The new Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art has put Cape Town on the map again. If you’re planning a visit, then One&Only Cape Town has the perfect package
Words Hannah Hopkins
Introducing One & Only Cape Town
Cape Town’s reputation for being one of the world’s best food and drink capitals just got more cutting edge. Since the September opening of the highly anticipated Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA), the city is now an art and design hub as well. Located in the new Silo Design District within the city’s working harbour, Zeitz MOCAA is the world’s largest museum dedicated to modern art from across Africa and the diaspora. Designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick, the museum is at the heart of a repurposed former grain silo. At its core is a soaring cathedral-like atrium, carved out of the silo’s concrete storage cylinders, the design of which was inspired by the shape and structure of a grain kernel.
One&Only Cape Town is a founding patron of the Zeitz MOCAA and supports art based education in South Africa with it longstanding partnership with Lalela.org. It makes sense then, that they’ve launched a special ‘Artfully Luxurious’ package to celebrate the museum opening, bringing together the best hotel and city experiences into one amazing holiday.
The Hotel
If big hotels and urban chic are your bag, then One&Only will be right up your street. Nestled within a natural amphitheatre shaped by the vertical cliffs of Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head, rooms have jaw-dropping views, while its location on the fashionable Victoria & Alfred Waterfront makes it ideal for visiting wellness hub The Watershed, as well as some of the city’s oh-so-trendy restaurants, including Test Kitchen (book well in advance) and Pot Luck Club. We recommend a Marine Harbour Room, and make sure you get breakfast delivered to your room to really take in the vista.
The Rooms
Located in the Marina Rise, the Marina Harbour Rooms have exceptional views of Cape Town’s bustling Victoria & Alfred Waterfront from a large private balcony. Available with either a King-size or two Queen-size beds, all bedrooms have an en suite bathroom with egg-shaped bath, rain shower, and dual marble vanities. As part of the ‘Artfully Luxurious’ package you can enjoy breakfast on your balcony, soaking up the serene views of Table Mountain.
Food & Drink
We ate at Nobu, a swish dining room led into by a sweeping fan-like staircase. There’s also a sushi counter framed by a textured, translucent origami light that glides along the ceiling.
Nobu Cape Town gives classical Japanese cuisine a contemporary African twist. We had the Omakase tasting menu with accompanying wines, which was dazzling. Omakase means from the Chefs Heart, so the menu is specially designed to your tastes by Nobu’s head chef, Harold Hurtada. We loved the combination of fresh South African seafood and indigenous spices in mesmerising dishes such as Sake Roast Whitefish with Jalapeno and the Chocolate Bento Box – a dark chocolate fondant with green tea ice cream and a sesame seed tuile. Wash your meal down with Sake, Japanese beer and Shochu based cocktails.
Pre or post dinner stop off at the hotel’s Vista Bar & Lounge where mixologist Phetogo Sefanyetso hosts interactive cocktail masterclasses. From humble urban roots in downtown Johannesburg to One&Only Cape Town’s chief gin aficionado, Sefanyetso has come a long way and is now the creative force behind a seriously impressive cocktail menu. Vista also serves an Afternoon Tea daily, with sweet pleasures from the patisserie and a wide selection of teas from around the world.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available at Reuben Riffel’s urban restaurant, with an emphasis on the Cape’s rich culinary heritage and a range of delicious South African dishes. During the day, resort guests looking for a more relaxed atmosphere can head to Isola, on one of the resort’s two private islands, for South African and Mediterranean favourites (think wood-fired pizza and seafood) eaten poolside.
The Spa
Located on its very own private island at the heart of the hotel, the award-winning spa has thermal suites including a vitality pool, aroma-steam room, ice fountain and experience showers. If you find time for a treatment we recommend the signature Essence of Cape Town therapy. It begins with a rock salt and essential oil full body exfoliation to ensure your skin is prepped for the toning and nurturing effects of the aromatherapy oils used. These are combined with warmed sea shells to massage and a deeply re-mineralising mud body wrap.
Out & About
As well as the Zeitz MOCCA Museum, first-time visitors to Cape Town cannot miss the Mountain Aerial Cableway, which zooms you up to the top of Table Mountain. The views are best at sunset, but as the saying goes, you can go through all four seasons in one day in Cape Town, so if the weather looks good, get up there. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years before the fall of apartheid, should also be on your must-see list. This ‘Artfully luxurious’ package offered exclusively by One&Only Cape Town also includes: the art of Mixology – a cocktail master class in the Vista Lounge / the opportunity for guests to create their own masterpieces with an easel, canvas, brush set and set of acrylics all on hand in their room, a 1/2 day excursion to the Lalela project to see the transformative power of art education, 5 exquisitely plated courses paired with South African wines in Nobu Cape Town in South Africa and a private invite to the resort’s Neo Boutique to purchase contemporary African art. Minimum two nights’ accommodation in a Marina Harbour room including breakfast daily in Reuben’s restaurant, from £705 per night. This offer is available until September 2018.
For more information, please visit: oneandonlyresorts.com
