A DRIVING FORCE
SOMETIMES you judge a hotel by its people, not what it offers. If you’re really lucky, it’s both.
I was checking in to SunSquare Cape Town Gardens, when the receptionist explained how the key card worked. It might sound silly to seasoned travellers, but trust me, I once spent an insane 20 minutes in the gloom of a Paris hotel trying to find out how to switch on the lights.
Eventually I plucked up the coverage to go and ask why my room didn’t work and then, on my way out, I spotted the slot on the wall. On a whim, I inserted it in the wall and behold, there was light.
Attention to the fine print can and does make a world of difference. It’s not by chance, though, manager Richard Keet ensures this by the type of people he hires.
“We employ young, dynamic, vibrant, edgy kids. I hire people with big hospitality hearts, and the rest I teach.” It’s obvious throughout the hotel.
It was the Cape Town Garden Court originally, but then stripped down two years ago for a massive refurbishment and rebranding as the third SunSquare in the country – and the first in Cape Town, with another planned for the Cape Town city bowl later this year.
“We try to be very informal here – or formal if that’s required. The key is for us to connect to the needs of the people at the hotel, striving to be efficient for corporate guests and friendly for leisure guests,” he says.
The hotel is deliberately in the mid-market range, with 136 rooms ranging from cosy to suites. It’s small enough to ensure the personal touch, he says.
Located in Gardens just off De Waal Drive and up from the Mount Nelson, the SunSquare hotel is beautifully situated in the lee of Table Mountain.
Keet is determined to maximise the location and the surrounding community, ensuring the hotel pool is open to its neighbours – except for the peak time at year end – and for the hotel bar and its à la carte restaurant Zepi, which doubles as the breakfast restaurant in the mornings.
One of the most noticeable omissions is the lack of booms on the entry and exits, allowing locals to drive in and park – and enjoy a swim, a meal or a drink.
“We want Capetonians to come back into the hotel and use the pool or eat a meal. It’s affordable to drink at the pub, the same price as the rest of the neighbourhood. I want the hotel to be a seamless part of the community,” says Keet.
The hotel is more than just that, the decor is upbeat and quirky, there’s a gym and a lovely pool, but the location means it’s an absolute boon for guests as there are scenic routes through Gardens and past the slopes of the mountain that are unrivalled anywhere in the country.
The hotel also boxes above its weight in terms of services, including a business centre, self-service work stations, complimentary 500MB of high-speed wi-fi per day, express check-in and even conferencing facilities, with high chairs and baby sitting for parents with young families at the other end of the spectrum.
But, as always, it’s location, location, location.
There’s the mountain, which truly is priceless, but also the hip and trendy Gardens suburb with its pavement cafés, or you can walk down the road into what I still think is one of Cape Town’s most underplayed gems, the Company’s Garden, with its public art, green lung and squirrels.
SunSquare Cape Town Gardens is a serious contender when you’re looking for accommodation, and that’s saying something given the competition and the range all over the Peninsula.