Cape Town Travel Guide
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This Week in Hotel Lust: White Picket Fences at Cape Town's Mount Nelson
This week, a combination of wanderlust and hotel lust led us to research the Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, which a roving HotelChatter correspondent briefly had the chance to visit last year. We deemed Mount Nelson worth a second look from afar, because of the consistent buzz it garners for its exaggerated sense of luxury. Then again, if it weren't exaggerated it wouldn't be lust-worthy, would it?
Fat cats who travel to areas of the world deemed "exotic" aren't usually in the game of roughing it. Maybe they've come for a safari, but they better be welcomed home at the end of the day by plush linens at the very least.
No need to worry about that at Mount Nelson, where Garden Cottages located away from the main hotel building offer grown-up Richie/Regina Riches their very own white picket fence, rose garden, marble bathrooms, and use of an adults-only pool. Socialite's kids can be notoriously snotty, so this division of property is welcomed by singles and child-free couples alike. The price of privacy: approximately $1,478 per night, according to listed rates and our currency conversion.
Tags: Missoni Hotels / Hotel Hype / Cape Town Hotels / Fashion Hotels / Rezidor Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Missoni Goes For South Africa Next
Hotel Missoni wastes no time. On the crest of the wave of hype surrounding the very first Missoni Hotel in Edinburgh, Scotland (it opened yesterday!), Rezidor Hotels has just announced that Missoni will bring its mutilcolored, dreamy lodging designs to Cape Town, South Africa in 2010.
Hotel Missoni Edinburgh opened its doors amidst a technicolored flurry of publicity, and as we wait on Missoni's second lodging outpost to open its doors next in Kuwait this fall followed by an Oman location later on, we've apparently got a fourth location to look forward to. The 157-room Hotel Missoni Cape Town will be, supposedly, opening "just in time" for the FIFA World Cup in 2010 "in the heart" of Cape Town — complete with a Missoni Cucina restaurant, a bar, a spa and a rooftop terrace "with a cantilevered swimming pool and views of Table Mountain."
No word on when the Missoni brand is planning on crossing over into the ol' US of A, but we're going to go ahead and assume it won't be for a good long while if Rezidor's got its eyes fixed on spots like Edinburgh, Kuwait and Cape Town — but we'll keep you posted; you can always somehow procure yourself one of those fly kilty-apron things and wear it around your house to achieve a similar effect.
Tags: Hotel Openings / One and Only Hotels / Mariah Carey / Cape Town Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
Mariah Carey Performs for Nelson Mandela at One & Only Cape Town Opening
One & Only Resort has opened and despite the worldwide economic troubles, the luxury resort has decided to open with a serious bang--having Mariah Carey perform for Nelson Mandela at a private luncheon hosted today. Except that private luncheon including about 350 rich and famous folks. The official press release says:
Sol Kerzner (One and Only owner) introduced his 350 guests including: Mariah Carey, Thandie Newton, Marisa Tomei, Morgan Freeman, Sharon Stone, Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood and Matt Damon to the resort’s world renowned chefs, Gordon Ramsay and Nobu Matsuhisa.
The master ensemble of global musicians including Clint Eastwood’s son Kyle Eastwood on bass, legendary Dave Koz on saxophone; Jonathan Butler on guitar; the magnificent Patti Austin on vocals; Maceo Parker, formerly James Brown’s saxophone player, on sax; 6-year-old Cape Town percussion prodigy Daniel Peterson on drums and the amazing Hugh Masekela on Flugle & Trumpet performed an array of hits including “Fire & Rain,” “I’ll Take You There,” “Let’s Stay Together” and many more.
Naturally, a One & Only resort that opens with this much fanfare does not come cheap and we hardly expect room rates to be dropping anytime soon. Marina rooms begin at $540 a night and junior suites on one of the resort's two private harbour islands, begin at $1,770 a night.
Tags: Hotel Openings / One and Only Resorts / Hotel News / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
Bring the Kids to the Opening of One & Only Cape Town
Long a favorite of the rich and famous, the One & Only Resort chain seems to only build properties in the most drool-worthy of locations, yet adding nightly prices to make your throat go dry. The newest addition to their fancy flock is the One & Only Cape Town, due to open on April 3 and boasting such frills as an island yoga pavilion and restaurants from star chefs Gordon Ramsay and Nobu's Nobuyuki Matsuhisa.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Cape Town Hotels / One and Only Resorts / Gordon Ramsay / Nobu / → All Tags
One & Only Cape Town To Open April 4th
Lovers of One & Only Resorts (mainly the famous and the wealthy) will be thrilled to know that the resort group's newest location is opening April 4th in Cape Town, South Africa.
One & Only Cape Town is described as a "urban chic waterfront resort" in the heart of Victoria & Alfred Waterfront which will have killer views of Table Mountain and Signal Hill. The crescent-shaped, seven-storey Marina Rise building will house but more accommodations and the One & Only Spa can be found on two private islands in the middle of the waterway.
Generous interior spaces are adorned with fabrics and furnishings recalling the warm, muted tones of Africa’s savannahs, with bright splashes of colour paying tribute to the land’s vibrant personality.
All rooms and suites are indulged by the discreet yet attentive services of a dedicated butler, 24-hours a day. Sumptuously appointed oversized baths are complete with rain shower, private water closet and dual vanity.
Those marina rooms are also being touted as the largest hotel rooms in Cape Town. Even better? Each room has "expansive glass doors that lead onto private balconies" for maximum killer view appreciation.
Tags: Cape Town Hotels / South Africa Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Orient-Express Hotels / Monica Guy / → All Tags
The Cape Town Hotel Scene: Dine in Style at the Mount Nelson Hotel
Our roving correspondent Monica Guy has recently blessed the rains down in Africa--South Africa--and is giving us the scoop this week on the Cape Town hotel scene. Have a question or a suggestion? Let us know and we'll do our best to answer it. Enjoy.
