What’s It Like Staying at Protea Hotels by Marriott?

Out of all the Marriott Bonvoy brands, little is known about Protea Hotels by Marriott from the North American perspective, and this stems from one major reason: it’s a brand born in and made for Africa.

But what if, as a self-proclaimed Bonvoy loyalist, you venture into the African continent and find yourself with Protea Hotels as one of your choices? Should you stay in one?

In this article, let’s explore Protea Hotels by Marriott and take a look at what it’s like to stay with the brand.

What Is Protea Hotels by Marriott?

Protea Hotels was founded in South Africa in 1984 by Austrian hotelier Otto Stehlik. The brand’s name and emblem are based on the iconic national flower of South Africa, the king protea (Protea cynaroides).

Protea Hotels is named after South Africa’s iconic national flower

In 2013, Protea Hotels was acquired by Marriott International, and to this day, it’s part of the hospitality giant’s mega-umbrella of 30+ brands as a pan-African subsidiary with properties located not only within South Africa but also in Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Algeria.

Marriott hasn’t extended the Protea Hotels by Marriott brand beyond the African continent (like it did with Spanish brand AC Hotels), and at this time, it doesn’t appear that it plans to.

Where Can You Find Protea Hotels by Marriott?

Foremost, Protea Hotels by Marriott properties are scattered in South Africa, mostly in the Western Cape and Gauteng regions. You’ll find the majority of them in major cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, and Pretoria, though you’ll still see one or two in secondary cities like Bloemfontein and Kimberley.

You’ll find most Protea Hotels properties in South Africa

Elsewhere in the African continent, they’re most numerous in Zambia, Nigeria, and Namibia.

Today, there are more than 60 Protea Hotels properties in existence, with Marriott recently announcing five property signings, which are either new-build hotels or conversions.

Some Protea Hotels properties of note are:

• Protea Hotel Cape Town Waterfront Breakwater Lodge (South Africa): located within Cape Town’s iconic V&A Waterfront
• Protea Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton (South Africa): located in Johannesburg’s affluent and “safe” business district
• Protea Hotel Durban Umhlanga (South Africa): situated near the city’s famous beach
• Protea Hotel Lusaka Safari Lodge (Zambia): enclosed within its own private game reserve
• Protea Hotel Livingstone (Zambia): located in the same town as Victoria Falls
• Protea Hotel Zambezi River Lodge (Namibia): set on the banks of the Zambezi River
• Protea Hotel Walvis Bay Pelican Bay (Namibia): overlooking one of the most important wetland areas on the African coastline, the Walvis Bay Lagoon

The Experience

On its matrix of brands, Marriott places Protea Hotels under the “Select” and “Classic” columns.

Being a “Select” brand means Protea Hotels by Marriott properties are select-service, which means they don’t offer the complete set of services and amenities that you could expect from a brand like Marriott and Sheraton, which are full-service and “Premium” brands by contrast.

Other select-service brands under Marriott Bonvoy are Fairfield and AC Hotels. With these brands, especially in North America and Europe, you usually won’t find services like a concierge, bell service, or a spa, among others.

Protea Hotels’ “Classic” designation, meanwhile, means that it’s a more conventional hotel brand in terms of style and function, as opposed to “Distinctive” brands like W and Le Méridien, which stand out in terms of style.

Marriott uses buzzwords like “time-honoured” for these “classic” brands, such as Sheraton and Marriott itself, but what can you really expect at Protea Hotels?

First and foremost, they don’t all look the same. Many Protea Hotels properties were converted and improved from older hotels, but even the newer ones aren’t built to be the same or “modular” like you would expect from a Courtyard or Fairfield property.

For example, the Protea Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton is a heritage hotel that’s been in existence since 1949.

Protea Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton is a heritage hotel open since 1949

Protea Hotels can range from larger three-star and four-star business hotels to more boutique properties. Plus, some of them, bearing the “Fire & Ice!” sub-brand, can also be more modern in design.

Regardless of each hotel’s unique attributes, in all properties, you can expect Western standards with elements of African hospitality.

To put this in another way, you can expect Protea Hotels to be like a Four Points by Sheraton or a DoubleTree by Hilton – you’ll get a comfortable bed, a hot and cold shower, and a breakfast buffet with a Western selection.

However, with Protea Hotels, you’ll also find local and colonial design elements in the rooms and public areas, and of course, you’ll be treated to friendly African hospitality by the staff.

Protea Hotels incorporates local African elements into its design

As a final note, Protea Hotels is a mid-range chain in the African hospitality context – this means that it’s not the cheapest nor is it usually the most deluxe hotel in a city. Especially in a big city like Cape Town, you can think of these hotels as similar to the mid-tier Courtyard by Marriott.

Marriott Bonvoy Benefits

First off, Protea Hotels by Marriott is one of the few Marriott Bonvoy brands that earn 5 Bonvoy points per US dollar spent, which is half the usual earning rate of 10 Bonvoy points per US dollar spent that you earn with other Marriott brands.

Plus, along with Four Points Express and City Express, it’s one of the three brands where you’ll earn only one Elite Night Credit for every two nights stayed – and no, you won’t earn any Elite Night Credits with a single overnight stay.

You’ll earn one Elite Night Credit per two nights at Protea Hotels

Clearly, Protea Hotels are at a disadvantage when it comes to loyalty earning compared to brands within and outside the Marriott umbrella. Comparable brands, such as AC Hotels by Marriott and DoubleTree by Hilton, earn the same rate of rewards as their luxury counterparts.

The good thing is, you’ll still earn extra Bonvoy points when you use a Marriott Bonvoy co-branded card since stays at Protea Hotels count as a Marriott purchase.

