South Africa

Mystery surrounds South Africa’s top luxury hotel that has been abandoned for over 25 years

Shaun Jacobs • 12 November 2025

South Africa’s most iconic luxury hotel stands empty in the heart of Johannesburg, with little information about what is to be done with the building.

The Carlton Hotel, opened in 1972, has stood empty for nearly three decades since Anglo American shut it down in 1997.

Part of the imposing Carlton Centre precinct, the hotel was widely considered the best in Africa. However, the brightest stars burn the fastest, with the hotel enjoying a meteoric rise and a rapid fall.

While there have been numerous plans to revive the Carlton Centre, with a functional shopping centre servicing Johannesburg’s CBD, little is known about the future of the hotel.

Transnet owns the centre and, as recently as 2023, put it up for sale for R900 million. This attracted no successful buyers, with the utility planning to renovate it itself despite its R145 billion debt burden.

On the face of it, the hotel is part of this restoration, with plans to convert some parts of it into affordable housing.

However, apart from a few staff members, the building stands empty two years later, with only its street-facing retail section occupied.

This section is bustling, with The Foschini Group trading through its Jet store and a Skipper Bar outlet operating out of the Carlton Centre.

After the announced intention to renovate the centre, Transnet said it had plans to lease 3,000 m² to Shoprite to operate a supermarket and liquor store.

The Carlton Centre’s website says it remains a landmark in Johannesburg and “continues to be a focal point of activity, development, and community engagement”.

It said the centre is currently undergoing significant renovations to enhance its structural and functional appeal. Despite this, the centre said it manages to host multiple community and cultural events for diverse crowds.

These renovations include structural improvements, such as new elevators, enhanced security systems, and updated safety features.

The centre will also have a revamped retail and dining offering through the introduction of new, modern retail spaces and diverse dining options.

Furthermore, it claims the building, which is empty except for a skeleton of Transnet work staff, plays a pivotal role in Johannesburg’s economy due to its strategic location and resources.

The site also still claims that the Carlton Centre is the tallest building in Africa, which is a title now held by the Iconic Tower in Egypt’s new administrative capital.

The centre is also no longer the tallest building in South Africa, with Sandton’s Leonardo taking the crown at 228 metres.

Curiously, the website makes no mention of the Carlton Hotel, with its 600 rooms standing empty. The hotel’s contents were famously sold to the Protea Hotel at Gold Reef City.

South Africa’s premier luxury hotel

The Carlton Hotel, despite being the most luxurious hotel in Africa, has spent more of its time abandoned and empty than occupied by travellers.

This building is only the latest in a long string of hotels that have occupied prime real estate in Johannesburg’s business district.

The first Carlton was financed by mining magnate Barney Barnato and was opened in 1902. It was no less luxurious than its successor, with the businessman driving the completion of a world-class luxury hotel.

It was initially planned to have its own theatre. However, the Anglo-Boer War put paid to that ambition, and it opened with rooms on six floors, each had its own telephone and an early form of air conditioning.

This hotel was among the most luxurious of its age, hosting King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in 1947.

Demolished in 1963 due to its age and the cost of upkeep, the then-cash-flush South African Breweries (SAB) saw the chance to recreate the Carlton’s luxury at a new location on Main and Kruis Street.

The new hotel was to be built on the site of the former Castle Brewery, and its scale soon forced it to become a collaborative effort, with Anglo American’s Harry Oppenheimer coming to the party.

Anglo and SAB snapped up five-and-a-half city blocks for the new project. These would be combined into one superblock to create the Carlton Centre.

The modern Carlton Centre, built at a cost of R88 million in the 1960s, contained a 50-storey office tower and a 30-storey luxury hotel.

Oppenheimer, seeing his chance to rival the famous Rockefeller Centre in New York City, got Anglo to buy out SAB’s share of the project in 1969 before it was completed.

Opening its doors in October 1972, the Carlton Hotel rapidly became known as the finest hotel in Africa, with its 600 rooms being occupied by presidents and celebrities.

The hotel was also at the centre of South Africa’s rapidly changing political environment, hosting discussions between politicians and businessmen that were pivotal in the formation of a new country.

Following the 1976 Soweto Uprising, Oppenheimer and Anton Rupert met at the Carlton Hotel to discuss urban renewal and the creation of a black middle class.

It also hosted several meetings between labour unions, mining houses, and the government. However, it would soon become a victim of the changing political winds.

Towards the end of the 1980s, things unravelled for the Carlton, with its US operator, Westin, ending its contract to run the hotel due to pressure from the American government to end operations in Apartheid South Africa.

Anglo would run the hotel independently for another decade before the decline of the surrounding CBD eventually claimed the hotel as another victim.

Anglo American finally closed the Carlton Hotel in December 1997, with its contents sold to the Protea Hotel at Gold Reef City.

The mining giant explored plans to sell 70% of the hotel to a group of Malaysian and local investors, who planned to spend $120 million to convert the Carlton into a casino. However, this plan failed, and the hotel was closed for good in 1998.

Transnet bought the Carlton Centre, including the hotel, from Anglo in 1999 for R33 million. The office tower and shopping centre remain in use, but the hotel has been empty since 1998.