Âmé by Noah

Worth getting out of bed for

It’s a little too easy to while away your trip within the comforting cocoon of Âmé by Noah, topping up on vitamin D by the pool, booking into the hotel’s treatment room to let a massage therapist run their hands over your knotted shoulders, like a potter working clay. But Cape Town, which blends natural wonders with a creative cultural scene, is too good to ignore. When in New York or Tokyo, you might get your bearings via high-rise structures, but here, the kilometre-high Table Mountain is the lodestar. If you’ve had your fill of the gut-bomb local delicacy that is bunny chow (thankfully rabbit-free) walk off the carb-fest with a three-hour hike to city’s most famous peak (go in the early morning so as to avoid the Canon-carriers); for those who’ve skipped the cross-trainer of late, take the cable-car up, an experience which feels as though you’re ascending into the heavens. Cultural highs await at Zeitz MOCAA, home to an extensive collection of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. Despite its position among the sanitised kitsch of the V&A Waterfront, it retains a raw, industrial feel courtesy of starchitect Thomas Heatherwick, who scooped out a grain silo to create over 100 exhibition spaces; on your visit, you may see Mary Evans’s large-scale, silhouette-inspired works; and Joël Andrianomearisoa’s black-silk-paper constructions. To make sense of it all, clear the mind and escape the tourist hordes, seek out Sea Point Pavilion, where the four saltwater pools will take you back to that blissed-out Slim Aarons state.

Local restaurants

South Africa is a country of immense culinary diversity, much of its breadth captured in microcosm in Cape Town. Once a 1786 guardhouse, and later a hunting lodge, Salsify at the Roundhouse is a city classic that has built a reputation for its refined, seasons-driven fare by Luke Dale-Roberts and Ryan Cole: we recommend that you spring for the smoked springbok with porcini-and-goat’s-cheese mousse, and puffed sorghum, or dive for the poached langoustine with chive gnocchi, potato emulsion and spring truffle. The Black Sheep is an insider hangout where you’ll find bright young things and a chalkboard menu listing plates such as grilled kudu with thick-cut chips, green-bean salad and chimichurri; roasted kabeljou with sautéed potatoes, and pea-bacon vinaigrette, and a South-Indian coconut fish curry. If all goes your way and the stars align, you may find a free table at the Pot Luck Club, which serves up innovative international small plates (Japanese, Italian and Mexican among their influences) with mountain views.

Local bars

The Cape winelands nurture more than 100,000 hectares of vineyards, with a reputation to rival Napa or Bordeaux. When you want a little respite from the country’s grape basket, head to the V&A Waterfront, where Cause Effect Cocktail Kitchen offers a remedy to the tannin talk. Its ethos is eco-focused, with an emphasis on closed-loop and local produce, and mixologists muddle-up sci-fi-looking orders that appear as though they’ve been taken from the Blade Runner props cupboard: the Salty Olive Drop features Caperitif, Ketel One vodka, artemisia-and-hibiscus bitters, and a green olive dipped in citrus salt. Tipples at the Gin Bar also sharpen the senses and widen smiles: their clear-spirited concoctions are best savoured in the Mediterranean-style courtyard.