On 3 September the City of Cape Town stepped up its water restrictions to the next level, announcing further severe water saving measures. Compared to the previous Level 4 B restrictions, the new Level 5 restrictions retain the daily water usage target per person at 87 liters, and step up restrictions on the commercial usage of water. Tourists to Cape Town and the province will not be turned away as a result of the drought!
Tag Archives: Southern Sun
Does Cape Town need more new hotels? More than 700 new rooms to come in next 2 years!
It was a surprise to receive a media release from Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde, welcoming the development of a new R680 million mega Tsogo Sun hotel in the city centre, adding 500 bedrooms to the city’s room stock in 2017! Another 235 rooms will open in the V&A Waterfront, when the Radisson Red opens next year! Can the hospitality industry in Cape Town afford another 735 rooms when the oversupply of accommodation for the 2010 World Cup still affects every accommodation establishment?!
The Tsogo Sun hotel will be built on the recently demolished Tulip Hotel, on the corner of Strand, Bree, and Buitengracht Streets, with construction set to commence next month. The Tsogo Sun complex will consist of two entities on the Continue reading →
WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 19 June
Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines
* The latest quarterly survey by the Bureau of Economic Research shows a sharp drop in confidence in the Accommodation sector, with an index of 36 in the first Quarter of this year, to a projected index of 22 in this quarter, and down to zero in Quarter 3. Rates are seen to be reduced in Quarter 3, and Business Confidence has dropped from 76% in Quarter 1 to 56% in this quarter! (received via e-mail from the Bureau of Economic Research)
* Huffington Post praises Cape Town, and lists ‘Top 10 Things to do in Cape Town, South Africa‘, but in reality it lists far more than ten things: visiting Cape Point; the penguins at Boulders Beach; the Winelands, including Le Petite Ferme, Môreson, Haute Cabrière, Delaire Graff, La Residence, The Franschhoek Wine Tram, Tokara, Kanonkop, and Groot Constantia; Umi restaurant and the Marly hotel in Camps Bay; Robben Island; Table Mountain; a township tour; eat at The Test Kitchen, Pot Luck Club, ‘Bistro’ (sic) Bizerca ‘Signal‘ (sic), Charly’s Bakery, and The Tasting Room; the V&A Market on the Wharf; shopping at Merchants on Long and Chandler House; and High Tea at Belmond Mount Nelson.
* New Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has accused the DA-run City of Cape Town of buying the vote by spending millions of Rands for the title for Cape Town as World Design Capital 2014, Continue reading →
Ken Forrester Wines celebrates 21st anniversary with a tasting of 21 wines!
On Tuesday last week I was lucky to be part of a small group of writers invited to attend a special tasting of 21 Ken Forrester Vineyards’ wines, in celebration of their 21st anniversary. The range of wines reflects the multi-faceted personality of owner and winemaker Ken Forrester!
We met at the tasting room, and were welcomed with a glass of Sparklehorse MCC, and oysters and salmon canapés. It was the most beautiful day, and the tasting took place in Ken’s beautiful Cape Dutch manor house, dated 1694 on the gable, with the first vineyards having been planted in 1692. I loved the light yellow walls with a vine leaf mural all along the top part of the walls, the paintings, the vases with flowers, and the ambiance of and views from the Voorkamer.
Previously in the hospitality industry in Johannesburg, Ken and his wife Teresa moved to Stellenbosch in 1993, having bought the property with a house and a vineyard in a derelict state, Ken shared. He and Teresa painstakingly
renovated the house, to return it to its former glory, and turned the farm around. Despite experiencing highlights as well as low lights on the property (e.g. the toughest ever year was 2002, with downy mildew a number of times), but Ken said that it was all worth while, and that they live in paradise. They live on a farm but they are 
almost in town, he added. In answering a question, Ken said that their new venture had to be in Stellenbosch. He had previously worked for Southern Sun when Sol Kerzner was in charge, and then moved into the restaurant industry, buying a share in Gatriles in Johannesburg. His restaurant industry background reflects in the joint ownership with his brother Allan of 96 Winery Road down the road from his wine estate, and he brought Gatriles’ famous duck and cherry pie recipe with him to Stellenbosch, where it has become a favourite too. Their property is 126 ha in size, and he has rented another property of equivalent size, which he and his team manage, to control the quality of his incoming fruit. Continue reading →