Onderdorp.
Onderdorp.
Image: Supplied

‘It’s not a hotel, nor a house nor a pub. It is instead a sort of oddballs club.’

It’s not every boutique escape that has a poem — this is just one line of a dozen — as mantra, motto and marketing brochure. But the Dorp Hotel in Cape Town isn’t your everyday hotel. And as the poem, penned by the late owner Gail Behr, suggests, it’s impossible to put the Dorp Hotel into a neat box.

Set high on a hillside at the top of the colourful Cape Town neighbourhood of the Bo-Kaap, Dorp is, of course, a hotel in that it has luxurious rooms with comfortable beds swathed in fine linen. But there are no loyalty cards or room categories here. Anodyne décor? Forget about it. Instead, individually decorated rooms range from vast suites with private balconies to a tiny space gleefully sold as the “worst room in the house”. And guests love it. Character and charm are the only standard inclusion.

Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied

The original hotel offers an eclectic collection of 30 rooms, arranged into separate wings each imbued with their own character. To reach them you’ll wander gravel paths through a secret garden of fynbos borders, citrus trees and wild olives laid out by landscape designer Leon Kluge.

So where to stay? The Arcadia wing has a grand Georgian appeal, while the intimate rooms of the Rose wing boast some of the best city views in a hotel that’s not short on vistas. My favourite? The Noon Greenhouse suite is a riot of colour, with wraparound steel windows and a broad stoep offering an eyrie of foliage and fine views from which to contemplate the city below.

Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied
Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied

That organic sense of style has equally permeated the new addition to the property — Onderdorp — which opened in November 2022. Here all 15 additional suites feature self-catering kitchens and dining spaces, making it the perfect address for those who have fallen in love with the character of Dorp, but want a larger space for extended stays.

And while Onderdorp has expanded the operation considerably, Dorp has lost none of the second part of Behr’s poem: a sense of authentic welcome. Wherever you choose to stay, stepping through the front door is like wandering into an old friend’s home. From the riotous palms and deep couches clad in faded pink velvet to the well-stocked bar trolley, Dorp retains the intimacy and personal touch of a private home. It’s precisely the atmosphere that Behr, a talented hotelier and clothing designer, cultivated since opening the hotel in 2019.

Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied
Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied
Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied
Dorp Hotel.
Dorp Hotel.
Image: Supplied

A pub? Well, there is an honesty bar on site, and a complimentary bottle of Tanqueray at my room for an obligatory sundowner, but out of respect for the surrounding Muslim community, Dorp Hotel does not have a liquor licence. Guests, however, are welcome to bring their own tipple, with no corkage fee, or ask for their room to be stocked ahead of arrival.

And you’ll certainly want a glass of something decent to go with dinner. The menu served daily in the intimate restaurant delivers inspired bistro-style dishes. The twice-baked cheese soufflé is a signature, while a generous plate of potato latkes topped with smoked salmon and sour cream meant there was no chance of ordering the rotisserie chicken that the regulars swear by. And this is a hotel with no shortage of regulars, whether it’s loyal locals or travellers drawn to return time after time by the eclectic décor, personal service and remarkable city locale.

Dirp Hotel.
Dirp Hotel.
Image: Supplied
Potato latkes topped with smoked salmon and sour cream.
Potato latkes topped with smoked salmon and sour cream.
Image: Supplied

So in many ways it is very much something of an oddballs club. Behr was beloved for her creative vision and unique sense of style, and her hotel defies easy description. The solution, really, is to visit.

You’ll know if you fit the moment you arrive,’ the poem continues. ‘And if you don’t, simply reverse down the drive’

But there is, I’d wager, little chance of that happening.

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