Jasper2009

I´m looking for hotel recommendations for Cape Town. As it´s the first week of Jan. most luxury hotels are either fully booked or ridiculously expensive, so I am wondering which hotel to choose.

Would probably prefer a hotel on the beach (V&A Waterfront or Camps Bay or any other nice place), but willing to consider alternatives, but not too interested in staying in the city center.

Price range ideally would be $150-$200/night. Standard room is fine, balcony/patio with a nice view would be a big plus.

Thanks in advance!

Jeeves

I think you are going to have a hard time finding a 4 or 5 star hotel on the beach for $150-200. I would expect that you might need to double that figure.

I stayed at An African Villa B&B earlier this month and paid about $150/night. It wasn't anything fancy but accomplished the job. The Table Bay Hotel at the waterfront looked very nice but is also going to be expensive.

Jasper2009

Looking at Expedia there seem to be a good number of 4 star hotels available under $200/night incl. the Westin, the Hilton, the Portswood V&A Waterfront. My main problem is that I haven´t stayed at any of the hotels...

Cheetah_SA

The OP's main problem might be that none of these is on a beach. The Westin in on the Foreshore (think view of the docks, reasonable proximity to the V&A), the Portswood is on an access road to the V&A and the Hilton is in the city. All perfectly good hotels - but not beach hotels.

Cape Town actually has very few proper beach hotels. Or even waterside hotels - e.g. places like the Twelve Apostles or the Bantry Bay hotel which are on or overlooking the sea but have no beach. The V&A Waterfront and environs has the biggest selection of hotels that have some connection with the water - ranging from the luxury Cape Grace and One & Only to the cheap and cheerful City Lodge.

OP give us a more exact idea of what you want and we might be able to offer better advice. For example, do you actually want to lie on a beach or just be near the sea? Do you want access to shopping, night life...?

Jasper2009

Thanks for taking the time to respond!

As the number of beachside and waterside hotels seems to be limited, I´ll modify my wish ist.

I expect to spend a fair amount of hours getting some work done (e.g. get up at 7a.m., get 4-6h of work done, do some activity from noon until it gets dark and maybe get some more work done afterwards). I´m thinking that if I need to get some work done I would prefer a private patio overlooking the sea/waterfront/Table Mountain/something nice vs. a generic hotel room.

An oceanview room at the Twelve Apostles would be a great example of what I´m looking for (ignoring price and the fact there are no rooms available). Another example would be the Radisson Blu Waterfront where I stayed last time for $100/night incl. breakfast.

I´m not really interested in shopping nor nightlife. I also don´t spend much time just lying on the beach, you´ll much more often find me at a beach-side cafe or a restaurant with a nice view.

Hope that gives you a rough idea of what I´m looking for...

Jasper2009

Maybe one more comment: If you can think of a great hotel slightly outside Capetown (i.e. 10km-15km outside CPT) that fits the description I´d also be willing to consider that.

E.g.I just stumbled across the Chapmans Peak Hotel in Hout Bay

Can you comment on that hotel or the area in general by chance?

Thanks in advance!

Cheetah_SA

Yes, then the Radisson would be perfect - at the right price.

Hout Bay could suit your purposes well. It has plenty of eating options, a nice long beach for walking along and enough activity to keep life interesting. The Chapman's Peak Hotel is beautifully situated above the end of the beach - but I haven't set foot in it for decades so I'm less help than TA, I'm afraid.

There are some apartments / apartment-style hotels that might be perfect. One in the Waterfront that I have been in when friends stayed there (no idea what it's called, sorry).

Another option would be out Milnerton/Blouberg way. That's the part that looks back towards the city and Table Mountain. Fabulous views. Trouble is it can be very windy in January.

Unfortunately as a local I have very little experience of what these hotels are actually like and can comment on little more than the location. But if you have specific questions or find yourself homing in on one district or hotel and want more insight, I can try to find answers for you.

Jasper2009

Thanks a lot! The Radisson BLu is sold out as well as most other luxury hotels. Sounds like Hout Bay may be a nice place to hang out for a few days and rates aren´t unreasable. How much would you expect a taxi to be to the V&A and the airport from Hout Bay?

ThudAndBlunder

The definitive beachfront hotel in CT is The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay, but that doesn't help OP.

