The Cape Town Partnership is a joint venture between private businesses and the city government to improve living conditions within the city.
Partnership CEO Andrew Boraine says that the new hotels would add yet more diversity to the range of accommodation offered in the city, which currently spans the gamut from the 105-year-old colonial-style Mount Nelson to the quirky Train Lodge next to the Cape Town train station.
New hotels under construction include the Fountain Hotel at the site of the previous Medical Centre, at the bottom of St George's Mall, and the North Wharf Protea Hotel near the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Approximately 130 million rand is to be spent on a five-star hotel at the site of the old NGK Sinodesaal on Orange Street near the Planetarium. This hotel, which is due to open in 2007, will be managed by Protea Africa Pride, which also manages the Melrose Arch Hotel in Johannesburg.
Another new three-star hotel next to Relish restaurant, near New Church Street (Oranje-Kloof), will see construction commence in early 2006.
Long Street, Cape Town's backpackers' paradise, is stepping up a notch with Urban Chic - a new boutique hotel on the corner of Long and Pepper streets.
Further down Long Street, the Daddy Long Legs self-catering apartments are building on their success by developing another boutique hotel between Dorp and Wale streets.
The 13 stylish rooms will be decorated by thirteen different local artists, lending each one a unique Capetonian feel. If they are anything like the originals, these apartments will combine funky freshness with old-world feel and African chic.
The Cape Diamond Hotel in the East City near Parliament is currently under construction. This new-look four-star hotel will have 60 rooms, a restaurant/bar, and an Art Deco style theatre-café in the basement. The opening of the Cape Diamond Hotel is planned for November 1, with three finished rooms currently available for viewing.
Also in the pipeline is a five-star hotel at the top of St George's Mall as part of Eurocape's Mandela-Rhodes Place development, and the Adderley Hotel on the corner of Adderley and Longmarket streets.
Said Boraine: "The level of hotel development and refurbishment gives a good indication of the health of the tourism industry in the Cape Town Central City. It also builds a positive foundation in terms of planning for major events such as the Soccer World Cup in 2010."
I-Net Bridge
Publisher: I-Net Bridge
Source: I-Net Bridge
