Guests from Europe

David from France and Romijn from Netherlands who are in South Africa on a work contract - Romijn is with Barclays Bank and seconded to Absa - visited us in Durban for a break from the pressures of the corporate world.

Enjoy your stay in South Africa guys.

Weekend at the Guesthouse

Hey it's weekend at the Guesthouse and we're having loads of fun.

In the photos enjoying a drink around the Guesthouse Pub are co-owner Llewellyn, and Johannesburg guests Paul and Peter and Brett. Lance and David also from Johannesburg came down to celebrate David's birthday - 3 virgos in the house tonight and two of us share the same birthdate even!!

After many drinks the rooftop jacuzzi was the place to be and in the 3rd photo it's shooters all round as we sing Happy Birthday to David.

Birthday and Building

Dave's Birthday was largely spent this year supervising the builders making the alterations to the Guesthouse for the patio deck.

Llewellyn took the day off work too and raced around with Dave taking cake to the office, fetching artwork Dave put together for the office renovations as well as onsite meeetings with the builder, the steel guy, the electrician and engineer.

There was time to fit in a Long Island Iced Tea made famous in Durban by Billy the Bums and roast a Beef roll to take to Hillcrest to enjoy with mom, Lynn and the kids along with Llewellyn's fine cake he baked for Dave.

New deck for Pool and Rainbow room

Dust and disruption are the order of the day as we quickly break through walls and add a 1st floor sundeck over the pool area at the Guesthouse.

Thankfully we have timed the contractors to all finish by the end of next week by which time the Pool Room and the Rainbow room will have a sundowners and smoking deck off their rooms, and underneath we will have a new entertainment patio off the Pub in time for the Mr Gay South Africa KZN Regional Finals which will take place at the Guesthouse on Sat 12th September.

Bookings for the event as well as the Guesthouse can be made online at Book Now by clicking on the link here.

From Around the World

Welcoming Guests from around the world is Llewellyn, Guesthouse co-owner, (2nd from right), with from left to right Wayne (Johannesburg), Leonardo (Columbia), Lawrence (Belfast) and Deon (Cape Town).

Leonardo is our 3rd guest in as many months from South America and is joining 3000 international delegates for a Statistics Conference at the ICC.

Welcome from Brasilia

A vet from Brasilia, the administrative capital of Brazil, welcome Marcello, here at the Guesthouse and in Durban for a Conference at the International Convention Centre (ICC). This is our first guest from Brazil.

It is always great to hear about destinations we ourselves have not visited and Marcello has had some interesting tales about his city and travel around South America to share with us.

2010 World Cup Football: Durban's Stadium

Durban's 2010 World Cup Football Stadium, the Moses Mabhida Stadium, is well on its way to completion later this year.

In the last photo above, the stadium can be seen from our Guesthouse sundeck and we have watched its progress over the past number of months. The roof structure is presently being completed and the seating is in the process of being installed.

A funicular railway will take tourists up the one side of the impressive arch that towers 30 stories over the adjacent beachfront area, while others more energetic will be able to walk up the stairs on the other side of the arch.

Llewellyn and I took a jog around the Stadium the other day and could see the hive of activity which now goes through into the night to ensure completion well in advance of the World Cup Foorball event next year.

Durban is likely to be one of the venues for a semi-final as well as pre-event training and some of the matches.

Melanie sings at the Guesthouse

What a fabulous weekend we had at the Guesthouse. Idols famous Melanie Lowe (top, 3rd and 6th photo) had her official coming out show called "Living the Truth" which kicked off with 2 shows at the Guesthouse. From Durban she tours the country taking with her her message of hope to all gay people of South Africa.. as she chronicals her journey and decision to come out.

Melanie became engaged earlier this year to Angela and they will be married in Elgin (Cape) on the 21st March next year.

In the top photo are Melanie and her multi-talented musician Ilse, the third photo Guesthouse co-owner Llewellyn with Melanie and partner Dave, 4th photo guests at the Show, 5th photo our new Barman Jarrod (centre) with Llewellyn and Dave, and in the bottom photo Melanie, Ilse and on keyboard Mark.

Look out for more of Melanie's performances around South Africa.

Shannon Hope opens Show

Shannon Hope opened the Show at the Guesthouse this Friday. It was part of Melanie Lowe's "Living the Truth" Coming out Tour which kicked off in Durban this weekend.

In the photos at the Friday performance are: (top) Shannon Hope, (second photo) Bernie and Armand, (3rd photo) Ek and Greg, and bottom photo Guesthouse co-owners Dave (left) and Llewellyn (right) with Anthony (centre).

