Back in May, I wrote a post about the shops in Melville Mansions on 7th Street in Melville. This big pink building (very close in color to the Flamingo Palace) at the corner of 7th Street and 3rd Avenue has become one of Melville’s most prominent landmarks, both physically and culturally.

Melville Mansions, at the corner of 7th Street and 3rd Avenue.

Like our house in Brixton, Melville Mansions has become impossible to miss since its pink makeover.

In addition to the restaurant and shopfronts on the ground floor, Melville Mansions has eight upstairs guest suites that are rented out on Airbnb. Thorsten and I spent the night in one of them a few weeks ago, and it was fun to experience Melville from above.

View of the I Love Melville sign from the balcony at Melville Mansions.

I’ve spent so much time on this street over the years, but almost all of it has been at ground level. It looks totally different from a little higher up.

Inside Melville Mansions

Melville Mansions is an Art Deco building and the owners have done an amazing job restoring it in a fun, authentic way. Each of the suites is identified by color, rather than by number, and is decorated in a whimsical theme.

I love the building’s entrance hall.

A beautifully restored stairwell.

View from the rooftop at Melville Mansions

360-degree views from the Melville Mansions rooftop. There isn’t much happening up there yet but I believe there are some plans brewing.

This is “Pink”, the two-bedroom corner suite.

This wallpaper though!

The room we slept in was Green.

The balcony opens out over 7th Street.

Obviously this is a busy street with lots of restaurants and bars; I was a little worried about how noisy it would be during the night. But it honestly wasn’t as bad as I thought. I only woke up at 2:00 a.m., when the bars closed and the street was suddenly dead silent. It was fun to wake up on 7th Street, a place I’ve very familiar with but don’t usually see at that hour of the morning. The Sourcery, which serves some of the best coffee in Melville, is right downstairs and opens early.

Dinner in Melville

Thorsten and I had dinner at Artüro, one of our favorite restaurants, on the night we slept over. Since I’ve already blogged about Artüro, I’m including the story of a brand-new restaurant, Scala, which also pairs well with a stay at Melville Mansions.

The new Scala restaurant at the corner of 7th Street and 4th Avenue. It’s so new that it doesn’t even have a sign yet.

Scala, named for a movie theatre of the same name that lived in this building long ago, has an interesting story; you can read all about it in Melville Untold, one of my favorite newsletters. But in short: This is one of Melville’s most iconic buildings, and despite its extremely prominent location it has been closed to the public since I moved to Joburg in 2010. So the opening of this restaurant is extremely exciting. The owner hopes to re-open the theatre eventually, too.

Scala’s interior.

The bar.

My friend Julia joined me for dinner at Scala. Right now the restaurant is open for dinner only. There’s a limited menu: a salad starter, served with your choice of a beef, chicken, fish, or vegetarian main, for R360 (not cheap but the portions are substantial and delicious). There’s also a wine and cocktail menu — we brought our own wine and paid corkage.

The salad was almost a meal in itself.

I had the fillet of sole with chips and Julia had the beef rump. We were both very pleased with our meals.

There are many fun ways to spend an evening on 7th Street in Melville. I also highly recommend the Melville Art Mile, which has become a local fixture on the first Thursday evening of every month.

Right now the rooms at Melville Mansions cost between R900 and R1000 ($50-$60) per night for two people, depending on the day. It’s a great option for a fun night out/staycation on one of Joburg’s vibiest streets. I hope I find an excuse to stay there again.