The Vineyard Hotel in Cape Town

For our final night stay in Cape Town, we selected the historic Vineyard Hotel with beautiful views of Table Mountain. With extensive grounds and tranquil gardens, it’s a beautiful property. 

We enjoyed strolling about the paths and visiting the local Mountain Tortoises as they wandered the paths (albeit a little slower than we did). The tortoises are numbered for identification as there are multiple on the property. Gloria (number 13) and Thomas (number 11) are their oldest and are around 50 years old.

The original hotel was built in 1800 and has been expanded through the years, the Vineyard Hotel is a delightful mix of old and new architecture. The walls are covered with artwork. We recommend wandering the halls with a glass of wine in hand as they have quite the art gallery inside. The Vineyard Hotel offers the following amenities:

• Onsite Restaurant and Bar
• Spa
• Fitness Gym
• Indoor and Outdoor Pool
• Garden and Tortoises

For dinner and breakfast, we dined at the Garden Lounge. They have a lovely wine list with mostly local South African wines including Thelema, one of the wineries we visited earlier in our trip. Their drink menu “Liquid Sunshine” included made to order gin and tonics, signature cocktails, classic cocktails, and a nice list of mocktails. 

Their menu comes with a glossary for travelers who may be unfamiliar with some of the terms. No need to google at the table.  They focus on using local ingredients with traditional flavor to highlight South Africa’s culinary heritage. All items were clearly marked if they were vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, or if it contained nuts. The weather was perfect for patio sitting and we enjoyed the well-manicured grounds from our table while we ate.  From the hotel as a base for our last day, we were able to visit some wineries. We hired a driver and went to two additional wineries of course, while carrying our cool new travel backpack that we just love.

The grounds have multiple walking paths near a babbling brook, beautiful trees and lush plants. We enjoyed wandering the property seeing the natural beauty of the surrounding area. Our first hotel in Cape Town for this trip, the wonderful Table Bay, is a stark contrast with this property and it was enjoyable to experience both the busy urban and the seemingly secluded natural grounds.

Our room was in the historic part of the hotel and, while having a modern bathroom, we found historic equals squeaky and creaky. Every floorboard squeaked from the bed to the bath. The bed, while comfortable, also squeaked. The air conditioning in the room was not on when we entered the room and only fell a few degrees before bedtime. The staff “upgraded us” to this room upon arrival (which was not the room we booked.) While many may enjoy the historic ambiance, we however, prefer a bit more modern. The hotel was unfortunately full with no other room options available.  This part was a bit disappointing, especially when compared to the lovely rooms they advertise online on their website. 

Website: https://www.vineyard.co.za/

Here are some ideas for private day trips that we think you may enjoy below. Luxury Nomad Club is supported by our audience. When you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no cost to you. All products and services featured are from those we recommend. Review our About Us page to see why you can trust us.

Of course, we prefer to experience private tours where possible so we can customize, and here is highly rated tour you might enjoy: https://www.viator.com/tours/Stellenbosch/Private-Winelands-Tour/d23419-245738P2?pid=P00158413&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector

Here are some great Franschhoek wine tours:

Full-Day Wine Tour from Franschhoek: https://www.viator.com/tours/Franschhoek/Full-Day-Wine-Tour-from-Franschhoek/d24379-10561P4?pid=P00158413&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector

For those that want some exercise with their wine experience: https://www.viator.com/tours/Franschhoek/Franschhoek-Winelands-Luxury-Full-Day-Tour/d24379-14103P10?pid=P00158413&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector

A little luxury E-bike riding: https://www.viator.com/tours/Franschhoek/Franschhoek-Winelands-Luxury-Full-Day-Tour/d24379-14103P10?pid=P00158413&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector

This super popular tour includes lunch and both wine regions: https://www.viator.com/tours/Cape-Town/Wine-tour-Stellenbosch-and-Franschhoek/d318-72627P1?pid=P00158413&mcid=42383&medium=link&medium_version=selector