LOCATION: A couple of hours drive from Johannesburg airport, South Africa.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Pulling into the driveway of the Palace it’s impossible to look at anything other than the large sculpture that features a hunting scene with cheetah bearing down on a herd of impala. It’s enormous. And every minute that goes by the moving sun creates new shadows and bounces off the animal in a slightly different way. As each car pulled up with new guests they invariably took a photo and stared for a while.Once you’ve pried your eyes away from the metallic scene the water features that surround the grand entrance of Sun City’s highest end hotel come into view and draw you into reception.A reception that is unashamedly opulent and the size of a small cathedral with mosaics and frescos adorning the walls and ceilings.

THE FACTS: The 338 room Palace is just one part of the enormous Sun City. And as a Palace guest you have pretty much free reign of every part of the mega resort.As I explored (which takes a while) and spotted massive pools with wave machines, slides, a lake for watersports, a cinema, a maze, games machines, the biggest zip wire in the world, an elephant sanctuary, a game reserve and more I worried for the children’s mental state when it finally came time to leave. I wouldn’t be surprised to find a Peter Pan gang of feral youngsters living in the grounds somewhere having refused point blank to go home with mum and dad.Eating at the Palace can be a casual affair or a rather more chic evening with two fine dining venues - The Villa del Palazzo and the Crystal Court – and light meals at the pool deck and the Crocodile Lounge. For drinks and cocktails the Tusk Bar and Lounge is the best bet.

A GOOD BASE FOR: To be perfectly honest, you probably don’t need to stray far from what Sun City has to offer. And unless you’re staying for 17 years you won’t need to.You’ve got safari drives on your doorstep and enough to do on site for the most eclectic activity palate

WOW: The zip wire is extraordinary. Strapped in to a sleeping bag type contraption and dangling from a wire almost 300 metres up you’ll reach speeds of up to 180 miles an hour. Head first. To get extra speed do it as a twosome.

HOW MUCH: Four nights £1,585.00 per person based on two sharing (Africa Travel) including BA flights africatravel.co.uk