Hospitality Design - September 2009 - 98

city spotlight cape town Left: Rendering of the canal-side façade of Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa. Town, which is flanked by oceans and mountains on either side, was his inspiration. Shades of aquamarine and turquoise prevail in the heritage guestrooms, housed, along with public spaces, in the historic buildings; while the palette in the tower rooms reflects their enviable mountain views, left unobstructed with floor-toceiling windows and private balconies. Taj Cape Town will also feature 22 residences, three restaurants, and its signature spa. “It’s just so different to the rest of Africa—the sophistication, the vineyards. It’s more like Napa Valley than it is like Africa,” says Pownall, an English ex-pat who spent the majority of the ’90s in triplex wine tower. Throughout the hotel Tihany has included more than 250 handmade pieces of furniture, all created in Africa using local materials, and the ambitious art program is anchored exclusively around local artists whose work is sourced from the top galleries in the region. It’s all part of what Tihany hopes will be a thoroughly modern-meetsauthentically African experience. historical quarter. “We’ve got a unique location. Cape Town’s historical part has been overlooked for the past 15 years or so. We’re the first truly 5-Star luxury property there. “ Situated partially on St. George’s Mall, a vibrant pedestrian area, local architect DHK created a new, modern glass-front tower and retained the façades of two historical buildings, Temple Chambers and the South African Reserve Bank. All three buildings combine to make-up the 155-room hotel, with interiors by Singapore-based James Park Associates (JPA), who has worked with the Indian hotel company on many occasions. According to JPA managing director David Edwards, Cape Cape Town and has now returned after almost a decade in the U.S. and Caribbean. “Cape Town is definitely first world. You can get as good a cappuccino or spa as in Beverly Hills or London.” Surprised? Pownall says the other fact that surprises firsttime visitors is the city’s diversity. “It’s a melting pot, or far more of a melting pot of cultures than you would think. The South African history that most people have learned is about apartheid, and what’s surprising about Cape Town is that the majority of the population is not white or black,” says Pownall, noting mostly a mix of Malays, Indians, and Europeans. “It’s just an incredibly diverse metropolitan population like New York or Washington.” Fashion Forward Opening in April 2010 will be Hotel Missoni Cape Town, the new luxury hotel concept by Rezidor and Missoni. The South African location will be the brand’s third, behind Edinburgh and Kuwait, and will be designed by Glasgow-based architect Graven Images, in conjunction with Hotel Missoni creative director (and Missoni founder) Rosita Missoni. Located in the heart of the city, the 157-room hotel will include a signature Cucina Missoni restaurant, Bar Missoni, and a rooftop terrace with a cantilevered swimming pool and views of Table Mountain. The hotel will also offer a full-service spa and small meeting and private dining facilities. “As ridiculous as it is to say, it’s actually a weekend destination for Europeans,” says Rezidor executive vice president of brands, Gordon McKinnon. “If they can get their infrastructure issues behind them, then it will come out as somewhere that people are far more before.” conf ident about than New Frontier Not everyone is sticking to the port city’s traditional waterfront locations. “That’s the touristy part. It’s not really in the heart of what Cape Town’s all about,” says Michael Pownall, general manager of the new Taj Cape Town, set to open this December in the city’s Local Wisdom Meanwhile Africa’s largest hotel group, Protea Hotels, is also upping its stake in Cape Town, opening its f irst two 5-Star properties under its African Pride Brand—Crystal Towers and 15 on Orange—in the city this year. “It’s only been in the last 10 years 98 hospitalitydesign www.hdmag.com

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - September 2009