No. 6, Silo Square, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, 8001, South Africa
Price:
From £138 a night. Bookable on Radisson*, Booking.com* or Expedia*.
Neighbourhood:
Radisson RED V&A Waterfront is located at the edge of the city’s trendy Silo District, part of the gentrified V&A Waterfront.
It’s right next to Zeitz MOCAA, showcasing contemporary African art, and within walking distance to plenty of upscale restaurants, bars and shops.
You can see Table Mountain right from the hotel too, which makes this property a great option for first time visitors.
Vibe:
Radisson Red is Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s lifestyle brand for millennials with design and atmosphere inspired by art, music and fashion.
The Cape Town property was the brand’s first foray into Africa, featuring works by local artist Cameron Platter.
The vibe is hip and trendy. Music is played in the lobby and staff wear T-shirts and baseball caps.
By day, people use the space downstairs for co-working and by night, there’s a rooftop bar to take in the sights.
Rooms:
All the rooms are called studios, as in artists’ studios, so they’re not particularly spacious. But it’s less cramped and more minimalist with a good use of the available space.
Some of the bigger rooms feature ‘picnic tables’ if you need to work or want to have guests and some also have balconies.
And in the family rooms, each of the bunk beds have their own TV screens so there’s no fighting over what to watch.
Decor-wise it’s black and white with a flush of red, and there’s an air of industrial chic.
Amenities:
There are two dining spaces at Radisson Red Cape Town – OUIBar + KTCHN on the ground floor, and Red Roof on the 6th floor rooftop.
Breakfast is served from the counters at OUIBar. Choose from freshly prepared fruit pots and pastries and avocado and smoked salmon on toasted muffin.
Red Roof serves up comfort food like burgers but it’s perhaps better known for the beer truck, which was lifted to the rooftop by a crane.
Elsewhere, there’s a 24-hour gym with all your usual gym equipment and a small rooftop rool.
Highlights:
Value for money is definitely this property’s biggest selling point.
Book ahead and you can get a room at Radisson RED V&A Waterfront for perhaps half or a third of the price of its neighbouring hotels. It’s not the cheapest place in the city, but for somewhere nice and in a good location, it’s very reasonably priced.
The hotel also has pretty decent views of Table Mountain from most of the rooms and the public spaces.
Downsides:
All of the rooms are shower-only, which is a water-saving strategy for a hotel in a region prone to droughts. If you want a big soaking tub, this is not the place for you.
It’s also very much a pied a terre rather than a bolthole you want to linger in, which makes it ideal for those who want to spend most of the day sightseeing.
Asides:
Radisson Red Cape Town is pet-friendly and has its own resident dog called Baxter.
