SkyBuck

Without a car, the Park Inn might actually be a better location as it's just a block from the Adderley MyCiTi bus hub. But it depends a lot on what you'll be doing, and whether you prefer to be near the ocean or in the city, beach vs. nightlife, etc. The hotel itself is perfectly fine, but not really special.

katstarr

I booked 2 nights waterfront, and 2 at the "new" Le Vendome in Seapoint. Has anyone been there yet?

ldnhlj

Been to the waterfront, nice property and spacious business class rooms facing the ocean. Nice breakfast too. Modern decor in line with the Radisson Blu brand elsewhere.

Le Vendome is fairly new, opened in 2015. Decor is more of a French style so not your typical slim line Blu. Feedback so far suggests elite upgrade is very generous including upgrading Golds to Jr suites. Enjoy CPT!

progapanda

See my report here in the original CC elite stay thread. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24898182-post502.html

sfvoyage

For the Radisson Waterfront, I got a good promotional rate which is not much more than the Park Inn Foreshore. However, the Park Inn is much more convenient for us - walking distance to transport hub, bus and train stations, my rental car office, airport bus station, etc.

Is the Radisson that much more elegant and nicer overall to warrant the inconvenience?

(One thing that turned me off with the Radisson is that, when I emailed them with specific questions about airport shuttle or taxi info as well as car rental agency info, the concierge responded by trying to upsell me to their hotel car service and an overpriced local car rental agency on-site, without answering any of my specific questions. Also, on Tripadvisor, most people mentioned paying to upgrade to harbor/sea view rooms, so I assume they probably try to sell room upgrades instead of providing free ones at check-in if available...)

Jasper2009

The Radisson Blu Waterfront is among the nicest Radisson Blu properties I've visited, so unless the Park Inn (which I haven't been to) is extraordinary nice, yes the Radisson Blu is substantially better (remember the brand hierarchy is Park Inn < Park Plaza < Radisson < Radisson Blu).

FWIW, I've usually received an upgrade to a (partial) sea view room as a Gold member, though that was usually during off-season. I've actually frequently seen this hotel being fully booked.

Hank Scorpio

I'm in a similar scenario as katstarr - travelling solo this September and between two hotels - but went with the Waterfront and the Park Inn. I figured many of my tours included hotel pickup the first few days, then I have a three day tour to break up my stays, and I'd come back to the Park Inn because of it's walkable distance to most restaurants/shops around the the city center. Booked it just in time before the buy one get one free nights went away.

This is my first time using Gold Status for a Carlson hotel. What do you think the likelihood of an upgrade would be? And sfvoyage got me a little worried about asking Carlson this now, so would anybody have a particular recommendation for the best option for transport between the airport to the hotels?

progapanda

Cabs are relatively cheap, but the airport bus towards downtown will drop you within a (safe) 5-6 minute walk of the Park Inn.

sfvoyage

I ended up choosing the Radisson Blu Waterfront and had a 4-night stay there a couple of weeks ago. I wouldn't necessarily call this hotel elegant. It's a decent but standard Radisson Blu; it looks like a motel from the outside. The rooms are nothing special. I don't have status and did not get an upgrade, although they said they gave me one of their better standard rooms.

The location is convenient to the V&A Waterfront, but that's about it. The Park Inn Foreshore would have been a better choice for me, as it's close to most of the things that I was interested in: restaurants, transit hub, car rental agency, museums and other sightseeing options. I did not visit the Park Inn, but the photos of the hotel and their rooms look fine to me (unless the photos don't represent reality).

Shareholder

While it is a pleasant walk, you can also transfer off the airport express bus to one of the MyCiti buses that connect at this main City Hall terminal. Three routes will take you to different stops that are all about a block from the Park inn.

I've stayed there three times now and will going back for a fourth next week. Very convenient location for city bowl (i.e. centre) tourist visits as you can walk along Adderley to the Company Gardens, to the RR station or the Castle. It's also not too far from the night life on Long Street, or you can cab, Uber or MyCiti to the Alfred & Victoria waterfront. I've always received a two-room suite (as both a Concierge and Gold elite) with a bottle of wine and tray of nuts/berries/dried fruit as an amenity.

Have also stayed once at the Park Inn in Newlands. Not much in this neighbourhood other than the Castle brewery (which has tours and lots of beer to sample). It's pretty much the same as the city bowl property facilities-wise, and a short 5-minute walk to the commuter RR station into the city or down to Simon's Town.

eethan

And any other benefits specifically at the Park Inn Foreshore?

I'm trying to use my boatload of CC points, but the HI Express CPT City Centre seems to be a much better deal on points, and it includes breakfast.

APPL

Stayed in Park Inn Foreshore last week.
As a Gold, I got room upgrade, and welcome snack (little cheese board), but no free breakfast. I think breakfast buffet was R120 or R140.
The rooftop bar has rather nice views, and there were always seats available while I was there.
They also offer free transfers in the area in their car on first come first served basis, but it was generally available most of the times when I needed it. Otherwise, uber is really cheap too.

SanDiego1K

Has anyone stayed at both properties and has an opinion on one versus the other?

Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront, 70K points/night,
10-15 minute walk south of V&A Waterfront

Radisson Blu Hotel, Cape Town Blaauwberg, 38K points. 10 minutes drive south of Radisson Blu Hotel Waterfront

Who has stayed in either of the two currently open who can offer an opinion? Which has better water veiws? We've been in Cape Town several times so don't need to be in thick of things. We'll likely be doing an overnight and then head elsewhere.

Jasper2009

If it's a simple one-night stay, I'd probably go with the Radisson Blu Vendome.

In terms of rooms, the two properties are quite similar. The main difference (apart from the distance to the V&A Waterfront) is that the Radisson Blu Vendome has some rooms facing the water while the Radisson Blu Waterfront is actually right on the sea. So the views at the Radisson Blu Waterfront are definitely much better (if you book a sea-facing room).

I've stayed at the Radisson Blu Waterfront quite a few times over the years, and while not necessarily a luxury hotel (or at least not among the top 5 hotels in CPT), I've always very much enjoyed my stays there and I quite enjoy having lunch/dinner on the patio while watching the waves 10m away.

Happy

Stayed on both in Sept 2016. 2 nights at Le Vendome and 4 nights at Waterfront, booked under the old 2-4-1 award way back.
Le Vendome did not upgrade us (Gold by credit card) even though they were about 30% full only judging by the lights from the windows and the cars parked across street on the hotel's dedicated parking lot. No amenity whatsoever.
The Standard Room is very small. We saw there are rooms have balconies no occupancy but alas, no luck for upgrade. Note - if your neighbors let their balcony doors open and they talk loudly you would hear it and quite annoying.

We were upgraded to a Jr Suite facing the ocean at the far end of the property at Waterfront but no free breakfast. Right below our room is a patch of groundhugging plants where some water fowls were nestling. Quite nice to check on how the male and female took turn on their labor of love.
The room was booked on 2 accounts. On each booking they sent up an amenity tray consisted a water bottle and a good size bowl of jerky meat, plus some nuts and 2 big chocolates. i.e. we got that on Day One and Day Three.
We really like the Waterfront location. Though on the trip this Sept we would probably use Protea with Marriott points.