People flocking to stay at the most expensive resort ever built in South Africa

·18 Nov 2025

The first Club Med resort in South Africa is set to open on 4 July 2026, and it is already drawing strong interest from international visitors.

The resort is being built at Tinley Manor on KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast. It is considered to be the most expensive resort development ever in South Africa, with a projected cost of just over R2 billion.

Its scale and price have signalled renewed investment in large tourism projects nearly 50 years after Sun City set the benchmark for South African destination resorts.

The development, led by the Collins Residential Consortium, is the first Club Med in South Africa and the wider sub-Saharan region.

It will also be one of the largest resort complexes built in the country, offering 400 rooms, several swimming pools, restaurants, bars and a range of activities.

The project is funded by South African institutions and partners, including Tinley Leisure, African Bank, the Industrial Development Corporation, Absa, Collins Residential, and the Tinley Leisure Women’s Investment Group.

Their involvement highlights the growing willingness of local funders to back large-scale, high-risk tourism infrastructure. Bookings opened in October 2025, and early demand has come mainly from Europe.

Olivier Perillat-Piratoine, Managing Director of Club Med Southern Africa, told BusinessTech that most initial reservations have come from France and Belgium, followed by the UK, Switzerland and Italy.

Interest has also been recorded from travellers in dozens of other countries. South Africans have also shown interest, but account for a smaller portion of the early bookings.

Perillat-Piratoine said that the response has exceeded expectations and that many families are making use of the offer that allows children under six to stay for free.

The busiest booking periods so far are expected to be July, August and October 2026.

Part of the appeal, particularly for foreign visitors, is the resort’s dual offering, which is a beach holiday combined with optional safari access.

What Mpilo Safari Lodge and Club Med South Africa will cost

For an additional cost, guests can leave the beach resort and spend two to three nights at Mpilo Safari Lodge, an 18,000-hectare private game reserve in Zululand.

Mpilo features 75 rooms, daily game drives and basic luxury amenities. More than R300 million has been invested in that separate development, which is about four and a half hours from the main resort.

Both properties are still under construction, although Collins Residential says the main resort village is in its final stages.

While the resort has been described as South Africa’s most expensive development of its kind, the pricing structure places it in line with Club Med’s other international properties.

A five-night stay for two adults in mid-July 2026 is priced at about R47,000—roughly R9,400 per night, or under R5,000 per person per night.

For a family of four, the price sits at around R59,478. These figures cover the beach resort only. Safari stays at Mpilo must be booked separately and add significantly to the total cost.

There are also premiums for upgraded rooms. A sea-view room adds R4,656 to the booking, a Deluxe room costs an extra R9,312, and a suite in Club Med’s Exclusive Collection raises the total to about R89,102 for the same five-night stay.

Transfers to and from King Shaka International Airport, at around R2,088, and optional excursions also come at an additional cost.

When compared with existing South African resorts, the pricing is at the higher end but not out of step with international-standard, all-inclusive models.

Some local resorts may appear cheaper at first glance, but they often do not include meals, drinks, or activities.

The Club Med project has generated discussion, partly due to its unprecedented cost, and also because of what it says about the future of tourism infrastructure in South Africa.

Major resorts of this scale have been rare in recent decades, and the investment indicates confidence in both the North Coast and South Africa as a growing tourism hub.