Last month Ray and I were invited to enjoy dinner, bed, and breakfast at the Clico Boutique Hotel in Rosebank. I jumped at the chance. People are always asking me for Joburg hotel recommendations, but I rarely have much to offer because who spends the night at hotels in their own city?

I was also eager to try Clico’s restaurant as I’d heard good things. My birthday was in July so I decided to schedule our visit on that day, and Clico turned out to be a great place for a sumptuous birthday feast.

Dinner at Clico.

The garden and pool area at Clico Boutique Hotel.

What I liked about Clico:

1) The location. Clico is in Rosebank, just a couple of blocks from the Gautrain station and across the street from the Keyes Art Mile.

2) The service. The reception staff, wait staff, and everyone working at Clico were particularly outgoing and friendly. I offered some feedback after my stay via email, and the Clico management responded immediately in a positive and proactive manner.

3) The wifi. Clico has free, unlimited wifi with a simple password and no silly vouchers or megabyte limits. WHY DOESN’T EVERY HOTEL DO THIS?

4) The six-course tasting menu with wine pairing. Ray and I both love fancy, delicious food and that’s what this dinner was. We also enjoyed the wines paired with each course. Ray isn’t normally a big wine fan but Clico’s wine choices even agreed with his picky palette.

The tasting menu is well priced for a high-end dinner like this: R600 (about $45) for the six-course menu and R150 (about $11) for the accompanying wine.

The first course: Butternut agnolotti with roasted tomato sauce, root chips, and pumpkin seed. My favorite course was the second one — mussel and basil risotto with basil pesto and seafood tuile — but I couldn’t get a decent photo of that one.

The first course wine pairing: a white blend called Fable Jackal Bird. We also received a free glass of champagne on arrival. (Fun fact: Clico is named after Veuve Clicquot, the owner’s favorite champagne.)

My birthday cake. Don’t ask me what “Age X9” means because I have no idea. Who cares though — it tasted great.

5) The breakfast. My poached eggs with haloumi and pesto was the best breakfast I’ve eaten this year.

Yum.

What I didn’t like about Clico:

The business-like vibe of the hotel room. Of course this wouldn’t be a problem for business travelers, and in fact I highly recommend Clico for people traveling on business; it’s a great alternative to the boring hotel chains. But I wouldn’t recommend it for a romantic staycation.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the room, and the bed was super comfortable, but I craved more personal touches and interesting art/fixtures that would make me feel like I was on holiday for the evening.

Our room at Clico.

In short, consider Clico for your next business trip or fancy meal in Joburg. The restaurant is open to the public for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Clico Boutique Hotel is at 27 Sturdee Avenue in Rosebank. Call +27-11-252-3300.

My accommodation and food at Clico Boutique Hotel were complimentary. Opinions expressed are mine.