One&Only Cape Town Offers Urban and Resort Feel

Sitting in the lounge waiting for Etienne De Villiers, One&Only Cape Town’s on site PR representative, so we could grab dinner at the hotel’s Nobu restaurant (the first Nobu on the African continent), I spotted John Travolta at the hotel entrance. I truly amazed. The hotel had only been open five weeks and already it was attracting the likes of Travolta.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. On the drive from the airport (about 20 minutes to the hotel), my driver told me that during the opening weekend he chauffeured Robert DeNiro, Sharon Stone and Mariah Carey, among others (DeNiro was his favorite). Other notable attendees at the opening included Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, whose maze restaurant is one of the on-site dining options.

Perhaps most impressive, Nelson Mandela joined Sol Kerzner, the chairman and CEO of Kerzner International, the owner and operator of One&Only resorts, for a small celebratory luncheon.

When I asked De Villiers whether he attributed the success of the opening to Kerzner and the One&Only name, or to the growing popularity of Cape Town, De Villiers didn’t hesitate. It is Kerzner, a South African native whose Palace of the Lost City in Sun City is one of the most lavish hotels in South Africa, and the One&Only brand, whose resorts frequently attract the rich and famous.

City Hotel & Resort In One

De Villiers stressed that Kerzner wanted the One&Only Cape Town design to be understated.

“Kerzner didn’t want this hotel to stand out. He wanted it to fit into the surrounding environment,” De Villiers said.

Refined and modern, The One&Only Cape Town is not nearly as lavish as some of Kerzner’s resorts. The One&Only Cape Town also differs dramatically from other One&Only properties in that it is the first city hotel for the brand. All other One&Only properties are resorts.

Actually, the property manages to be both a resort and a city hotel. The 91-room Marina Rise hotel overlooks the marina and gives the property a boutique city hotel feel, with modern décor and an urban vibe. The Marina Rise’s crescent-shaped architecture ensures that every room has a view – either a panorama of Table Mountain or views of the picturesque Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. Black and turquoise-clad hotel staff circulate through the lobby and main lounge, always on hand to answer questions or handle requests.

The 40-room Villa Island is situated on an adjacent landscaped island in the marina. Two small islands, linked by bridges, were specially built to house the villas and the spa. The islands, dotted with palm trees, give this area of the property a distinctly resort feel. The resort feel is enhanced by the property’s main pool, located on Villa Island, with its infinity-edge, private sitting area with double chaise lounges and shaded trellis pavilions.

According to One&Only management, the Island suites are the largest to be found in all of Cape Town; each of the 40 suites features a private terrace.

The 91 rooms in the Marina Rise building feature expansive glass doors leading to private balconies, and are serviced by a 24-hour dedicated butler. The oversized bathrooms offer claw-toed baths, a separate shower stall with rain shower head and a dual vanity.

Amenities in all rooms and suites include: complimentary WiFi; a multimedia entertainment system with satellite flat-screen TV, DVD/CD player, videos on demand and iPod/iHome docking station; Nespresso machine; in-room business amenities that include multi-adaptor, fax/computer connections and a four-phone, two-line communication system.

Celebrity Chef Dining

The One&Only Cape Town features three restaurants and a lobby bar. Two of the restaurants are celebrity-chef signature eateries: Nobu by Nobu Matsuhisa and maze by Gordon Ramsay.

To gain entry to maze, guests must pass through a glittering tri-level wall of glass and steel which houses the restaurant’s 5,000-bottle wine collection. A mezzanine-level tasting room offers wine tastings with more than 100 wines available by the glass as well as a chef’s dinner with wine pairings for interested guests (arrange this in advance). Wine tastings also are offered sporadically free of charge in the lobby, or guests can choose to do a wine pairing at their maze table. Maze’s tapas-style dishes are particularly well-suited for wine pairing, De Villiers said.

A third restaurant, Isola Pool Restaurant, located outdoors on Villa Island, offers casual dining.

African to the Core

One&Only Cape Town’s architecture embodies One&Only’s philosophy of providing distinctive experiences that celebrate the authentic flavor of their locales. Upon entering the lobby at the One&Only Cape Town, guests are met by the views of Table Mountain, framed in the lobby’s floor-to-ceiling windows.

A combination of contemporary and indigenous artwork by African artists decorates the entire hotel, and a small gallery is open to guests on the second floor of the Marina Rise building.

The choice of location for the property also embraces its Cape Town essence. Situated in the center of Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the property is right next to the Cape Town aquarium, and a ten minute walk to the Robben Island ferry terminal.

Tell your clients to walk behind the aquarium heading into or out of town as sea lions frequently sunbathe on the piers there, and part of the aquarium’s penguin enclosure is outside, so guests can catch a peak of several varieties of penguin.

World Cup Blacked Out

Agents should be aware that bookings for all rooms and suites at the One&Only Cape Town are blacked out for the entire length of the World Cup, from June 11 to July 11.

For more information, visit www.oneandonlyresorts.com.