Our story

 

​The name is Zulu for rock. It was chosen for what the word suggests rather than the material itself: something grounded, in the same place for a long time, and not easily moved by whatever is happening around it.

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Idwala opened in 2005 as a five-star boutique hotel, born out of a genuine love for travel, hospitality, and sharing beautiful spaces with people from all over the world. Over the years that followed, guests arrived from every corner of the planet for business trips, holidays, honeymoons, and events like the 2010 FIFA World Cup. During that time, Idwala won a string of awards including TripAdvisor's Travellers Choice for luxury hotels, Gold for Best Establishment with Excellent Service at the FNB and Randburg Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year Awards, and a sustained five-star grading from the South African Tourism Council. It was also featured in the Portfolio Collection, the benchmark publication for the best holiday accommodation in South Africa and Swaziland. The accolade that mattered most, though, was the guest return rate, and the number of guests who became friends.

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In 2020, travel and hospitality changed everywhere. We changed with it. The boutique hotel became a serviced apartment estate, and Idwala was reborn in a form that suits both the times and the property rather well.

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The estate sits on land that was once one of Johannesburg's earliest farms, in the residential suburb of Darrenwood. Four private units sit inside a lush indigenous garden. The bird life here is remarkable, largely because the estate is surrounded by three dams, and on a quiet morning you can hear as much variety as you would in the bush. The estate runs on solar power and borehole water backup, and takes composting, recycling, and low-impact living seriously. The eco in eco estate is not a marketing word.

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The people who live here now are professionals, executives, expats, and remote workers who want somewhere considered and calm to call home for a year or more. They tend to appreciate the natural setting, the quiet, and the fact that Idwala has a genuine character that most apartments in Johannesburg simply do not have.

 

Finding the right residents matters to us, and we put genuine thought into every application. If this feels like your kind of place, we would love to hear from you.