Michael Jackson. Elton John. Various Sheiks. They’ve all stayed at the Palace of the Lost City at the famous Sun City resort in North West Province and, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of staying there, it’s easy to see why. The place is a virtual vortex of luxury, writes Greg Bester.
The Lost City was built by hotel magnate Sol Kerzner in 1992 and is the flagship hotel of the Sun City complex. It is styled as a “fairytale African palace’ that towers over a scenic valley within the ancient Pilanesberg Alkaline Ring, an extinct volcano that last erupted some 1.2 billion years ago and is now a game reserve visited by thousands each year.
With opulence comes technology and “the Palace’, as it is affectionately known, is no exception. Having personally visited the hotel and having viewed the most expensive suites the hotel has to offer, it boggles the mind the level of opulence that is afforded to the guests who are blessed enough to take refuge there.
Of course, flat panel TVs rise out of the hardwood cabinets in which they are stored. There are grand pianos, Jacuzzis, saunas in the main bedrooms, personal libraries, business offices, top notch sound systems and buttons to push everywhere that do one thing or another. The R35 000 per night Desert Suite, one of the more prestigious suites available for the “high rollers’, recently received an upgrade to its audio systems under the auspices of Converged Connectivity and directed by Kevin McMillan Craig.
Desert sounds
The Desert suite was completely stripped and renovated and now offers a prive lounge, a massage and relaxation room, a karaoke system and Baccarat tables for those with deep pockets. Craig and his company Converged Connectivity were selected because of their extensive experience in designing custom Bose Professional systems for upmarket hospitality venues.
The brief from the client was to install an invisible audio system that would meet the expectations of their discerning guests and one that utilises minimal speakers; this, while another more important requirement was to supply optimum coverage. Additionally, and according to Craig: “Audio hotspots were to be avoided at all costs and the system needed to be controlled from wall mount controllers.’
The prive lounge, the massage parlour and the corridors each received Bose DS16 flush-mount ceiling speakers; four in total. Due to their precise positioning, they offer seamless handoff between listening zones at any listening volume. The gaming floor received four Bose Freespace FS3 satellite speakers and a flush-mount subwoofer module. All cabling was completely concealed and shielded against outside interference.
Amplification came courtesy of a Cloud Electronics CXA850 multi-channel amplifier and is distributed via a Cloud C263 multi-zone mixer. Additional feeds from other sources such as DSTV and Cobranet-compliant audio sources can be interfaced at a later date should there be a need for expansion. The Cloud amplifier/mixer solution was chosen due to it being able to be stored out of sight and because it is virtually “set and forget’. Ease of maintenance was a key consideration.
The karaoke system of choice was a wireless Bose 135 system paired to a Sony Playstation 3 with Playstation microphones and software since it offers HD playback of various kinds of media. The fact that it is a gaming console is an added bonus.
The wrap
Given Bose’s reputation among those with high tastes, it’s no wonder it is the preferred brand of both Converged Connectivity and the Palace of the Lost City. There’s something about Bose that puts minds at ease when seeking quality. Given the stringent standards at Lost City and given Converged Connectivity’s growing reputation for supplying quality, user-friendly solutions, I’m sure the high rollers at the Palace will be as happy with the sound system as Converged Connectivity enjoyed delivering the best to their client.