Cape grace: A trio of charming spots to check out in the Mother City and surrounds

STAY AT: Old Foundry Hotel

Next time you’re in Cape Town for business (or leisure), check in at the stylishly appointed Old Foundry Hotel in Green Point. It’s one of Ideas Cartel’s newest and most elegant outfits and offers 24 eclectic rooms to choose from — and lots more too.

The multilayered lifestyle brand (a collection of co-working spaces, boutique hotels, lounges, cafés, and bars) has, to use 2020’s arguably overused term, “pivoted” subtly but smartly to adapt to the Covid-19-conscious traveller. Its already forward-thinking hybrid spaces were reimagined during lockdown to cater to a new breed of hotel guest and remote worker (and adhere to 2020’s necessary standards).

With co-working numbers dropping sharply, CEO Schuyler Vorster and his team decided to modify and kit out a number of co-working partitions as glass-sealed, singular spaces for indoor training — cue the new hygiene-checked, private FitPods. A great extra to add to your already cool stay. 

SHOP AT: Story Design Collective

Interior design and curation studio Story Design Collective, founded by Jackie Fitzgerald, has a long and impressive track record of designing hospitality spaces. But it’s their new jewel of a store in Seapoint that’s got everyone pressed up to the window. Expect a space that is pretty in the true sense of the word — feminine and artfully styled and filled with decorative trinkets, contemporary fittings, quirky furniture, softs, and great gifts. It’s a real tribute to the talent and standard of craftsmanship so readily available and present in South Africa as the contents of the store were sourced (with some designed especially by Story) and produced locally. 

SPA AT: Die Stalle

Die Stalle spa is a new addition to the already all-encompassing lifestyle venue that is Bosjes Estate in the Breede Valley. Masterminded by Cape Town interior designer Liam Mooney — who has been involved with the Bosjes project from the beginning and had a hand in the design of the guest house, restaurant, and chapel — it’s opening soon and you should be first to know.

Fashioned out of the property’s original stable building, the spa will feature two cleverly configured treatment rooms and a rasul chamber (slated to be the spa’s signature treatment), while an elegant “trough” water feature at the entrance serves as a nod to the original occupants. Summer will also usher in the opening of a new deli and shop at Bosjes, which will form an extension of the beautiful gardens designed by architect Coetzee Steyn (the talent behind the now iconic Kapel event venue on the property). Watch this space! 

• From the November edition of Wanted, 2020.