The Royal Hotel caters for a wide range of guests from commercial folk to tourists, and from individuals to large tour groups.
The street-front facade and carved front door date back to the late 1800`s, and remain the same today as they were during the whole of the famous 118 day Ladysmith siege. The hotel reception area is, however, fully modernized, and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.
Friendly highly trained staff are at your service. All function rooms, bedrooms, restaurants and bars are air-conditioned, and there is ample secure, covered off-road parking.
All the support services to be expected of a modern three-star hotel are available. We understand the needs of the business traveler and ensure that The Royal Hotel is your home-from-home.
Included are a 15 hour-a-day room service facility, car rental, dry cleaning, emergency toiletries, medical services on call, and property safe keeping.
Accommodation at Royal Hotel - Ladysmith:
There are 71 luxury rooms, all en-suite (shower or bath or both) and all rooms have television including 11 channels.
All bedrooms are air conditioned. All bedrooms have direct dial telephone facilities. Fax and e-mail facilities are available. Facilities are designed to cater for the requirements of disabled people.
Room service is available 15 hours each day.
Ladysmith dates back to about 1850, and was named after the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith.
The town saw considerable expansion after gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand, and today remains an important railway junction.
The Royal Hotel has been witness to all these times, and remains a focal point of Ladysmith today.
A pleasant town, with many interesting features and sites to visit, some of which are described below.
Siege museum:
Located alongside the Town Hall and civic offices, the building served as a ration center for civilians during the tough times experienced during the siege.
The excellent museum displays many relics of the siege period, and is well worth a visit.
Siege walking and driving guides:
An excellent guide is available from the information office at the Town Hall, or from the siege museum. Covering over 80 historically significant sites in and around Ladysmith.
Historic battlefields:
Names such as Spioenkop, Colenso, Wagon Hill, Elandslaagte, and Tugela Heights all mark battles of the region.
Town hall and town hall museum:
See the superb architecture of this beautiful building, and get all the historical facts since it was built in 1893. The professionally staffed information office is just a few minutes walk from the Royal Hotel.
Soofi Mosque:
Completed in 1969, acknowledged as one of the most beautiful Muslim Mosques in the southern hemisphere. A national monument. Check open times with Hotel reception.
Statue of Ghandi:
Mohandas Ghandi was a stretcher bearer with General Buller’s relief forces at the end of the siege. See the statue erected to his memory. The hotel will make arrangements with the caretaker. The inscription at the foot of the statue reads “Truth, and freedom from conflict” in Afrikaans.
Other attractions:
The Wagon Hill battle site, the Spioenkop Nature Reserve, and the Ladysmith/Enmnambithi Cultural Centre are some features not to be missed. The latter houses the Ladysmith Black Mambazo Hall.
All Saints church:
A beautiful Anglican stone church, with superb stained glass windows, and memorial tablets in honour of some 1800 (of 3200) British soldiers who fell in the defense of the town. A visit to this little church is a deeply moving experience.
From Johannesburg or Durban, use the N3 toll road.
1. From the Johannesburg side take the exit to the R103 at the foot of the Van Reenen’s Pass - marked to Ladysmith.
From the Durban side:
2. Take the exit marked Ladysmith/Bergville some 60km beyond Estcourt.
3. Turn right - approximately 18km to Ladysmith.
4. You can also reach Ladysmith from Johannesburg on the old main road the R23 just beyond Heidelberg, joining the N11 at Volksrust.
5. Volksrust may also be reached from Mpumalanga and the Kruger National Park area via Ermelo.
6. The R602 leads to Dundee, Vryheid and on to the northern parts of KwaZulu-Natal - including Maputaland - Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve, and the St Lucia wetlands.
7. The N5 takes you from Harrismith through Bethlehem to join the main Johannesburg/Cape Town national road - the N1
Distances from Ladysmith to:
Johannesburg - 350 km,
Durban - 250 km,
Bloemfontein - 410 km,
Cape Town - 1410 km,
