Tag: Cape Town Hotels
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DoubleTree by Hilton Opens Its First Hotel in Cape Town
Last week, Hilton Worldwide opened the 183-room DoubleTree by Hilton Cape Town - Upper Eastside, the brands first DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in South Africa. Yes, the name is a mouthful, but we can swallow that if it means a new affordable option for Cape Town.
We’ve noticed lately Hilton’s been stylifying (yeah, made that word up) their DoubleTree brand, and this newly reno’ed, upscale property is no exception. The lobby is filled with white latticework and vibrant nature colors of green and blue. Rooms are a mix of earthy browns, greys and whites. The Rooms range from executive and suites to two-story loft rooms located on the penthouse floor with sweet views of the city’s skyline.
Hotel High Teas / Shangri-La Hotels / Langham Hotels / Fairmonth Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Peninsula Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / → All Tags
Six Hotels With Pull To Create Their Own Tea Blend
Tea is a big thing. Really big, especially at hotels. Just last week, Shangri-La Sydney announced the introduction of a very special tea blend that is exclusive to their property and will brighten up even the perkiest of high tea services. The hand-picked single origin 100% pure Dilmah Ceylon tea is available in all 563 rooms and can be sipped in any of the restaurants including their new signature high-tea service. The special tea bags will also be found in all Shangri-La properties around the world.
The folks at the Shangri-La aren't the only tea connoisseurs. There are plenty of other exclusive brews at hotels around the world. Here's a sampling of what you can sample while staying or playing at these properties:
· The Langham: As the creators of the original English high-tea service, you could have imagine they would stake claim to one variety. In fact, the pink-hued hotels have four different house blends to tempt guests' taste-buds. The aptly named Langham Blend, Silk Road Blend, English Flower Blend and Palm Court Exotic Blend are all offered on their own or accompanying some freshly baked scones.
Hotel Sleep / Hotel Guests / Hotel Art / Cape Town Hotels / Hotel Design / → All Tags
Don't Get Too Comfortable At The Ellerman House's Art Gallery
The art gallery at the Ellerman House contains one of the best collections of contemporary South African art in the whole world. As a result, it's become a favorite among art collectors who go just to admire the hotel's private collection as well as take trips to other galleries in Cape Town.
But it's not just the art that's special here. The gallery itself, which is located in a cellar underneath the pool, is a fairly interesting space too. Because Ellerman House sits on a hill, the cozy gallery manages to both feel like an underground hideout while also offer some stunning views of the Atlantic ocean. And though you wouldn't exactly want to spend the duration of your stay holed up in the vault (it's only one room big), it certainly makes for a peaceful retreat.
Or, in the case of one recent guest, a great spot for napping.
Presidential Suites / South Africa Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / Michelle Obama / → All Tags
This Is Where Michelle Obama Stayed In Cape Town
Lots of hotels have presidential suites. Though we can't manage to get a video camera into all of them, we can sometimes get excited when we learn of a particular guest that has stayed in one.
Back in June, in the days leading up to Mandela Day, Michelle Obama visited Cape Town, where she reportedly toured the District 6 Museum and lunched at the Kitchen, a small deli on Sir Lowry Road Woodstock. Her hotel of choice? The Table Bay Hotel, where she, Sasha, and Malia slept in the Table Mountain Presidential Suite.
Hotel Restaurants / Luxury Hotels / South Africa Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / One and Only Hotels / → All Tags
Gordon Ramsay Is Replaced By a Younger, Hotter Chef at One & Only Cape Town
So where Gordon Ramsay failed, a local chef is hoping to succeed. Ramsay may have been forced to close his Maze restaurant at One & Only Cape Town last month, but Sol Kerzner obviously has faith in South African chef Reuben Riffel, who will open Reuben’s at One & Only Cape Town on October 1.
Although he may not be as famous as old sweary boots, Reuben has won acclaim (and awards) for his restaurants in the Franschhoek wine valley called (we’re sensing a theme here) Reuben’s and Reuben’s at The Robertson Small Hotel. This will be his first urban resort, though.
Hotel Woes / Gordon Ramsay / Hotel Restaurants / One and Only Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / → All Tags
Curses! Gordon Ramsay Is Out Of (South) Africa
Gordy and Tana at the opening of Maze One & Only. Guess he should have concentrated more on the food than the highlights.
UPDATE: Gordon Ramsay also owes the U.S. government millions in unpaid taxes!
Poor old Gordon Ramsay. Yet another one of his hotel restaurants has closed down, and not even the World Cup rush of Brits could save it.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Maze at One & Only Cape Town - which was his only restaurant in Africa - was shut down by Sol Kerzner on Thursday because after a year and a bit, it still wasn’t pulling in the punters.
Hotel News / NH Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / Africa Hotels / → All Tags
Striking BA Flight Attendants Party It Up at a Hotel's '19th Hole'
All publicity is good publicity, right? Erm, maybe not for the British Airways staff who were caught carousing in a posh Cape Town hotel just before they started their strike. No word on whether it was the same group who earned the airline the nickname British Bareways last month.
But this may be some good publicity for the hotel in question, the Lord Charles, outside of Cape Town in wine country, since the Telegraph had the mind to tell us that there are two swimming pools, “multiple sun decks and seven acres of manicured lawns should one opt for a midnight stroll” (presumably you can also stroll in the daytime).
The Lord Charles is an NH Hotel, and although we’re not always fans of their dodgy marketing emails, hotel-wise, they’re normally a pretty good, stylish chain choice.
Hotel Lust / Africa Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / → All Tags
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.
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.
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.
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.
Stellenbosch Hotels / Cape Town Hotels / South Africa Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Monica Guy / → All Tags
The Cape Town Hotel Scene :: Wining and Dining at d'Ouwe Werf, Stellenbosch
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.
Anyone visiting Cape Town would be mad to stay just in the city itself, cool as it is. Most travellers find at least a couple of days to explore the Winelands - the areas where South Africa's excellent, light-drinking wine is produced.
The closest areas to Cape Town are Stellenbosch and Constantia, and you can hire a car to drive round the various wine farms tasting different wines and eating until you can eat no more.
We're not sure of the rules on drink-driving in South Africa, but either way, if you want to do this properly you're best off staying in Stellenbosch itself. And for that, we recommend the 4-star d'Ouwe Werf, which claims to be South Africa's oldest hotel.
True or not, it feels like it is - a beautiful white colonial-style house with antique chairs and tables, old-style décor, and shady terraces and gardens where you can eat and drink to your heart's content with the mountains in the background.
