The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa

Victoria Road winds south out of Camps Bay with the Atlantic on one side and the sandstone buttresses of the Twelve Apostles on the other, and on the way to Llandudno it passes The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, on the Atlantic edge of Cape Town. The hotel sits between the road and the rocks, on the boundary of Table Mountain National Park, with fynbos climbing the slopes behind and the ocean directly in front.

History

The hotel takes its name from the row of peaks that runs along the back of Table Mountain above the Atlantic seaboard. Despite the name, there are more than twelve of them. Red Carnation Hotels, the family group founded by Stanley and Bea Tollman, took over the property in 2002 and turned it into a hotel of 70 rooms and suites. Stanley Tollman was born in South Africa, and the group has kept a strong presence in the country; it also runs The Oyster Box at Umhlanga, near Durban.

Architecture and design

The building is long and low, following the line of the shore, so that most rooms look over the sea. Interiors follow the Red Carnation habit of individual decoration: each room is furnished differently, with patterned fabrics, bold colour and South African art. The gardens around the hotel are planted with fynbos and other indigenous species, and paths lead up into the mountain behind.

Rooms and suites

There are 70 rooms and suites. The sea-facing rooms look west over the Atlantic, towards the sunset, while the mountain-facing rooms look up at the buttresses of the Apostles. Suites add living areas, and several have terraces.

Dining

Azure, the main restaurant, faces the ocean through tall windows and is at its busiest at sunset. Its menus lean on South African produce and Cape wines. The Leopard Bar serves drinks and lighter meals, with a terrace above the sea. Afternoon tea, a tradition across the Red Carnation group, is taken in the lounge or outside when the weather allows.

Wellness

The Sanctuary Spa is built partly into the rock beneath the hotel, with treatment rooms set in grottoes. The hotel also has outdoor pools facing the ocean, and a small private cinema for guests.

Weddings and events

Weddings are held on the lawns and terraces above the Atlantic, with receptions indoors or outside depending on the season. The hotel hosts private dinners and has meeting rooms for small conferences and board meetings.

Location

Camps Bay, with its beach and restaurants, lies a few kilometres north along Victoria Road, and the city centre is about 20 minutes beyond it by car, traffic permitting. To the south the road continues to Llandudno and Hout Bay, where Chapman's Peak Drive begins its run along the cliffs towards the Cape Peninsula. Trails into Table Mountain National Park start close to the hotel, and the Oudekraal picnic and dive sites are neighbours along the shore.

The coast here faces west, so the last light of the day falls straight onto the hotel. In summer the south-easterly wind, known in the city as the Cape Doctor, can blow hard over the mountain, while the water stays cold all year, fed by the Benguela Current. Cape Town International Airport is around 30 to 40 minutes away by road, and the lower cable station on Table Mountain is closer still. It is the rare luxury hotel in Cape Town where the national park begins at the garden gate.