What it is

A 176-room den of luxury in the former old Reserve Bank, with an Indian-inspired spa.

What it isn't

Hands-off. Expect doting service in classic Taj style, complete with attentive butlers and even gratis walking tours.

What we think

Hotels with prime views of Table Mountain could easily rest on their laurels, but Taj pulls out all the stops, always. For one thing, traditionally-designed guest rooms are absolutely exquisite, from the tufted headboards to the walk-in marble showers and soaking tubs. But you didn’t fly all the way to South Africa to chillax in your suite, not when Taj Cape Town has so many jaw-dropping thrills on your to-do list right on site. We’re particularly obsessed with their plush lobby lounge’s afternoon tea, arguably the finest in Cape Town, thanks to original chandeliers that twinkle off the fluted marble columns and a pastry chef that makes every morsel as Instagrammable as the hotel itself.

You're here because

You have a serious obsession with Indian comfort food, and the hotel’s newly renovated Bombay Brasserie restaurant has perfected it—down to the saffron and pistachio crème brûlée.

The Moment

The hotel’s Jiva Spa has dug deep—as in, 6,000-years into the past deep— to come up with treatments that wow in the modern era, yet soothe in ancient ways. When you booked your Pada Mardana foot massage, you hardly would have guessed that your therapist would pamper your travel-tired toesies in an intricate copper bowl dusted with fresh flower petals, or that you’d feel so much like a Hindu god—but you do. And you’re coming back for another tomorrow.

Restaurants & Bars

Bombay Brasserie - Fine dine Indian cuisine

Mint Restaurant, the local Grill - International and local fare in a relaxed atmoshphere

Twankey Bar - All-day tapas, Champaign, craft beers, excellent wines

Lobby Lounge - Afternoon tea

Twankey Bar - Tapas, Champaign, fine wine and craft beers, the perfect place to mingle with the locals

Lobby Lounge - Cocktails and Afternoon Tea

Cigar Lounge - A wide selection of cigars, cognacs, whiskeys and brandies

Location

In Cape Town’s bustling City Center, you’re just a few blocks from some of the country’s top unmissable sights; you can’t leave the area without strolling the rainbow-bright Bo-Kapp neighborhood and stopping in at the District Six Museum, which chronicles the displacement of 60,000 locals in the apartheid era.