Aerotel Boutique Hotel, a Unique Experience
A Bespoke Hotel, situated near Hoedspruit.
What an EXPERIENCE! Sleeping in a BOEING 737 in the Bush.
Experience the thrill of spending a night on-board a customized, luxury Boeing 737-200, overlooking the African bushveld and the northern Drakensberg mountains. Located in Hoedspruit near South Africa’s largest national game reserve, The Kruger National Park, the hotel offers aviation enthusiasts and guests with an adventurous spirit, the opportunity to spend the night in a Boeing 737 aircraft, as well as the chance to enjoy the incredible wildlife and activities that this area has to offer.
South Africa is home to many unusual accommodation experiences but none quite like this. A disused passenger aircraft has been converted into the Aviator Boutique Hotel in the African bushveld. The bespoke hotel, situated near Hoedspruit, is the place to go for a unique opportunity to spend the night in luxury, aboard an aircraft.
Travellers to the country can now spend a night in a luxury Boeing 737-200 hotel. The Aerotel comprises of two Boeing aircraft. The first, a Boeing 737, which arrived in 2019, now offers six double en-suite cabins that are named after different cloud formations. Each room is decorated with an aviation theme. The second — a Boeing 727 aircraft which arrived in June 2021 — is still being converted into luxury accommodation and will launch as a luxury 'private villa' offering accommodation for six guests in early 2022. It was the first airline to fly the Convair 580, and didn’t integrate the 727 until February 1967.
Aerotel offers a lounge and bar area, secured parking, laundry service, restaurant, outdoor pool, and free wi-fi. The hotel’s “departure lounge” is the perfect sundowner spot, complete with some of the aircraft’s original seats. Enjoy Tapas and drinks on a deck that’s integrated on the aircraft's wing while viewing a sunset with Mariepskop Mountain as the back drop. The best sunset view in Hoedspruit, with an assortment of MCC's, gintails and top South African wines for sundowners, accompanied by a tapas, hot snack menu for the guests, as well as limited availability to the public, Adjoining this is a mosaic swimming pool with a bar and deck, which are an ideal refuge during the heat of the day.
Since opening, the Aerotel hotel has drawn lots of attention, especially from the South African market, and with borders reopening, there has been an influx of bookings from international travellers.
The Aerotel project is the idea and brainchild of Martin den Dunnen and wife Tracy den Dunnen. Martin, a business man of Hoedspruit for approximately 23 years, a pilot and property developer (Zandspruit Estates Pty Ltd) with extensive construction experience (PropertyProjects & Zandspruit Construction) and Tracy had a dream, a will and a passion to restore dignity to a retired airliner aircraft, that habitually ends up in airport graveyards, doomed to rust away or to be chopped up as scrap metal., a sad reminder of the once magnificent piece of machinery it was.
This dream became a reality in March 2019 when time, opportunity and passion collided and ZS-BIL was purchased, with the assistance of Riaan van Niekerk of CraftBespokeWorx. A 4 month preparation project ensued where BIL was prepared for safe transportation to Hoedspruit, where the rebuild and conversion would take place. BIL departed from DENEL grounds on 5 May 2019 and traveled 9 days by road to Hoedspruit Limpopo.
The rebuild ensued in full force once BIL arrived. It was an adventure to say the least, with no manuel and no previous experience from which to draw from to light the way. But with the assistance and expertise of local and regional professionals, Aerotel stands today as a testimony of what willpower and passion can achieve, when coupled with a great team of like-minded individuals.
Rates start from R1800 pp inclusive of breakfast.
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