{"id":20432,"date":"2011-05-12T09:49:31","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T07:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whalecottage.com\/blog\/?p=20432"},"modified":"2011-05-12T09:49:31","modified_gmt":"2011-05-12T07:49:31","slug":"hotel-review-queen-victoria-hotel-chic-and-classy-fit-for-a-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chrisvonulmenstein.com\/blog\/cape-town\/hotel-review-queen-victoria-hotel-chic-and-classy-fit-for-a-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Review: Queen Victoria Hotel chic and classy – fit for a Queen!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Queen Victoria Hotel, which opened about a month ago in the business section of the V&A Waterfront, is a chic and classy addition to the accommodation collection in Cape Town, and is a unique tribute to Queen Victoria, after whom the V&A Waterfront is named, with her son Alfred.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt like\u00a0a queen for the stay with the royal treatment we received,\u00a0it co-inciding with Mother’s Day.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Google search led me to a review of a biography of Queen Victoria, and I learnt from it that Queen Victoria ascended to the throne in 1837 at the tender age of 18, and was a short (“less than 5 feet tall”) and feisty lady, who took to wearing “black robes with white caps and veils” after the death of her husband Prince Albert.\u00a0\u00a0 These two colours, to which Newmark Hotels’ consultant interior designer Francois du Plessis has added a modern silver and grey,\u00a0and regal shades of\u00a0lilac\/purple,\u00a0create\u00a0the stylish interior of the hotel, developed out of\u00a0the original office building of the V&A Waterfront management company by architect Tarryn Cohen of Peerutin Architects.\u00a0 It is hidden to the Waterfront visitor, and that adds to its charm in not being in the midst of\u00a0the V&A\u00a0hustle and bustle.<\/p>\n

One is\u00a0greeted at the dramatic black marble entrance by a doorman, and the reception desks are immediately visible at the entrance.\u00a0 We were welcomed by GM Bobby Pringle (ex-Oyster Box), who was the Duty Manager for the day, and we were impressed to be taken to our room by him personally.\u00a0 He was meticulous in showing us the room directory, the tea\/coffee facilities, the mini-bar, the bathroom amenities, telling us what one could take home, and the free internet service.\u00a0 The comfortably-sized rooms (40 – 50 sq. m)\u00a0have grey walls, discreet white bedding, a\u00a0lilac couch, a silver headboard to the comfortable bed, beautiful silver raw\u00a0silk curtains, a crystal chandelier,\u00a0and black furniture, while the bathroom is in\u00a0black and white, with touches of silver and grey,\u00a0and quality linen bathrobes are hung here.\u00a0\u00a0 There are three showers in the bathroom, one over the bath and two in the shower, the hand-held one having a wonderful strong flow.\u00a0 A large drawing of Queen Victoria is in every room, a clever way of communicating the hotel brand name.\u00a0 Being new, everything in the room was in perfect working order.\u00a0The rooms have double-glazed doors to ensure that the minimal Waterfront sound is heard in the room.\u00a0 A nice turn-down touch was the colour-matched black macaroons with white filling, placed next to the beds, continuing the colour theme.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The triple-volume entrance hall is dominated by the regal purple carpet, a modern glass lift, a beautiful curved stairway made from Corian, with marble steps, and a 30 year old bonsai imported from Japan.\u00a0\u00a0It leads one to the bar and lounge area, where a homely gas fire is lit on chilly nights, and from which one can see Dash restaurant<\/a>, <\/strong><\/span>which serves the best meals in Cape Town.\u00a0\u00a0 The bathrooms near the bar are done in black with silver basins, one of the nicest I have seen.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Neil Markovitz,\u00a0Managing Director\u00a0and hands-on driving force of Newmark Hotels, is proud of his new 35-room addition to his hotel portfolio, developed at a cost of R53 million,\u00a0and he has cleverly appointed Alton van Biljon (ex-Balducci)\u00a0as the Food & Beverage Manager for all three\u00a0his Waterfront properties (Dock House and V&A Hotel too), as well as Executive Chef Stephen Templeton.\u00a0 Both are charming assets to his business, as is the creative and talented chef Oliver Cattermole. The lounge\/bar at the Queen Victoria Hotel is the type of place one can pop in for a coffee, and the staff already know about my preference for\u00a0frothy cappuccinos.\u00a0 Outside of lunch and dinner times one can order from a 24-hour menu, which is available to the hotel guests, whether one is staying over or not.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Breakfast is served in Dash, and was a most beautiful display on a striking silver table, of fresh fruit, citrus fruit compote, berry compote, breads, salmon with capers and lemon, cold meats, cheeses, three cereals, three yoghurts, a beautiful stand with pre-made cereals, and yoghurt and custard treats, nuts, croissants and more.\u00a0 In addition, an\u00a0a la Carte menu is available, with interesting names of cooked dishes which relate to the Newmark Hotel properties: Royal Breakfast is salmon on a bagel; Dock House is bacon, mushroom and scrambled egg; V&A is fried egg, bacon, sausage, potato and onion rosti, and baked beans; Nautilus is poached haddock and kipper, served with poached quail eggs; Forum is a vegetarian Eggs Benedict, made from duck eggs, with\"\"<\/a> creamed spinach and a herb hollandaise sauce, served on an English muffin, which we had, on the recommendation of Restaurant Manager Darren; Cape Breakfast is an omelette with a range of filling choices; and Waterfront is bacon served with raisin toast, warm maple syrup and cr\u00eame fraiche.\u00a0 Breakfast costs R250 for hot and cold breakfast, and R 135 for the Continental only, if one\u00a0is not staying at the hotel.<\/p>\n

