Four-star Pennefather Avenue, Harare
Rainbow Towers Hotel
A 104-metre tower on Pennefather Avenue, built for a summit of 101 nations in 1986 and joined to a conference centre whose main hall seats 4,500.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.
- Rooms
- 293, including 28 suites
- Built
- 1986, as the Sheraton Harare
- Grade
- Four stars, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
- From the airport
- About 13 km from Harare International
The hotel
Built for the Non-Aligned summit.
In 1986 Harare hosted the eighth summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, with Robert Mugabe in the chair and delegations from 101 countries. Energoprojekt, a Belgrade firm, built the conference centre and the hotel tower for it, to designs by the architects Dragoljub and Ljiljana Bakić. The hotel opened as the Sheraton Harare, and the hotel and the centre went up together as one complex.
Today Rainbow Tourism Group runs it as Rainbow Towers, and the tower rises 104 metres over Pennefather Avenue. Next door, the Harare International Conference Centre is still in use for congresses, concerts and the Sanganai tourism expo, with a main auditorium of 4,500 seats, nineteen meeting rooms and more than two thousand parking bays. In the tower, the 293 rooms all face either the city or the pool.
- Kombahari Afro-Asian cooking done live in front of the table, alongside the Harvest Garden buffet over the pool and gardens.
- Five bars From Sahwira by the pool and the Gazebo in the lobby to the English-style Aviator's Arms and a nightclub.
- Pool and spa An outdoor pool, a gym with a sauna, a tennis court and the Prasar spa for massages and facials.
Rooms & suites
City or pool, up to the Presidential Suite.
Every room faces either the city or the pool. The hotel does not publish room sizes.
- Rooms Double, Twin and Luxury Rooms 265 in all, with air conditioning, satellite television, a minibar and a safe.
- Suites Executive and Diplomatic Suites Eighteen Executive Suites and nine Diplomatic Suites.
- The top Presidential Suite One only.
Dining
Three restaurants and five bars.
Venues as listed by the hotel. Shown for information.
- Harvest Garden African-themed buffet Over the pool and gardens
- Kombahari Afro-Asian Live cooking
- La Patisserie Coffee, light meals and pastries In the lobby
- Aviator's Arms English-style bar Football on the big screen
Good to know
Before you go.
- Meals Breakfast 6.30 to 10 am, lunch 12.30 to 3 pm, dinner 7 to 10 pm.
- Transfers The hotel runs airport transfers, and has guarded parking around the clock.
- Stars The hotel calls itself five-star; the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority grades it four.
Getting there
Flying to Harare.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe International lies about 13 kilometres from the city centre, some twenty to thirty minutes by car, our estimate. It takes scheduled flights through Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Dubai and Doha, and private jets clear customs there around the clock. The hotel runs airport transfers.
- Johannesburg 1 h 35
- Cape Town 3 h 10
- Mauritius 4 h 00
- Dubai 7 h 30 long-range jet
- London 11 h 15 long-range jet
Questions
What guests ask first.
- Was Rainbow Towers the Sheraton Harare?
- Yes. The tower was built for the 1986 Non-Aligned Movement summit and opened as the Sheraton, before taking the Rainbow Towers name.
- How far is Rainbow Towers from the airport?
- The airport is about 13 kilometres from the city centre, roughly twenty to thirty minutes by car by our estimate. The hotel can arrange the transfer.
- How large is the conference centre?
- The main auditorium seats 4,500, and there are nineteen meeting rooms and about 2,000 square metres of exhibition space.
- Can SkyCourtage arrange the flight to Harare?
- Yes. We arrange Business and First Class seats on scheduled airlines and private jet charter to Harare, with one final price, our margin included. The hotel is booked with the hotel or through our booking partner.
Also in Harare
Other hotels worth the trip.
Staying at Rainbow Towers Hotel?
Book the room, then the flight.
Rates and availability come from the hotel itself. For the journey to Harare, a Business or First Class seat or an aircraft of your own: tell us the date and we come back with one final price, our margin included.
Opens the hotel's own website. We have no arrangement with the hotel.