The home of former South Africa president Nelson Mandela has been turned into a boutique hotel.
Mandela lived in the property hidden on a quiet street in a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg for eight years.
The first black president of the country later moved to another home around the corner with his third wife Graca Machel.
According to report, the inside of the building had been defaced by squatters, but has now gotten a facelift and new look.
After a floor-to-ceiling remodel, now sunlight floods in from generous skylights and bay windows. The white facade is all that remains of the original building.
The hotel, named Sanctuary Mandela, opened in September for guests seeking to bask in the ex-president’s calm and positive energy.
The presidential suite was once actually the president’s bedroom, though the heads of guests do not rest where he did. After the remodel, the bathroom is now where his bed once stood.
The window frames bear his nickname “Madiba” and his Robben Island prison number “466/64” — scratched into the wood by his grandson.
After Mandela’s release at age 71, he yearned for the simple pleasures he had been denied during 27 years in prison: playtime with his grandchildren, the scent of a rose, a sip of his favourite sweet Constantia wine.
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