Travellers in the arrival hall of the O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) in Johannesburg, South Africa.Credit: Alamy
WE ARE TRAVELLING THROUGH JOHANNESBURG AIRPORT IN MAY WITH AN EIGHT-HOUR WAIT FOR OUR CONNECTING FLIGHT. CAN YOU ADVISE ABOUT PAY-AS-YOU-GO LOUNGES OR NEARBY HOTELS? WE ARE RELUCTANT TO VENTURE AWAY FROM THE AIRPORT FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
H. FISHER, MERIMBULA
There are several lounges in Jo'burg's O.R. Tambo International Airport and the pick of the bunch is the SLOW Lounge (slowlounge.co.za), which gets surprisingly good reviews for a pay-for-use airport lounge.
With eight hours in hand, particularly if you're transiting off a long flight from Australia, I'd be more inclined to head for the Protea Hotel Transit (marriott.com.au), located within the international terminal. Six-hour stays can be booked online; for stays between 6-12 hours you need to contact the hotel.
O.R. Tambo Airport is notorious for baggage pilfering and transit passengers with longer layovers are particularly at risk. A hard case with baggage locks and mummified in shrink-wrap plastic, available at most international airports including Sydney and Melbourne, is a good way to go when travelling through O.R. Tambo. The best defence of all is to pack nothing you can't afford to lose.
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