Capetown - anyone been?

philstanbridge

philstanbridge

philstanbridge

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I'm off to sunny South Africa in January and can't wait - can anyone recommend a decent 4/5 star hotel that wont break the bank. We've been looking but the hotels we like are £300 per night :eek:
 
I'm going for 10 days in December but my wife's been a few times. Hotels in Capetown are expensive so we are going to be spending time i'm Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Hout Bay (also look at Camps Bay) as there are some fantastic apartments and guest houses available.

Try safarinow and iescape for bookings of every type of accommodation.
 
philstanbridge said:
Cheers for the info - out of interest did you find the flights amazingly expensive?
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They were about £900 each when we booked them in March, but we are flying into Capetown and then out of Lusaka (Zambia) with BA, so it's was bound to be expensive. Could have gone cheaper with Virgin the the flight out of Lusaka would have included a stop in Kenya.

The SAA flight from Capetown to Lusaka via Jo'burg was less than £100 if you are looking to get around SA.
 
We paid £1700 for our flights alone last night :eek: but we got World Traveller Plus (I think it is?) because of my bleeding long legs :p Flying with BA from Glasgow down to T5 and then to SA. We saved £1200 due to my wife's connections ;) I can't believe how expensive flights are now.

I'm looking at safarinow, quite interesting thanks!
 
I lived in Joburg for a while and visited Cape Town- Cape Town is MUCH safer (i.e. most things are not behind walls with guards like they are in Jo'burg)

Obviously there is Table Mountain- a walk/ ride up to the cable car station and then a cable ride to the top is a must... Go early though as high winds and fog often close the cable car later in the day.

Lion's Head is also a good climb if you're feeling fit.

There are some nice restaurants around the V&A Quays- can't remember any specific names right now- will post back when I think of their names.

I also did a helicopter ride in an open- sided ex-army helicopter- This was absoultley amazing- the different kinds of scenery were awesome (Make sure you get one of the side seats and take your camera!!) The pilot is excellent and takes you on a low level flight over the beaches, around the mountains (and between them), and right over Cape Town. We even saw a shoal of whales just off the coast! It cost about £90 a ticket, but was well well worth it!!

Clubbing- wise, try Hemisphere at the top of one of the tallest towers in Cape Town- Nice place, full of hotties, and awesome views. Green Point is also good. The name of the main road with all the bars escapes me, but I'll look it up and get back to you.

Other things to do in the region include Shark Diving (Good, but unless you have a strong stomach, I don't recommend it, as you will get very seasick, and the water will be freezing at the moment!), and some excellent wine- tasting in the nearby vineyards.

Got to run now but will post more and some pictures I got on the chopper ride later...
 
I was in Cape Town in April/May. If you are looking at spending £300 a night, you should be staying in Camps Bay. . Quite an affluent area with nice bars, restaurants etc and not too far from the V&A Waterfront, 10 min drive. Trouble is if you want to drink then it can be difficult to get back to Camps Bay. If not that much, then Green Point is good, as its very close to everything, especially the V&A Waterfront
 
Thanks all for the advice, look forward to the pics.

We don't want to spend £300 a night on the hotel as the flights cleaned us out. But we do want good value and we don't mind paying for that.

My wife just shouted in my ear 'location location location', that's what it's all about. We want somewhere where we can walk at night, where we can go eat in a nice restaurant and then stumble back to the hotel, that sort of thing. I know taxis aren't especially expensive but we'd prefer a good location over anything else.

I'd like to do a spot of sun bathing too, so a hotel with a nice pool is a must.

Reference the heli ride, that sounds awesome. We have done that three times before, once in the Grand Canyon, once around Mauritius and once from Nice to Monte Carlo. I can't get enough of it.
 
I'll be doing the helicopter and a mate of mine in Houts Bay wants us to go shark diving so should be a laugh.

If you want to do hotel, beach and be able to wander round restaurants then Camps Bay looks spot on to me.
 
philstanbridge said:
Thanks all for the advice, look forward to the pics.