Mr Gay South Africa @ Durban View Guesthouse

THE SEARCH FOR THE ULTIMATE GAY MALE

The newly registered and trade-marked pageant has been launched – the richest male pageant in the country. The search is on for a gay man of impeccable character, taste and style – and of course – a temple of a body to house these admirable qualities. A candidate of whom the LGBTI community – in all it’s diversity – can be proud of.

Durban View Guesthouse has scooped the KwaZulu-Natal Regionals of the Mr Gay South Africa Pageant and Sat 12th September will be the date to book your seat now.

Please click on this booking link and make sure you will be in the ringseats for the action.

In the photo (below right) are some of the contestants in the Eastern Cape who have already qualified for the competition from the regionals held at the Knysna festival earlier this year.

There are still opportunities to enter this prestigious competition and to do so you need to follow the links to the Mr Gay South Africa website here.

Melanie Lowe to sing at Guesthouse

Living the Truth Shows - Fri 31st July and Sat 1 Aug 7pm

Excitment is building for Idol's fame Melanie Lowe's official coming out party and Shows next week at the Guesthouse.

Fresh on the heels of the revelation of her engagement to the gorgeous woman in her life, singer Melanie Lowe is climbing out of the closet and taking to the highways and byways of South Africa to bring her Living the Truth tour to our city.

Taking its name from her new song, Living the Truth - inspired by her relationship with her fiancée, Angela - her new tour promises to showcase the songstress as never before.

Featuring her much-loved hit songs and a few surprises, each show will strip back the mask and offer an intimate portrait into Melanie’s life, as she shares honestly and openly her own experiences and the stories behind her songs. Sultry and sexy as ever, but 100% Melanie, loyal fans won’t be disappointed and new fans will be captivated. Join Melanie and share in her journey of self-discovery on the road to finding true love.

The tour kicks off in Durban with two shows at Durbanview Guesthouse on 31 July and 1 August. Bookings online at BookNow.biz and pay at the door. Tickets are R60 per person.

July and August events

July and August are hot months at the Guesthouse.

Melanie Lowe

Friday 31st July and Sat 1st August are Melanie Lowe's coming out Shows - "Living the Truth".

The Shows will be very exclusive and intimate and will provide a very indepth look into Melanie's life, in light of her recent coming out and engagement. It's an exclusive for Durban View Guesthouse and we are very proud to be able to host Melanie at this important moment in her life and to share her music.

Bookings

Bookings are open for both shows by emailing us at durbanview@gmail.com or by clicking on this booking link and choosing the Show date you wish to attend. Tickets are R60 each and are payable at the door.

Barmen

Our hot barmen Jaco (top) will be serving guests at the Friday Show and Jarrod (bottom) will be serving on Saturday and again on bar duties for guests in the guesthouse on Fri 28 August. You can book your room accommodation for any future date at the Guesthouse now through our online booking link here.

Jaco and Jarrod will alternate as our new barmen once a month just to spice things up a little for our Guests.

Musical guests

Well we never got to hear Carlos play our piano, but then perhaps an accomplished musician needs a break when going on holiday.

The guesthouse recently welcomed Carlos (left) and Andre for a well-deserved break.

You can find out more about our musical maestro by clicking on this link to his website.

Visit to Grahamstown

We love visiting different parts of our own country and this weekend past we travelled to the Eastern Cape Province to the beautiful little town of Grahamstown for their annual Arts Festival.

In the pics are my kids Mark (left) and Kate-Lynn with myself (Dave, right in photos) and partner Llewellyn (blonde). The Festival was a blast and we had an awesome time seeing some of the best talent South Africa has to offer, combined with the largest craft market I have ever seen and fab restaurants and evening entertainment.. particularly Pirates!!

Bar fun

Having fun at the Guesthouse Pub are Wessel (left) our new part-time barman Jaco (centre) and Dave (guesthouse co-owner). Jaco will be looking after guests once a month.

Riaan and Michael from Johannesburg joined us for their second July Handicap Race day at Greyville just down the road from the Guesthouse. This was a Facebook event.

I took a short video clip at the races of the naked "13th Race" after the running of the last horse race. Unfortunately I was a bit far from the runners this time, but here's a snapshot from my video.

After a few drinks at the Guesthouse, it's time to get to The Lounge.. here's Dan, our guest from Canberra with guesthouse co-owner Dave and local boy Sandhip Singh at The Lounge. Dan said there are such yummy boys in Durban, he will have to come back soon.