Protea is the national flower of South Africa, and stands everywhere in the hotel, here on the end of the bar. Click to see the restaurant interior.
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A large pre-dinner drinks bar welcomes diners, and, unusual for these days, the downstairs whisky bar and cigar room survive. The non-smoking meanies have not yet total dominion over South Africa’s cigar and cigarette users. I am not a smoker and will not voluntarily go into a smoky atmosphere but if they want to kill themselves that is their affair and their right in my view – keep the elf at bay. The pre-dinner drinks bar provides a non-smoking alternative to the smoky atmosphere downstairs. I am sure in the summer months when most people congregate outside it will not matter but in the winter months when Cape Town can be depressingly chilly and damp the second bar, from which the comfortable lounge with its opens fires, is essential.
The refurbishment has managed a difficult trick. The hotel has been extensively and creatively refurbished, some spaces remodelled as well as redecorated and dressed throughout. The designer has managed to enhance the traditional conservative feel whilst giving the whole building a contemporary twist with lighter touches, such as the chandeliers, that have a dry wit to them. Through it all runs constant reminders of the history of this place, a sense of theatre and a sense of location.
The designer has succeeded in enhancing the hotel and it will, I am sure, sustain its reputation as one of the foremost hotels in Cape Town despite the new and more expensive upstart competitors.
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