How the other half live. Or rather, not half, but the small minority of wealthy (almost all white) travellers who stay in the Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town's Grande Dame.
The drive up to the hotel entrance (a guard salutes you on the way in) is via a tree-lined road through their vast, landscaped grounds - smoother than most of Cape Town's main roads. A huge, white columned building, and inside, a marble-floored entrance hall complete with antique décor, oil paintings, stuffed animal heads and suited butlers.
We didn't stay overnight so we can't tell you more about the rooms. But we did try out the restaurant, however, which is allegedly the best in Cape Town for Cape Malay-style fine dining.
Tags: Cape Town Hotels / Luxury Hotel / South Africa / Hotel Spas / Monica Guy / → All Tags
The Cape Town Hotel Scene :: A Oenophile's Dream Retreat at the Vineyard Hotel
Our roving correspondent Monica Guy has recently blessed the rains down in Africa--South Africa--and is giving us the scoop this week on the Cape Town hotel scene. Have a question or a suggestion? Let us know and we'll do our best to answer it. Enjoy.
The Vineyard Hotel's first claim to fame is that Nelson Mandela stayed here when he was first released from 27 years of prison on Cape Town's notorious Robben Island.
Its second claim to fame is that it's right near the Newlands rugby stadium--if you've ever been to South Africa or met a South African, you'll understand why this is so life-or-death important. On match days it's mobbed by adoring (but not very adorable) rugby fans. It's not so near the centre, but there's a shopping complex just up the road and they run regular shuttles.
The third claim to fame should be that it's an excellent hotel in a superb city.
Tags: Cape Town Hotels / South Africa Hotels / Monica Guy / → All Tags
An Introduction to the Cape Town Hotel Scene
Our roving correspondent Monica Guy has recently blessed the rains down in Africa--South Africa--and is giving us the scoop this week on the Cape Town hotel scene. Have a question or a suggestion? Let us know and we'll do our best to answer it. Enjoy.
Cape Town's having a bad time in the press these days because of violence spread from Johannesburg, but don't let that put you off visiting. It's a superb city - hot and thumping and full of surprises, with a whole gamut of safaris, whale-watching trips, wine tours, hiking, and loads more.
The Cape Town hotel scene is changing fast - the FIFA World Cup is coming to the city in 2010 and new hotels and apartments are shooting up all over the place. Prices will be shooting up too, so if you're not a football fan, head there now before the fever takes over.
Tags: Cape Town Hotel Reviews / Travel Media / New York Times / Bonnie Tsui / → All Tags
Cape Town's Hotel for Regular Folks
Ah, that's more like it. After impressing us last week with a great review of a quality property, this week the New York Times finds plenty wrong with the Extreme Hotel Cape Town.
Not that the hotel actually sounds that bad. But reviewer Bonnie Tsui is not impressed by the hotel's ever-present TV screens showing extreme sports and the kitschy decoration. (Skis hanging on the wall, anyone?) She doesn't even like the other guests, including some "decidedly nonadventurous Europeans."
But what about the rooms? They don't sound too bad to us:
Nothing extreme about them. There are two room categories: standard and executive. The price difference is so slight, about $20, that it's worth the upgrade to what the front desk staff assured me were the biggest rooms. Our executive room was definitely not large (about 300 square feet, bathroom and curtained closet space included), but it was functional, with a flat-screen television (15 channels, including the ever-present Extreme Sports Channel), a comfortable king-size bed and an in-your-face view of Table Mountain
Hey, for about $130, this place sounds OK, even if the other guests aren't all young, fashionable extreme-sports supermodels.
[Photo: NYT]
Related Stories:
· Check In, Check Out [NYT]
Tags: WiFi Heaven / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
The Sugar Hotel's Sweet WiFi
When staying as far away as South Africa it is especially important to have WiFi to keep in touch with people back in your hemisphere. Staying in the Sugar Hotel, a small boutique hotel in Cape Town will more than fulfill your internet wishes. Wired throughout the premises and in the rooms for no cost, it also has additional lobby computers with printers. And if internet isn't enough to entertain you while here perhaps the in-room Playstation will do it.
Related Stories:
· Sugar Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Killer View / South African Hotels / → All Tags
Killer View :: Victoria & Alfred Hotel in Cape Town
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Cape Town, South Africa has got to be one of the most picturesque cities in the world. There are some world-class hotels in that city that get far more press than the comparatively humble Victoria & Alfred. But it's hard to top the view you get from their restaurant (the vista here) or the odd-numbered rooms on floors two and three above.
The more famous Cape Grace is pictured here, on the other side of the water, while Table Bay hotel is a few minutes' walk away--on the other side of a shopping mall.
Built as a warehouse in 1904, the V&A was converted into an upscale hotel in 1990. Victoria & Alfred's large rooms are well-equipped and have deck-out baths with separate stall showers and lots of stone and granite. With the U.S. dollar struggling on the world markets, however, you'll pay a premium for this view--close to $450 a night at published rates.
Related Stories:
· Victoria & Alfred reviews [TripAdvisor]
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Plunge Pools in Cape Town
Amidst the cobbled streets of Cape Town's gay 'village', is De Waterkant House.
The nine room guest house has views of both Table Bay and the postcard like rooftops that dominate the Malay Quarter of Cape Town.
If the house is a tad too elegant for you, check out the seventy some odd modern apartments and lofts you can choose from on the web site, most of which have their own plunge pools, some of which have rooftop pools--yup you know we can't resist a killer rooftop pool.
Related Stories:
· De Waterkant Village Info [TripAdvisor]
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