TRAVEL: Montclair refreshes its look

As the festive season reaches its peak, Montclair Resort and Casino has refreshed its look in preparation for the money-spinning period.

The top tourist destination – nestled in the misty mountains of Nyanga, has revamped its facilities and reworked its activities.

A visit to the hotel, which even before the renovations was still A-class, gives an impression of a first world facility. However, the director for the resort, Lewis Chasakara, says the work has just begun and there is more to come.

“This is only the first phase of refashioning our product. The second phase pencilled in for 2015 will involve other areas with a high guest impact.

With the current exercise, we are now more competent and confident of our product and in the coming year we should be welcoming a growing number of guests, both business and leisure to our resort.

“To complement improvements to the physical product, a lot of training of our staff is continuously happening, using both internal and external trainers including the renowned Mr Peter Jack,” said Chasakara.

He added: “At Montclair, it is now a whole new experience! This festive season families will have an opportunity to experience an array of new developments at the resort.”

With the Christmas holidays around the corner, all rooms at Montclair have been kitted with new “Sleep Logic” state-of-the-art beds, which are fire and insect retardant and come with a seven-year warranty. All the eight suites now have king-size beds while 67 rooms have queen-size beds and 10 budget rooms have double beds. All rooms now have LED TVs, new bed linen and electric blankets to shake away the famous Nyanga cold. Said Chasakara: “Work still in progress includes replacement of old corridor carpets, main conference room air conditioners, conference room toilets and a new state of the art boardroom.

“All this will be completed by Christmas time. ACs in the conference room will enable delegates to condition temperature to the desired level for their utmost comfort.

A new toilet suite next to the main conference room, Nyangani, will provide better convenience to delegates. It comes with contemporary amenities including intelligent tapes for hand washing.”

As part of the hotel’s creative destruction, one of the conference rooms, Sun Lounge, has been turned into a cutting edge 30-seater boardroom facility, complete with all the fine things.

Tea and coffee will be bottomless and served from a self-service machine inside the boardroom. It will be a one stop shop in terms of all the basic and peripheral needs for high-end conferencing delegates; from projectors, WIFI, photocopier, refreshments and a dedicated butler!

The resort is installing a new property management system and point of sale, which will usher in new improved features that enhance efficiencies.

But apart from all the new improvements and those that are in the pipeline, Montclair is renowned for its entertainment programme.

Every year, the tourist resort hosts several top artistes at the hotel as a way of marketing Nyanga.

Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi, who is the Tourism Ambassador for the country and is set to receive his diplomatic passport, is now the face behind the growing Tuku Golf Tournament and Shows that take place twice a year at Montclair.Professional golfers Tongo Charamba and Emmanuel Hungwe this year took part in the tournament.

Many companies from around the country, professional and amateur golfers, celebrities, business people and lovers of the sport often converge in the serene misty mountains of Juliasdale, for the rare sporting gathering.

Chasakara, a believer in domestic tourism, said the important part was in making sure that locals embrace domestic tourism. “This country is beautiful. We know because we have travelled to all corners of this country but even though, we still cannot have enough of the several wonders of this nation.

“If the charming forests and mountains of Nyanga, and the ambience of the golf course itself, fail to mesmerise any visitor to the place – then our food, friendly staff and world class facilities have to do the trick.”

He added: “Our people need to be educated about the beauty of Zimbabwe and its various destinations. They need to know where to go with their families for a good time and spend their hard-earned money.

To visit places like Mount Nyangani and Mutarazi Falls — to go into the game park and view game.”