We don't want to spend £300 a night on the hotel as the flights cleaned us out. But we do want good value and we don't mind paying for that.

My wife just shouted in my ear 'location location location', that's what it's all about. We want somewhere where we can walk at night, where we can go eat in a nice restaurant and then stumble back to the hotel, that sort of thing. I know taxis aren't especially expensive but we'd prefer a good location over anything else.

I'd like to do a spot of sun bathing too, so a hotel with a nice pool is a must.

Reference the heli ride, that sounds awesome. We have done that three times before, once in the Grand Canyon, once around Mauritius and once from Nice to Monte Carlo. I can't get enough of it.
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In that case you cant really go wrong with Green Point. I stayed in an apartment there so not sure about what hotels are avaiable.
 
I went around 18 months ago, had done Jo'berg and safari before. I loved it, went for 4 days (I know, way to little time!). I stayed at the Kingslyn guest house, lovely little b&b only 6 rooms, its in green point so a 20 minute walk to the V&A waterfront or 5 minute cab ride (I just took cabs, only a couple of quid). Its around £50 per person per night with breakfast included. Cheap minibar in room and just a very quiet and relaxing place with big, nice rooms. I would check out Trip Advisor for a nice b&b (so much better than a Bognor Regis type) prices are usually around £100-£150 a room (2 people) with breakfast, run by locals, so much nicer than a big hotel and some are far more luxurious for a lot less. Look for villas or boutique hotels on there and you should find the sort of thing I had.

I took 3 tours with African Eagle a half day tour of the town when I arrived, a day tour to the peninsular and a day in the winelands. The day tours are around £30 per person and were great, a minibus with around 10 people plus a guide taking you all around, really worth it I thought. See the website for details of what each one includes, they cover most of the must see sights, and for the tiny amount of time I had and because I was travelling alone it was perfect (if a little tiring). I also did a 20 minute helicopter tour (around £120 for up to 2 people) which was amazing, really great way to see the city, see the photos below for proof. I went with Civair but go to the waterfront, there's loads of companies, all about the same really. I ate every night at the waterfront, a glass of champagne, couple of glasses of decent wine, 3 courses and a big tip each night were around £30-40 in some of the best restaurants there, I would check out Belthazar for the best steak I have ever had and amazing wine and also Baia for great seafood and a great view over the sea. When on the winelands tour I went to Franschhoek for lunch at Le Quartier Francais, its in the top 50 in the world and the best in Africa, one of the best meals I have ever had and a great view over the hills. I would defiantly recommend it if you have the chance.

There is so much to do, I would never want to stay in a hotel there (especially at £300 a night) though. I am planning to go back next March to do the more cultural side of it. Check out the photos I took and if you have any more questions let me know

Photos
 
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[DOD]Asprilla;12841994 said:
Besides the Rand is the only currency diving against Sterling as the moment.
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Its regained itself for the moment but as the Rand weakens the prices go up, but the prices never come down. I find things shockingly expensive in SA at the moment.

As for the recommendation for Durbanville, both my Dad and Sister live there, great place. I get the feeling you want to be more central tho, Durbanville is a good 30mins drive into Cape Town central, however its straight in on the N3 so isnt very difficult at all to navigate.
 
Thanks so much for the photos! It does look lovely. We still prefer the idea of a hotel over a guest house, and yes we want something central. I don't like the idea of being too remote. There's plenty to look at so I best get cracking.
 
xarr said:
I ate every night at the waterfront, a glass of champagne, couple of glasses of decent wine, 3 courses and a big tip each night were around £30-40 in some of the best restaurants there...
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That sounds really cool! So it is pretty good value for money if you find the right place?
 
ubern00b said:
Its regained itself for the moment but as the Rand weakens the prices go up, but the prices never come down. I find things shockingly expensive in SA at the moment.
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Really? The Times & Conde Naste Traveller are listing SA as the cheapest place to go for winter sun this year following the dip in Sterling. All my SA mates in London are getting much more for the cash as most of them are in the process of building houses around Cape Town and along the Garden Route.
 
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