Hotel of the Week: The Twelve Apostles, Cape Town

The fierce winter storm rolling in from the Atlantic, concealing Cape Town under a grey shroud, made the warmth of the welcome at The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa all the more inviting.

Tea served in bone china cups in the lounge during registration was perfectly timed given the worsening weather made this a day to enjoy the considerable comforts of a temporary home.

Flanked on one side by Table Mountain, and on the other by the Atlantic Ocean, The Twelve Apostles, a Red Carnation Hotel, skilfully balances old world courtesy and ambience with unobtrusive professionalism.

The Twelve Apostles is within a short shuttle-distance from trendy Camps Bay and its beachfront cafes, and a 15-minute ride to Cape Town’s V&A waterfront complex. The hotel provides a free shuttle bus to Camps Bay and the V&A Waterfront.

There is a very strong service ethic running through the DNA of this hotel and it shows in every aspect of the staff’s approach to guests.

Other welcome touches include sanitised TV and video remotes in guest rooms, pillow and soap menus, garden hammocks (in good weather) and complimentary Internet and Wi-Fi.

Known to frequent guests as the 12A, the hotel – with its impressive South African artwork  – has 70 rooms and suites offered in four categories: Classic, overlooking the gardens; Mountain-Facing; Luxury (with Atlantic Ocean and partial Twelve Apostles mountain range views); and Superior Sea-Facing, of which there are nine split level design rooms.

In addition, there are one-bedroom suites configured for families with young children (and their small pets) plus a 170sqm presidential suite with his and her bathrooms and a private terrace.

The hotel has its own 16-seat cinema, two outdoor heated swimming pools, in-house doctor and a Sports Buddy programme. Hotel staff are available to accompany guests for cycling, golf, tennis or yoga.

Sports Buddy activities include cycling to Chapman’s Peak along one of the world’s most scenic coastal routes; hiking in the Twelve Apostles mountain range or going for a run along Victoria Road, either to Camps Bay or Hout Bay Harbour. There is a fitness room as well as access to the Virgin Active Health club.

Unsurprisingly, the hotel has an enviable collection of awards. In 2013, The Twelve Apostles was named Top Hotel Spa in Africa and the Middle East in Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Hotels (USA).

The property has been though many life changes both before and since 1929 when a home was built on the site. It first operated as a hotel in 1995 and in 2002 it became part of the Red Carnation Collection, which in South Africa includes the Oyster Box Hotel outside Durban and the Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Retreat in the Cederberg.

The hotel was totally renovated in 2009, followed two years later by an extensive renewal of the spa where the BAfrica spa body care and spa products were created in honour of Bea Tollman, founder and president of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection.

The products contain a blend of Atlantic sea salt and African plant extracts, including oil from the boab tree.

The Azure restaurant has a focus on French food with a Cape cuisine twist (don’t leave without tasting the breakfast buffet) and is complemented by the Café Grill and the Leopard Bar, where live entertainment is a feature.

We leave the Twelve Apostles reluctantly, its warm embrace providing the perfect antidote to the wintry weather.

By Ian Jarrett