After our safari at Aquila Private Game Reserve, we had another day in Cape Town before heading home. Instead of staying in the city center, we opted to stay a bit further out. Both for a change of pace, and for a Hyatt night. We stayed at the base of Table Mountain in the Constantia wine area, at the Small Luxury Hotel marketed Cellars-Hohenort. We planned to arrive here mid afternoon, and have some time to explore the area, but due to traffic jams caused by weather related road closures, we didn’t arrive until evening. Tired from a longer than planned journey, we just stayed on property, which I almost never do and had an incredible meal to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The Cellars-Hohenort is an excellent place to stay a bit away from the more typical tourist spots in Cape Town.
What is Cellars-Hohenort
The Cellars-Hohenort name comes from the 2 main buildings on the property, the Cellars building, and the Hohenort building. There are a few smaller buildings housing some of the luxury villas. Our room was located in the Cellars building, which also includes the Conservatory restaurant and bar.
The property is built around a Dutch family estate in the Constantia Valley south of Cape Town CBD, located at the foot of Table Mountain. It was originally built in the late 1600s, and the cellars building was the original wine cellar for the Klaasenbosch estate. The Hohenort (“high place”) building dates to the early 20th century, and eventually became a hotel itself. in 1993, the Cellars and Hohenort buildings were combined to make the property as it is today.
There are 51 rooms on property, and we booked this using an expiring free night award. This is a Category 3 property, so it ranges from 9,000-15,000 Hyatt points depending on the season. Cash rates were around US$350 for the base level room. We were apparently upgraded 2 categories to a luxury room with a verandah, which can go for US$450 or more.
Luxury Double with Verandah room at Cellars-Hohenort
Our late arrival meant we mostly just wanted to drop out stuff, get cleaned up and go to dinner. We ate at the restaurant on site, the Conservatory, which was excellent and a great value for the excellent quality of the meal. But first, our room. The base level room is a double room, then there is a luxury double and then our room, a luxury double with verandah.
The bedroom was decently sized, with a luxurious king sized bed. and a large balcony/verandah. Not really my style, but I’m by no means an interior designer.
The bathroom was narrow, but long, with a separate bath tub and shower, with double sinks.
The mini bar is included, plus we had both a bottle of sparkling wine and a dessert tray waiting for us as anniversary welcome. The property sent an email before arrival, and I noted the reason for our trip. Nice that they followed through.
The free mini bar items are pretty basic, but free is definitely appreciated. This included 2 beers, 2 ciders, still and sparkling water, coke zero, and some mixers. Plus some sweet and salty snacks.
I went out to enjoy the large verandah the next morning, and it is large, with a lovely view. This faces east, so Table mountain is the opposite direction.
In all our room was spotless, not large, but plenty of space, and the huge deck is lovely. I just wish we had more time here.
In and around the Cellars-Hohenort property
The next morning, I went out to explore the property a little bit. There is an outdoor pool (one at each of the larger buildings), some tennis courts, a gym, a spa, and a hair salon. Outside the hotel, there are embassies and other large estates nearby, and several wineries within a few minutes drive.
There are still vineyards on property, along with flower gardens, and many, many roses.
I checked out the gym, but decided to go out for a run instead. It was a cool, but mostly sunny morning. The gym is perfectly nice, but quite small.
I left the gated property, waving to the security guard as I left. The windy roads around the property don’t have sidewalks, but there was very little traffic on this morning. I quickly found my way to a greenbelt trail, where I ran through the trees, and along a small river. Part of the time I was alone, but as I approached a park, I saw many families out walking with children, dogs, etc.
There were muddy spots along the way, due to earlier rains, but this was a lovely workout, and nice views all around.
Other than dining, and sleeping, we left the property to do some wine tasting nearby. My wife is very much the wine expert in our partnership, but we could some lovely locations and tasty wine. We even brought some home.
Dining at the Conservatory/Greenhouse
As I mentioned before, due to our much later than intended arrival, we just stayed in and dined at the Conservatory. I suppose technically we dined in the Greenhouse, since the Conservatory is under renovations, but the menu is mostly the same. We almost never dine in hotel restaurants other than breakfast, but this was an excellent meal. I ended up with a tasting menu, and my wife basically made her own, and we shared are starters, mains and dessert.
We both had steaks, as tends to be our tradition on the rare occasion we go out for a nice meal to celebrate something, in this case our anniversary.
For dessert, I had a passion fruit tart with some coconut ice cream. Either are generally flavors I will order on a dessert menu, and together, it was right up my alley.
This was a special meal, and at well under US $100 total including a bottle of wine, an incredible deal compared to what something comparable would cost in many other cities.
We also had breakfast here the next day, and, which was included. Delicious buffet, plus hot items could be ordered. There was even a Bloody Mary cart. But I did not partake because we were about to go wine tasting.
Final thoughts on Cellars-Hohenort
A very enjoyable but brief stay. We bookended our safari with time in Cape Town. We had one night here before the long journey back home. This is a very nice hotel, and a good use of Hyatt points, given what I perceive to be a good value of Hyatt points vs the cash price. Excellent meals as well, and very good value for the quality. Have you stayed here? What was your experience like?