As a reminder, you’ll earn the following number of extra Bonvoy points on Marriott spend with these Canadian and US co-branded cards:

• Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card (Canada): 5 points per dollar spent (CAD)
• Marriott Bonvoy® Business American Express®* Card (Canada): 5 points per dollar spent (CAD)
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card (US): 6 points per dollar spent (USD)
• Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful™ Credit Card (US): 6 points per dollar spent (USD)
• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card (US): 6 points per dollar spent (USD)
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card (US): 6 points per dollar spent (USD)
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card (US): 6 points per dollar spent (USD)
• Marriott Bonvoy Business® Credit Card by American Express (US): 6 points per dollar spent (USD)

Additionally, if you’re a Marriott Bonvoy Elite member, you’ll earn extra points based on the following rates:

• Silver Elite: 10% bonus
• Gold Elite: 25% bonus
• Platinum Elite: 50% bonus
• Titanium Elite: 75% bonus
• Ambassador Elite: 75% bonus

Speaking of Marriott Bonvoy Elite status, you’ll get to access the following benefits, among others, when available to your tier and at the hotel:

• Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
• Welcome gift of either daily breakfast for up to two people or 500 points per stay
• Late check-out
• Enhanced room upgrade

The breakfast benefit is usually in the form of access to a buffet, which in South Africa, resembles a full English breakfast plus some local flavours.

Typically, Protea Hotels properties serve a breakfast buffet

As for room upgrades, they’re frankly limited, since like Marriott’s other select-service brands, many Protea Hotels don’t offer suites – or they only have a few at the property if they do.

Booking Using Points

Booking Protea Hotels by Marriott can represent good value when booking using Marriott Bonvoy points. When you book a room at the right time, you can effectively derive value out of your points above our target valuation of 0.8 cent per point (CAD) or 0.6 cent per point (USD).

Plus, some Protea Hotels properties offer the most affordable redemptions globally of the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio.

Let’s take a look at some examples of redemptions.

Protea Hotel Cape Town Tyger Valley can be had for as few as 7,000 points per night when the equivalent cash rate is 1,182 ZAR (93 CAD/69 USD). This nets a redemption value of 1.33 cent per point (CAD) or 0.99 cent per point (USD) – both of which are above our target valuation for Bonvoy points.

Meanwhile, Protea Hotel Johannesburg Balalaika Sandton can be redeemed for as few as 6,500 points per night versus a cash rate of 1,679 ZAR (131 CAD/97 USD). The redemption value you’ll derive in this case is 1.87 cent per point (CAD) or 1.39 cent per point (USD) – again, above our target valuation.

Lastly, Protea Hotel Livingstone in Zambia can be had for 10,500 points per night against a cash rate of $194 (USD) or $262 (CAD), giving you an excellent redemption value of 2.50 cent per point (CAD) or 1.85 cent per point (USD).

Tying all this together, given how affordable Protea Hotels redemptions could be, you can actually book a number of nights using the welcome bonus of a single Marriott Bonvoy co-branded card.

For example, with the Marriott Bonvoy® American Express®* Card in Canada, you can conservatively receive up to 55,000 Bonvoy points as a welcome bonus.

With the fifth-night-free redemption benefit available to all Bonvoy members, you can then spend those points for:

• Five nights at Protea Hotel Cape Town Tyger Valley for as few as 28,000 points with the fifth-night-free benefit
• Five nights at Protea Hotel Balalaika Sandton for as few as 26,000 points with the fifth-night-free benefit

Deriving a total of ten nights in Protea Hotels from the welcome bonus of a single card with an first-year annual fee of only $120 (CAD) is undoubtedly incredible value.

Should You Stay at Protea Hotels by Marriott?

Protea Hotels by Marriott properties are more than sufficient for trips where you’re out touring or going on safaris. They provide a clean room with a comfortable bed, hot and cold shower, and usually, a breakfast buffet.

Moreover, their accommodation style is similar to what you would find in North America, so you can be assured of a familiar experience during your stay.

You’re assured of a familiar experience at Protea Hotels

If you can find a good redemption, you should stay at your chosen Protea Hotels property without question. As discussed above, you can find affordable redemptions, easily exceeding our target valuation for Marriott Bonvoy points.

Paying cash is a different story, however. For one, Protea Hotels properties aren’t usually the most affordable option nor are they the most deluxe accommodations within a city. Hence, if you’re looking at paying a pretty penny for a room, you should consider your other options.

In South Africa, for example, there are local chains that you can look into like City Lodge and Southern Sun, and many Western chains like Holiday Inn, Radisson, and Hilton, on top of other Marriott brands, are present as well.

But on the other hand, there are smaller cities and towns where you admittedly don’t have much choice in accommodations, and therefore, Protea Hotels becomes your safest bet.

Protea Hotels is your safest bet in cities where there aren’t many choices

Finally, if your motivation to stay at Protea Hotels is your loyalty and elite status with Marriott, you should foremost consider that you’ll earn only half the usual rate of Elite Night Credits and Bonvoy points with your stay.

However, on the upside, you’ll still get to access your applicable elite benefits, such as free breakfast, potential upgrades, up to 4pm late check-out, and extra bonus points.

Conclusion

Out of all the brands under Marriott Bonvoy, little is known about Protea Hotels by Marriott in North America, since it’s a brand born in and made for Africa.

However, Protea Hotels could be among your choices if you find yourself venturing into the African continent, with its more than 60 properties in various countries, like South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Namibia, Botswana, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Algeria.

Plus, if you have Bonvoy points to spend, Protea Hotels redemptions can be of incredible value.

Hopefully, our guide helps you decide if you should stay at this pan-African brand.