Indian hospitality, South African heritage and
jaw-droppingly incredible view are what the Taj Cape Town is all about.
Hi there, my name is Kevin. This channel came from a love of traveling,
a love of the full process and the journey itself. I feature airline trip reports and
high end hotel reviews from all over the world. My reviews aren’t sponsored by airlines or hotels so
you can be sure to get my unbiased opinion. Am I an expert? You can decide. Am I fair? Yea, I am.
Let’s get into it, welcome to Cape Town. Right now we are standing just to the side of the Saint
George’s Cathedral looking at the beautiful Taj Hotel which opened it’s doors in 2010
after the painstaking renovation of two landmark buildings and is the 51st
hotel brand I’ve reviewed on the channel. If you’d like to know the exact rate that
I paid for my stay here or my next five videos in queue- there are some you’re
not going to want to miss coming up, then please check out that description below.
Located on Wale Street at the end of St. Georges Mall, a pedestrian thoroughfare, the
Taj is located in the Historic City Center and is under a 30 minute drive from Cape Town’s Airport.
If you’re interested, the hotel offers free walking tours around
the area. As
we walk inside the stately entrance we are led up
a few stairs to which lead to a rotunda where you will find the reception desks.
On your right side
is the hotel’s signature restaurant, Bombay Brasserie which we will have dinner at later.
This is an idea I’ve had for a while, a centralized spot for some key info that
I’m often asked about. This is just a first iteration, we shall see what it evolves into.
Now we are walking into the primary common area of the hotel where you can really start to see
Taj touches coming through. This room is the former South African Reserve Bank’s main hall.
On the left we have the striking lobby lounge with the Whiskey Bar behind it.
Taj Hotels is part of the Indian Hotels Company, which has eight different brands,
mostly featured in India. The parent company is owned by the massive conglomerate Tata Group-
which is also now the owner of three of the country’s airlines and have their hands in
quite a few cookie jars- their reach in the country is kind of incredible.
The original Taj Hotel was opened by Jamsetji Tata himself in 1902, which we know now as the
famous Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. I did actually recently visit that hotel and what a hotel it was.
An absolutely incredible experience which will be coming to the channel in around a month’s time.
Taj currently have 90 hotels, with 75 of them in India. Taj is well known for their hospitality
and for the most part, it did not disappoint here. A frequent sight was a guest walking through the
lobby or lounge with a member of staff having a conversation about this, that or the other.
Taj instills a hospitality concept loosely known as God as Guest, which I’ll get into
detail about during my Mumbai review, but it essentially translates to, Honoring guests is
near equal to honoring God. On the other side
of the central hall is the Mint restaurant which we will see later for breakfast,
for now, let’s head up to the room. I don’t want to clog up the video, but let me
just remind you that this flight was 100% self funded and unsponsored- so your support
in watching, subscribing and clicking that thumbs up button is greatly appreciated.
When booking, you can choose a room category in the heritage wing or in the tower. The
heritage wing houses many of the suites but does not offer any views to speak off. The
tower rooms though- well, these views will literally take your breath away.
As is customary for Taj properties, the design and furnishing is classically elegant with an
emphasis on finishing details. Some of the design choices may date the hotel to 2010,
but the condition throughout the room is near pristine.
The bedding is luxurious and there is convenient connectivity on each side of the bed.
The minibar was a bit of a let down. When I first arrived to the room,
there was no coffee maker- only instant coffee. A quick call to the front desk rectified that and
they gave me a plentiful supply of coffee as well. There were also large glass bottles of
water. Otherwise I say it was a let down because at this point, I’m just growing a bit tired of
seeing empty drawers which were clearly custom designed to hold… well, something.
The closet space was ample especially when considering the large luggage bench.
The bathroom
featured Forrest Essentials products, which after my trip to India I have
grown to love- and the towels and linens in the bathroom were some of the best I’ve
had in quite a while. Last up in the room
we have the balcony and the incredible view. I do have to criticize the balcony a bit though.
The views itself are better than I could have ever imagined, but the balcony itself is not
deep enough actually sit on and, the balcony floors are significantly sloped towards the
edge- I’m talking sloped enough to give me a bit of vertigo every time I stepped out here.
For dinner there are three choices. Room Service or the Mint Restaurant are both available from
this menu. For my first night, room service fit the bill nicely and it was superb food. Delivered
quickly and piping hot as well. My only gripe was the caesar dressing which was very anchovy
forward- but that’s just personal taste. Another option is the beautiful Bombay
Brasserie and given that it’s an Indian hotel chain, well, I couldn’t pass it up.
I went with the non-veg set menu, which at 545 Rand or just over $30 USD is a
pretty good value for the level of service and food that you get.
The amuse was Dahi Puri. Potato in a semolina sphere dressed with sweet yogurt and tamarind
chutney. I was encouraged to take it in one bite and it definitely set the stage for a great meal.
Next up was the appetizer which was a trio of Tandoori bites. To the left is Broccoli
in a mustard and achar marinade, then creamy Doodhiya Chicken scented with cardamom and finally
an Adraki lamb chop with ginger and masala. Next up we had a sorbet palate cleanser
followed by the main course. The trio included Chicken Tariwala, a fenugreek chicken curry,
masala cauliflower and green peas and finally Dal Tadka, yellow lentils with cumin and chili. These
were served with basmati rice and butter naan. Finally for dessert there was a Warm Gulab Jamun,
which are small honey soaked cakes with custard and pistachio, which was amazing.
Overall it was a great meal, if not a bit basic in nature to appeal to a wide range of palettes.
I got back to my room just in time to see this incredible sunset.
In the mornings I highly suggest getting a cup of coffee and just watching the table cloth
run over the top of Table mountain for a while. Then you can head to breakfast at Mint Restaurant.
On offer was a full buffet as well as a supplemental a la carte menu for egg dishes.
The buffet was fine, but both mornings they seemed to be scrambling to get it together
in time for opening- many missing labels and late arriving dishes.
I can look past my own personal gripes with the buffet but the real problem here for me was
the service. I ordered my coffee four times with three different staff and it took over 20 minutes,
with the eggs that I ordered coming around five minutes after that.
After that I headed up to Table Mountain. I don’t normally show activities and stuff like
that but I couldn’t not show this. This city is absolutely spectacular. When going up, my best
advise is the same that I read online. The best time of day to go is when you can see it. Clouds
roll in and out all day long, if it looks clear, get your butts up there as fast as you can. I got
a solid 20 minutes of clear views in before the clouds covered everything for the next few hours.
Last up we have the pool and gym.
I understand there are limitations to putting an indoor pool in a heritage building,
but- this was just lacking a bit of something and had a bit of a claustrophobic feel to it.
The gym on the other hand was decently equipped.
And that is that, let’s head into The Flip Flop Score. Overall,
I really enjoyed my stay here and it served as a good introduction to the Taj brand for
me and served up some incredible views and warm hospitality in a classically elegant
atmosphere. Breakfast, specifically the service did need to be improved though.
I hope you enjoyed this tour today- if you did please consider subscribing so you can
catch my next video in Singapore Airlines Business Class from Cape Town to Singapore.