Assessment: One&Solely Cape City – the Luxurious Journey Skilled

March 30, 2023

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Wednesday newsletters at all times function a resort or flight assessment.

Final February, I loved a chic vacation that I’ll bear in mind as my most epic journey ever: a visit to Cape City (South Africa) and Antarctica (the seventh Continent). You possibly can learn my journey reviews right here:

Assessment: KLM Boeing 787 Enterprise Class from Amsterdam to Cape City
Assessment: One&Solely Cape City, South Africa (right this moment)
Assessment: The Silo Lodge, Cape City
Assessment: Non-public Airbus A340 First Class flight from Cape City to Antarctica
Assessment: Echo Camp by White Desert, Antarctica
Assessment: Non-public Airbus A340 First Class flight from Antarctica to Cape City
Assessment: KLM Boeing 777 Enterprise Class from Cape City to Amsterdam

Immediately: Assessment of One&Solely Cape City (South Africa)

Taking satisfaction of place in Cape City’s most coveted location, One&Solely is the one 5-star resort within the metropolis to supply an entire resort expertise with its huge scale and world-class facilities. An inimitable vacation spot overlooking Desk Mountain, this thriving city oasis speaks to worldwide vacationers and discerning locals alike, proffering tropical seclusion alongside the subtle fringe of a metropolis hotspot for eating, leisure and wellness. Setting a complete new normal for luxurious inns in South Africa when it opened in 2009, One&Solely Cape City lately underwent an intensive refurbishment, revealing a brand new design that honours the vacation spot’s ocean, land and heritage in a celebration of recent Cape City.

One&Solely Cape City options in my high 10 checklist of the finest inns in Cape City.

Have you ever ever stayed at One&Solely Cape City? If that’s the case, what was your expertise? Go away a remark.

On this assessment (extra data and photographs under my YouTube video):

PROS & THINGS I LIKE

One&Solely Cape City enjoys a excellent location within the coronary heart of Cape City. Located on the entrance to the modern Victoria & Albert Waterfront and boasting panoramic views of Desk Mountain, the resort is a tranquil enclave on the doorstep of South Africa’s most vibrant metropolis. The property is inside simple strolling distance of the Waterfront’s primary vacationer sights, together with the Aquarium (subsequent door), the Museum of Up to date African Artwork and the Robben Island ferry, in addition to numerous outlets, eating places & bars, meals & crafts markets, and bars. The property is true subsequent to the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing bus, which makes it a handy base for vacationers to discover Cape City and its beautiful environment. Canals additionally hyperlink the resort with the Cape City Conference Middle, with water taxis offering a simple transport possibility between each factors, making the resort a wonderful alternative for enterprise folks.

One&Solely Cape City’s primary resort wing (referred to as ‘Marina Rise’) is housed in a 7-story constructing, which showcases a lovely design on the within though it might look a bit bland on the surface. In 2022, the resort unveiled an intensive refurbishment, spanning its 131 rooms and suites, in addition to the doorway foyer, Vista Bar & Lounge, and landscaping, with new flooring, fittings, and fixtures. Working alongside design powerhouse Muza Lab, the property’s reimagined interiors take inspiration from shapes, textures and colours discovered within the lovely Cape City area. Every factor pulls from the town environment, from the topography of the majestic Desk Mountain to the town’s mythology and the 1000’s of indigenous plant species that happen nowhere else on this planet. The general really feel is an elegant, understated design that pays homage to African tradition and recollects the muted tones of Africa’s savannahs whereas retaining the innate ultra-luxury ethos of the One&Solely model.

The attention-catcher within the big atrium-like foyer – the center of One&Solely Cape City – is a large, double-story, floor-to-ceiling window which completely frames the gorgeous view of the marina with iconic Desk Mountain past. On the heart of the foyer, proper in entrance of the large window, is Vista Bar & Lounge, which comes alive in the course of the day when friends and locals mingle in one among Cape City’s most upscale social scenes (don’t miss the afternoon tea right here). The bar highlights the native Xhosa legend fondly often called ‘The Watchers’, the story of the creation of Desk Mountain. If legend is to be believed, Desk Mountain is definitely “The watcher of the South” , one of many 4 giants created by mom earth Djobela to protect the earth from the menacing sea dragon. Standing tall above the bar show and in excellent alignment with the view of Desk Mountain is a sculpture – named The Watchers – which was made by Cape City-based Kenyan artist, Stanislav Trzebinski.

