Rooms range from Luxury Twins all the way to four magnificent Presidential Suites that boast features like Jacuzzis, saunas, hand-carved Canadian maple and walnut and sweeping views over the Grand Pool. Golfers will enjoy tackling the two 18-hole championship courses (Sun City was the first golf tournament venue to offer a $1-million purse) while all guests will have a ball exploring the resort, which has 25ha of ‘jungle’ gardens, tennis and squash courts, horse riding, mountain biking, volleyball, hot-air ballooning, water sports, children’s activities (Crocodile Farm, Animal Worlds, Teenagers’ Club and a baby-sitting service) and a beauty salon. Nearby is the incredible Valley of the Waves, where a powdery, golden sand beach and wave-action pool have been installed in the middle of the African bush. Beyond Shawu rise the domes and towers of the hotel – with views over the classic Highveld landscape – while cascading waterfalls and streams trickle between them.

‘The Palace’, as it is affectionately known, is known for its striking elephant guard of honour who line the drive up to the hotel where a life-sized bronze sculpture of Shawu – one of the Kruger National Park’s ‘Magnificent Seven’ elephants known for their enormous tusks – regally stands. An easy drive or shuttle from Johannesburg or OR Tambo International Airport, it makes an unforgettable ‘pit-stop’ after a safari or an exciting holiday for honeymooners, couples and even multi-generational families who require ‘something for everyone’. Conceived as the splendid ruins of an ancient but mythical African tribe who once supposedly ruled the surrounding Pilanesberg mountains and fertile savannah, The Palace of the Lost City is the premier hotel in the action-packed Sun City resort complex.

The palace of the lost city specials