Parking is available inside the Waterfront business area.\u00a0\u00a0 Anything one may need, that the hotel may not have, can be sourced from one of the two other Newmark Hotels’ properties in the Waterfront – for example, I wanted firmer pillows, and these were made available from the V&A Hotel.\u00a0 The hotel check-in form gave me\u00a0a fright, when I saw\u00a0seven clauses in literal fine print, written in heavy legalese, which would no longer be acceptable in terms of the Consumer Protection Act.\u00a0I panicked when I was asked by the receptionist to hand over my credit card for a R500 pre-authorisation for ‘incidentals’.\u00a0 I wasn’t planning on having any extras, was staying for one night only, and paid for my dinner at Dash immediately, so this request was waived.\u00a0 I was staying at the hotel on a complimentary basis, having attended an invited media lunch at the V&A Hotel OYO restaurant<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/a> last summer, and all guests were given a voucher for a one night stay at the Queen Victoria Hotel.\u00a0\u00a0 I was impressed with a feedback card which was placed in the room, signed by Markovitz and which\u00a0one\u00a0posts to him,\u00a0providing feedback on Reception and Porterage, Room appointment and Housekeeping, the Restaurant, Bar and Room Service, and the Spa and Gym facilities (one goes to Dock House for these).<\/p>\n

I feel at home at the Queen Victoria Hotel, being a frequent visitor to its lounge already, and am made to feel very special every time I am there.\u00a0 I predict Dash\u00a0will become an Eat Out <\/strong>Top 10 restaurant in 2012.\u00a0 The hotel is offering a winter and opening rate until 31 July, at R1875 per room, including English breakfast, an amazing price when one sees that many other 5-star Waterfront and Cape Town hotels<\/a><\/strong><\/span> charge more than double this rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Queen Victoria Hotel,<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Portswood Close, Portswood Ridge, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town. Tel (021) 418-1466.\u00a0 www.queenvictoriahotel.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com<\/a>\u00a0 Twitter:@WhaleCottage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Queen Victoria Hotel, which opened about a month ago in the business section of the V&A Waterfront, is a chic and classy addition to the accommodation collection in Cape Town, and is a unique tribute to Queen Victoria, after whom the V&A Waterfront is named, with her son Alfred.\u00a0\u00a0 I felt like\u00a0a queen for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[7,3,124,21],"tags":[32367,11005,1349,11428,11004,32366,32378,9579,11430,10999,11010,7198,11434,11433,10819,6462,27,11432,8683,3626,11012,2632,11429,11427,830,11425,8159,11431,11426,116,32393,32373],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t