In addition to the Marina Rise wing, which homes the foyer, eating places and most rooms, One&Solely Cape City’s resorts grounds additionally comprise two small man-made islands. Lending the resort the ambiance of an elegant and serene oasis inside a big metropolis, these lushly landscaped islands are surrounded by the marina’s picturesque waterways and are hook up with primary resort space by a walkway flanked by greenery (it’s solely a 5 minute stroll between each resort areas; buggy service may also be supplied when wanted). One island homes the spa (extra on that under) whereas the opposite island options the pool space, a poolside restaurant (referred to as Isola) and 40 ‘island’ rooms & suites. Enveloped by swaying palm bushes, the free-form pool is really a show-stopper and the right tropical enclave to calm down slightly after a day of sightseeing. The shapely bends of the pool create separate seating and lounging areas, and several other bigger cabanas can be found, providing further privateness.

One&Solely Cape City options 131 spacious rooms & suites. The majority of those rooms & suites (91 in whole) is situated within the Marina Rise wing, with views of both Desk Mountain or the harbor, whereas the 40 rooms & suites (together with a number of two-bedroom suites) are ground-floor items situated round the principle pool. Throughout my vacation, I stayed in a ‘Marina Desk Mountain Room’ on the Marina Rise wing’s third flooring. The elegant bed room with king-size mattress opened to a balcony with a shocking vista of Desk Mountain, whereas the ensuite toilet featured an egg-shaped tub, rain bathe and two marble vanities. Good mixing modernity with custom, the room design included components like a curved headboard for the mattress and handmade ceramics in natural shapes, all representing the textures and colors of Desk Mountain: the golden yellow of the solar, the inexperienced of the vegetation and the blue of the ocean, and the black floor of the Cape pine bushes and silver leaf pine.

Positioned on the higher flooring of the One&Solely Cape City’s Marina Rise block are two signature suites embodying luxurious residing: the Desk Mountain Suite and Presidential Suite. Providing world-class services and facilities, these signature suites are designed to anticipate something one may have with a sense of ease and a front-row seat at among the best addresses within the nation.
- The Desk Mountain Suite is a collaboration of design, nature and luxurious with the view of the well-known mountain in all its glory. The uniquely designed house includes free-flowing lounge, eating and bar areas with nuances of pure tones dotted all through the suite. The master suite is crammed with pure gentle and class all through. A seemingly inconsequential design factor of the Desk Mountain Suite’s lounge space is a desk held by a reproduction of Desk Mountain’s Ghost Frog.
- A number of doorways down and adorned with each conceivable luxurious, the Presidential Suite options two bedrooms with beautiful views of Desk Mountain. The aesthetic and symbolic that means of The Nice African Sea Forest could be seen all through the suite, with cool, blue tones of décor complementing the unique artworks and images from South Africa’s most outstanding artists.

Atop One&Solely Cape City rests an monumental penthouse, referred to as Lion’s Head Penthouse, providing unobstructed views of Desk Mountain, Robben Island, Satan’s Peak, Lion’s Head, the Cape City Harbour and the V&A Waterfront. The beautiful, two-story penthouse includes 4 beneficiant en-suite bedrooms, a trendy library, good-looking research with fire, fully-equipped fitness center and sauna, lovely kitchen and scullery with its personal service entrance and two separate outside leisure areas – each with non-public swimming swimming pools, spectacular views and BBQ services. The residence is designed in a contemporary modern fashion with an open-plan structure and floor-to-ceiling home windows to maximise gentle and body the outlook, and with a powerful artwork assortment adorning the partitions and areas. The Lion’s Head Penthouse is the final word luxurious residence and for the utmost discretion the penthouse could be accessed by a non-public entrance and elevator.

One&Solely Cape City is residence to a number of bars and eating places (all however one among them situated within the Marina Rise wings):
- The resort’s signature restaurant is the solely Nobu in Africa, serving world famend Japanese-Peruvian delicacies invented by Michelin-starred grasp chef, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, with a collection of dishes that hero native South African elements.
- Ochre is the resort’s breakfast eating room, that includes a design impressed by South African heritage and native components. Every morning (from 6:30 to 11 am), resort friends can get pleasure from a decadent breakfast unfold providing scrumptious candy, savoury, native and continental dishes together with a wide range of scorching dishes made to order.
- Famed for its afternoon tea and innovate cocktails, Vista Bar & Lounge is on the coronary heart of the resort, framed by the backdrop of Desk Mountain.
- Isola is the one F&B venue situated exterior the principle Marina Rise wing. It affords poolside informal eating to in-house friends, serving Mediterranean and South African delicacies.

