My wife and I stayed in this hotel in October 2015, the first stop on our “Where Oceans Meet” tour with Saga. It’s a big hotel, one of the biggest of the whole tour, situated in Somerset West, outside the city of Cape Town but within easy striking distance. We received a warm welcome (with drink!) and were allocated a nice room on the ground floor in one of the wings (a couple of minutes walk from reception).
Our first objective was to book the hotel shuttle bus to take us to the nearby Cheetah Sanctuary, which at first we were told was impossible by the young lady at the concierge desk, who seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the number of guests requesting transport! She eventually managed to do this for us, albeit under duress!
The weather was hot for October, spring in South Africa, and we were happy to be able to make use of the outdoor pool and jacuzzi, set in a pleasant area next to the bar! The meals were served buffet-style, and while we had read the warnings about eating food from buffets, there were no problems here. The freshly-barbecued meats were excellent!
It is possible to visit the centre of Cape Town from here, as well as the surrounding area of the winelands and the coast at False Bay and the Cape Peninsula. Our trip took us to Stellenbosch and one of the local wineries for wine-tasting, both of which we enjoyed very much.
One of the best features of our stay there was the fact that the cost of drinks, for example, is much cheaper than in the UK, and that the exchange rate for the South African Rand was becoming more advantageous to us. I signed for all my expenses while there, two days and two nights, and paid on departure a total of £12! Not only for that reason, I’d certainly recommend this hotel to anyone wanting either a brief stopover or longer stay in the Cape Town area, and not wanting to be based in the city itself.