First week in January is fiercely busy, so take what you can get. Having said that, Hout Bay, nooooooooooooooo. Nice views, bit of a dump. Fine if you have a car; without one, it will get stale quickly.

I would investigate Bantry Bay; well located, great sea views, you don't need a car...walk to Sea Point or Clifton...and a couple of 4*s and decent guesthouses to choose from.

Jasper2009

Thanks for the heads-up. I was just about to book a hotel at Hout Bay. Just curious, what makes it a dump?

Availability at the hotels in Bantry Bay seems very limited (most nights I´m in CPT the hotels are fully booked)

How about Colona Castle / the area around it? Seems to be close to the ocean, reasonable prices (incl. internet and full breakfast), but again no idea what the area is like...

ThudAndBlunder

Hout Bay: it looks so enticing, thanks to the iconic view of the harbour from the beginning of Chapman's Peak Drive...but there's not much there, and what is there feels somewhat down at heel. There's an unremarkable beach, some average restaurants, a huge informal settlement and the World of Birds...with a car, OK, you do Chapman's Peak Drive, pop over Constantia Nek, cruise to Llandudno...otherwise, I would avoid.

Colona Castle, don't know it. But you are close to Kalk Bay, which is far more diverting than Hout Bay; kind of cool in a sleepy boho way (however, when I was there in April, it was blighted by HUGE roadworks in the middle of the village; not sure what the current status is)...although Muizenberg itself, which the hotel is perched above, is a proper dump...it may be up-and-coming, but it's got a lot of up-and-coming to do. The whole area is generally on the up as people look for sea vistas beyond the stratospherically priced Atlantic seaboard, but there's not much in the way of tourist infrastructure as yet.

Cheetah_SA

I can see how one might call it a bit of dump. But I don't think about it as egregiously so. And there really are some good eating options starting with Pure at the Hout Bay Manor if you want to escape to a more rarefied atmosphere and enjoy fine dining. Or Kitima, serving excellent Asian (mainly Thai) food in a gorgeous old Cape Dutch building. Or nip over to Tintswalo on Chappies and enjoy a meal at the most secret luxury spot in Cape Town. (It would be the ideal spot to stay - but it is as expensive as it is magical, nestled in milkwoods on the sea overlooking Hout Bay and the Sentinel.)

The main road that leads from the harbour to the LLundudno (not the one that joins directly to Chapman's Peak Drive) has a number of low-key, but very acceptable, eateries like pizzerias and Italian restaurants. The Harbour itself is always buzzing with activity and has eating options (though I can''t vouch for them).

Yes, the beach isn't Clifton. But it is wonderfully long and is usually populated by real people walking their dogs and playing with their children in what strikes me as a satisfyingly soothing scene of old-fashioned seaside enjoyment. And frankly Camps Bay beach or Clifton in January... you would have to pay me to put up with the hordes and the traffic jams.

Transport is an issue. It costs about ZAR300 for a taxi from CPT to my house in Green Point. That is just over 20kms and about 20 minutes' drive. Hout Bay to the V&A is a bit further but would take at least half an hour depending on what the traffic is like in Camps Bay. I'm guessing ZAR400 each way. Almost worth hiring a car! In fact that would be perfect IME.

Cheetah_SA

Sorry, forgot to comment on Colona Castle. Never heard of it (which doesn't mean anything). But it seems rather stranded in nowhere. And if my choices were Muizenberg or Hout Bay as my nearest "village" I would take Hout Bay every time.

Also, Muizenberg (and judging from its position, Colona Castle) is right in the path of the South Easters that often howl around the Cape in early and mid summer.

ThudAndBlunder

I agree; Hout Bay's not an egregious kip...I just can't get excited about it.

On the taxi issue, if it's R300 to Green Point, I'd guess north of R400 to Hout Bay (but I'm just guessing). Taxi fares in South Africa are scandalous, especially factoring in the age and condition of the vehicles...sometimes I look at some of those jalopies and speculate how long it would take to pay one off at those fares; two weeks?

Jasper2009

Thanks for the responses. So once again back to the scratch board... Still wondering whether I should give Hout Bay a try... unless somebody recommend a good alternative. (I realize I´m probably a pain looking for the ideal place. Sorry about that...)