The unique Spa Island options some of the complete and expansive wellness facilities in Cape City. An oasis of serenity and privateness surrounded by water and greenery, the spa affords 12 therapy suites of which two have non-public moist areas for {couples}’ remedies. Two vitality swimming pools complement the comfort areas, sauna and steam rooms, and a rest lounge providing snacks and drinks. One&Solely Spa affords tailor-made therapy plans, making use of highly effective genuine strategies, indigenous elements and extremely pure, paraben-free merchandise produced by ESPA. As well as, facial remedies can be found in partnership with French premium skincare model Biologique Recherche, who’ve developed an modern pores and skin evaluation and therapy system utilizing their very own distinctive vary of high-end skincare merchandise.

One&Solely Cape City has a protracted historical past of supporting African creatives and expertise, and the resort is privileged to carry a group of art work from esteemed regional artists together with Norman Catherine, Walter Oltmann, Willem Boshoff, Johnny Thwala, Claude Chandler, Stanislaw Trzebinski, Ben Tuge, Deborah Bell, Kevin Model, Esther Mahlangu and Jeremy Wafer, in addition to being residence to a modern African Artwork Gallery. The latter is positioned on the primary flooring of the resort and managed by the Johannesburg-based Melrose Gallery staff. The partnership, which started in 2019, is a showcase and celebration of the work and concepts of pan-African modern artists. With 4 charming exhibitions every year, the gallery at One&Solely Cape City is open to friends and native residents, supporting African artwork, tradition and creativity. Subsequent to the gallery is a health heart, that includes state-of-the-art health tools from Technogym with personalised exercise applications.

One&Solely Cape City prides itself on personalised service, and guaranteeing their friends see and expertise the most effective of what’s necessary to them – opening doorways to locations, folks and reminiscences not at all times accessible to, or identified by, different guests to the town. The resort has conceptualised and curated a lot of experiences accessible completely to friends. Consideration is paid to each element, and high quality is assured. These embody bespoke wine-tasting experiences, both within the resort’s spectacular wine studio, or out within the winelands themselves, visiting alternative farms and sampling the nation’s best creations. Cooking lessons, mixology experiences and outside actions comparable to hikes and yoga lessons atop Desk Mountain present additional alternatives to get an actual sense of Cape City and its residents, main friends to rapidly perceive why the town holds the hearts of so many.

One&Solely Cape City is constructing on its sustainability efforts, which embody meals waste options and an entire resort-wide ban on single-use plastic. The resort has additionally launched into conservation partnerships with Two Oceans Aquarium Basis and the Endangered Wildlife Belief, whereby a portion of the suites’ income goes to each organizations (roughly $300 USD to $350 USD per keep). This contributes to a gradual stream of help for elements of South African conservation:
- On Desk Mountain, the elusive Ghost Frog is among the important focuses of the threatened amphibian program created and run by the Endangered Wildlife Belief. With virtually 30% of the 135 South African Frogs species categorised as threatened, the urgency for motion continues to develop, and the way forward for these animals appears to be like dire. The Endangered Wildlife Belief is the one South African NGO focusing full-time on frog conservation, locked in a battle to guard a spread of amphibians from habitat loss, air pollution, contamination, and local weather change.
- Created in 2009, the Two Oceans Aquarium Basis has rescued, rehabilitated and launched over 800 turtles so far – actually life-saving efforts on South African shores. Turtles are amongst the oldest and most iconic marine animals, and sadly all seven species are listed as endangered or critically endangered. One of many greatest threats to those creatures is plastic, with over 71% of turtle hatchlings rescued discovered to have consumed it upon arrival on the heart.

With 131 rooms & suites, One&Solely Cape City is a pretty massive resort and may really feel slightly busy throughout occasions of excessive occupancy. If you’re in search of a extra intimate luxurious property with a small variety of rooms, you need to take a look at Ellerman Home or The Silo. That stated, One&Solely Cape City remains to be my favourite resort within the metropolis due to its laid-back resort vibe, One&Solely ethos and heat hospitality.

