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This visual excitement carries through to the huge bar lounge area, with a mezzanine balcony overlooking it acting as an art gallery - art here is very different to the mediocre paintings in the bedrooms, being the purview of a successful local art dealership. The bar occupies a prominent central position in front to windows that seem almost three storeys high, with a large yet visually light (excuse the pun) chandelier hanging above it. The two restaurants each open off a side of this space and in front of these is a large terrace which will no doubt be popular in the summer months, as it looks out onto the lake and the suite, villa and spa area. Furniture and lighting are all somewhat oversized; a hint of the same sense of discomfort the designer seems to have felt in handling the bedrooms. Here it is only a hint though and generally the design is very successfully handled.
Walking along the terrace takes a guest over the bridge to the island where the main group of 40 suites are located. Here too is the largest heated outdoor pool in Cape Town, and the spa. The spa is beautifully tailored and treatment rooms are large and well designed. In the relaxation room provision is being made for guests to be able to listen to their own music on their own iPods - annoying if you want just a restful silence but find the tinny tinkling from others in the background. Whilst the spa’s exterior has some wonderful water features looking like bucks heads, the opportunity to perhaps add the sound of water inside has not been taken up. Internally the spa is coolly modern echoing the external, very successful, architecture.
This hotel generally seems to look inward, setting itself apart from the waterfront. Whilst the architecture is strong and the interiors are well designed, the whole lacks real panache. There are many good interior design practices in South Africa producing strong hotel interiors. There is a local emerging aesthetic that is based on the local culture, which can be seen expressed with varying degrees of success in the Cellars Hohenort, Steenberg and Bushmans Kloof. Sol Kerzner may have wanted to bring to his home country the quality and style of his other resorts but he has failed to give this hotel any real personality. Maybe size works against design, maybe the lack of a local designer removed all the little style cues evident in other developments –but whatever the reason it is evident to this critic that bigger is not necessarily better.
'Fountain' heads line the entry to the Spa
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Double treatment room in the Spa
Treatment room in the Spa
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