SPOTLIGHT
ON:
Western Cape Hotel and Spa
We were impressed with The Western Cape Hotel and
Spa the moment we walked through their revolving doors. Not the beautiful
African themed decorations, nor the spotless interior or opulent luxury. No.
That is accepted as a given in any five star resort.
 What impressed us was their immaculate attention to
detail. German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe once said
“God is in the details” and the Western Cape Hotel and
Spa takes that quite seriously. Two glasses of chilled grape juice were
already waiting for us at the check in and we were greeted by name -
obviously security calls to notify the hotel of your arrival. The check-in
barely takes a minute (two sips of juice, actually) and then the concierge
accompanied us to our room and succinctly explained the workings of the
TV, air conditioning and other necessary information.
 The rooms are very spacious and easily accommodate
a king-size bed, TV cabinet, bar fridge, cupboards (with a room safe)
table with two chairs and additional two lounge chairs. The balcony is
also quite large, with another table and two chairs. Quite an interesting
innovation are the sliding doors between the bathroom and rest of the room
– providing you with the option to have the whole room open plan, or
keeping the bathroom separate.
A very debauched feature is the ability to pull the
TV out and watch it while bathing, which we did while enjoying a bottle of
champagne. Unfortunately their TV selection is not great (obviously you
can opt for one of the pay per view movies, but nothing tickled our fancy)
and we settled on watching the cartoon network.
 The bathroom counter has two basins and is large
enough to accommodate two people simultaneously. There is also a shower
(the stainless steel fittings are glorious!) and toilet, both enclosed in
frosted glass. Unfortunately you can still see a person if they are using
either, which was rather disconcerting. Obviously you can change that by
closing the sliding doors, but that is a bit of a schlep.
We were guilty of spending far to much time
enjoying the comforts of our room, but when you do step outside, you can
dine at two restaurants and a café, followed by a nightcap at the cigar
bar. Aside from the wining and dining, guests can also enjoy the 18-hole
golf course, spa treatments, horse rides and various walks.
We dined at both restaurants and although the food
was beautifully presented and well prepared, it was not exceptional. The
service, however, was. Our waitress noticed that I eat left handed, and
promptly rearranged all my cutlery - something I've never experience
before, and when our candle burnt out, it was almost immediately replaced
with another one. Various staff member also frequently asked us whether we
were enjoying the experience.
 After dinner we headed up to the cigar bar for a
nightcap, which sports a decent selection of Cuban cigars, fine whiskeys,
cognacs and brandies. I was delighted to see they had a bottle of Hamlin
House brandy and we decided to have that in the bedroom. Incidentally, all
room service orders are guaranteed to be delivered in 30 minutes, a time
they beat by a country mile every time we placed an order.
Having endured a couple of spa treatments in my
life, I was most impressed with the one at the Western Cape Hotel and Spa.
Upon entering the spa we were asked to change into robes and then served
mint and lemon water and a delicious nut encrusted fruit kebab. Afterwards
we were escorted to our separate cubicles and I received one of the most
relaxing Swedish massages I have ever experienced. We finished up with a
relaxing swim in the hydro pool and a session in both the sauna and steam
room.
If you’re looking for a great out of town breather
with some of the best service Cape Town has to offer, the Western Cape
Hotel and Spa is hard to beat.
How to get there: Take the N2 to Hermanus,
turn right at the Botrivier turnoff and the entrance is down the road on
your left.
Price: Varies according to particular packages.
Reservations: Tel: 028 284 0000.
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