quite possibly the same charm he used in 1962 to influence a Natal North Coast sugar baron who owned a plot of land overlooking the beach in Umhlanga — where he took his girlfriends “in the old days”— to part with the land for R30 000.
The former accountant conceptualised the hotel, named after his eldest daughter, after a trip to scout out hotels in Miami and New York in 1963.
Kerzner, whose glamourous lifestyle was often in the news — his third wife was former Miss World Anneline Kriel — opened Sun City in the homeland of Bophuthatswana (now part of North West) in 1979.
This week’s party was hosted by Tsogo Sun CEO Marcel von Aulock in a glass marquee decorated by Gavin Rajah and set over the hotel’s pool.
Kerzner waxed sentimental as he mingled and posed for selfies and photographs with guests, who included former employees — some of whom had worked at the hotel for more than 40 years.
“I am really happy to be here. I have built many hotels, but the folks at Beverly Hills really make it what it is,” he said.
Ronnie Gowichan was one of those employees.
The former waiter, who worked his way up to the position of head waiter and restaurant manager, said he had spent two-thirds of his life working for a “wonderful person”.
Former teacher Maeve Changuion is another onewho counts her career working with Kerzner as memorable.
“He is a most unique person and working with him was glamorous and fun.
“Coming from a staid career to meeting the likes of Frank Sinatra to Shirley Bassey — they were the best years of my life,” she said.