CONS & THINGS TO KNOW

Whereas the Marina Rise rooms supply spectacular Desk Mountain views, their balconies face north and are within the shade for many of the day. However frankly, why would you wish to spend your time in your resort balcony in a metropolis like Cape City? And in case you are in want of tanning or enjoyable within the solar inside the resort grounds, you may at all times retreat to the pool space, which is situated by itself little island and which enjoys sunshine from dawn til sundown.

The waters across the resort and the non-public, man-made island are lined by residential condos, which partly block the Desk Mountain views from the rooms on the resort’s decrease flooring. If an unobstructed view of Desk Mountain is what you’re in search of, ensure that to guide a room on one of many greater flooring.

One&Solely Cape City affords world-class resort services (particularly for a metropolis resort), however what may make an already glorious property even higher can be the addition of a scorching tub close to the pool in addition to a fireplace pit on the deck in entrance of the foyer (for the extra chilly days and evenings). I assume it could be an superior expertise for friends visiting in the course of the colder winter months to calm down in an outside scorching tub or get pleasure from coziness round a fireplace pit whereas having fun with the fabulous views of Desk Mountain.

One&Solely Cape City’s swimming pool is heated, aside from the winter months (Might to September). Nevertheless, alternate preparations could be made by the resort if you wish to make use of a heated pool in the course of the colder winter months.

One&Solely Cape City enjoys the right base to discover the town, particularly for first-time customer, because of its location close to the V&A Waterfront, which is a tourism hub. Nevertheless, IMHO, the true great thing about Cape City is discovered on its Atlantic shore, the place a few of the world’s most lovely seashores are situated (Camps Bay, Clifton, Landudno). Though these seashores can simply be reached by taxi, it could have been superior if seashore shuttle service was supplied by the resort in the course of the summer time months, providing its friends the likelihood to calm down on the seashore and to get pleasure from the most effective sunsets on this planet (hereby bringing the Atlantic Coast seashores a bit nearer to the resort, becoming the property’s resort vibe). Complimentary shuttle service between the Atlantic Coast (Camps Bay) and the V&A Waterfront is obtainable by a number of inns on the Atlantic aspect of Cape City, however sadly not by the inns within the V&A Waterfront, and it’s positively one thing that would additional differentiate the resort a bit from its high-end rivals within the space.

With 131 rooms & suites, One&Solely Cape City is a reasonably massive resort, and may really feel a bit busy throughout occasions of excessive occupancy. Should you’re in search of an intimate luxurious property with a smaller variety of rooms, you need to take a look at The Silo Lodge or Ellerman Home. That stated, One&Solely Cape City remains to be my favourite resort within the metropolis due to its laid-back resort vibe, One&Solely ethos and heat hospitality.

MY VERDICT

Location: 9/10
Design: 9/10
Pool: 8/10
Rooms: 9/10
Meals: 8/10
Breakfast: 9/10
Spa: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Worth for cash: 8,8/10
General expertise: glorious 8,8/10

TIPS FOR FUTURE GUESTS & SAVE MONEY

Get monetary savings: get complimentary VIP perks when reserving by way of Virtuoso (e.g. improve, day by day breakfast, early check-in, late check-out, and $100 USD meals & beverage credit score).

Get monetary savings: learn right here my ideas for getting the most effective deal at a luxurious resort like One&Solely Cape City (and/or obtain many free perks).

Get monetary savings: I like to recommend to guide a room with a lovely view of Desk Mountain.

Learn my ideas for getting ready your journey in time.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

Cape City’s scorching, dry summer time months run from late October to early April. Temperatures attain their peak between December and February, and that is typically seen as when to go to Cape City for the most effective seashore climate. In the course of the winter months (June to September), the climate could be moist, chilly and overcast (limiting outside actions).

HOW TO GET THERE

One&Solely Cape City is a 30 minute drive from Cape City Worldwide Airport. The latter is served by sevral main European, American, Asian and African airways. Verify the Wikipedia web page of Cape City Worldwide Airport for a constantly up to date checklist of airways that supply direct flights to Cape City.

PHOTOS

Under is a collection of my photographs of One&Solely Cape City. To view extra photographs (together with breakfast in addition to dinner at Nobu), click on right here.