Two-in-one luxury on Pepper & Loop

By Brian Berkman: contributing editor, travel

18 Oct 2010

Cape Town's city centre now has so many five-star hotels you're more likely to find a filet Béarnaise and top-notch Caesar Salad if you walk the streets than a white pipe or hit of tik. Competition is rife too, so the winner here is the customer who can choose from superb accommodations and fine dining within a few city blocks.

You can't beat the view.

The Pepper Club Hotel & Spa, developed by property moguls The Solomon Brothers, is the newest to open.

There are many challenges that the owners and managers still have to deal with. Not least of which is the configuration of the hotel in two buildings. This means changing lifts at the eighth floor and walking through corridors to the second tower. The location on Pepper and Loop Streets is also directly across from a major nightclub, which is noisy.

Management is dealing with these challenges obliquely by offering some brilliant added-value extras. I love that there's a free shuttle to The V&A Waterfront and to Camps Bay beach where their sister property occupies prime sea frontage. Anyone can enjoy the restaurant, but hotel guests also get to access natty Camps Bay beach loungers and umbrellas. There are also exclusive-use lockers and change rooms inside the restaurant for hotel guests and guests have access to the adjacent St Yves's night club.

All by card

How's this for style?

I love that all these outlets can be accessed using the hotel room card and all expenses billed to the room account. This means hotel guests can order food and drink (albeit in plastic cups) to be rushed across the road to the beach by Pepper Club waiters from the comfort of their loungers. This succeeds in providing beach-resort amenities to an inner-city hotel. Moreover, there's the hotel's spiffy Rolls Royce Phantom which is available to guests for luxury transfers.

Our accommodation was a split-level apartment with kitchen, large balcony overlooking the harbour, sitting room downstairs and bedroom and bathroom above. The décor is functional and minimalist but a little too similar to cookie-cutter chain hotels for my tastes.

The penthouse bedroom - enough said.

There are 11 room types which range from single-level studios (R2780) to the most fabulous three-bedroom penthouse suite (R55000) on two levels, with its own roof-top pool, grand piano etc. The Penthouse is decorated in a chic French style which is a departure from the rest of the hotel.

Better things to come

I understand the hotel restaurant is being revamped and hope that the pricing will be more competitive. I enjoyed the food I was served but grateful not to have to pick up the tab. I thought the menu prices unreasonably high for what was offered and that our server needed to be better trained in the nuances of five-star, luxury hotel service. With veteran hotelier Nick Seewer (previously MD of Mount Nelson Hotel and Orient-Express Hotels and Safaris in Africa) as CEO and GM Clayton Howard (most recently GM at Cellars-Hohenort Hotel) heading the team, things are only going to get better.

Welcome to The Pepper Club Hotel & Spa.

I was very impressed with their Cayenne Spa. We were treated to a Wellness Wrap (R590) with rooibos-tea extract which was followed by an Intonga Stick Massage (R560 for 75 minutes). This treatment is highly recommended and the smoothly rounded sticks provide the same focussed pressure as the hot stones do without one feeling scalded.

There is an excellent special rate currently available until December 2010 for R1490 (room only) via their website and it's worth visiting their Facebook Page for very keen last-minute offers.

The Pepper Club Hotel & Spa +27 (0) 21 812 8812 or go to www.pepperclub.co.za.