If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (ZAR17,391.30), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
An old grain store never looked so good as the Silo Hotel on Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, where kernels of corn and bales of hay are out, and all-African artworks and rooftop pools are in. It’s so cultured that there’s a museum directly beneath it, specifically the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (or the slightly snappier Zeitz MOCAA). At 11 storeys, the heritage building is higher than any new architecture is allowed to be, so you can expect the best views in town, especially up on the roof or through the soaring sunset-ready windows at the Willaston Bar and Granary Café.
Smith Extra
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A welcome basket with La Residence wine and olive oil
Double rooms from £841.06 (ZAR20,000), including tax at 15 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional resort fee of ZAR165.00 per person per night prior to arrival.
More details
Rates usually include breakfast.
Also
One room has been adapted for disabled guests.
At the hotel
Free WiFi throughout, rooftop terrace, spa, library, shop, gym and art collection. In rooms: TV, air-conditioning, minibar, Nespresso coffee machine, and Penhaligon’s bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Each of the 28 rooms at the Silo Hotel has founder and CEO of the Royal Portfolio Liz Biden’s magic touch, which is to say lots of bold colour, eye-catching artworks, dazzling chandeliers and the odd Chesterfield. The star of the architectural show, however, is those windows – with bath tubs right up against them for a soak with a view. Some of the vantage points err on the more industrial, set above the busy harbour – if you’re not a fan of cruise ships, request a room on the Table Mountain side instead.
Poolside
The rooftop pool is open to residents 24 hours a day – part of the space is reserved for hotel guests only.
Spa
The Silo Spa has a mani-pedi section, sauna, steam room and treatments by the Malawian brand Black Pearl and NYC favourite Ling.
Packing tips
Suitable shoes for scaling Table Mountain, though you can of course just admire it from afar (ie the Granary’s rooftop pool).
Also
The Silo Hotel is part of the Royal Portfolio, with Smith stablemates including Royal Malewane in Kruger National Park, La Residence in the Garden Route & Winelands and Birkenhead House, a long way from the Wirral in Hermanus.
Children
The Silo Hotel has two-bedroom suites that are perfect for families, and babysitting can be arranged via the concierge.
Sustainability efforts
The hotel has nifty eco-friendly additions in place, including showerheads and taps with water-saving attachments, energy-conserving light bulbs and an on-site water-purifying system. All take-away packaging at the restaurant is biodegradable, too.
The Wisdom Room, which seats 22, is a sage choice, with sunshine-coloured seats and impeccable views.
Dress Code
Farm to table.
Hotel restaurant
The Granary Café has a globe-trotting menu, from prawn laksas to chilli pastas and seared tuna with curried carrot mash – but for something purely South African, go for the biltong-spiced springbok. Other classic dishes on offer include freshly shucked oysters and steak frites. The harbour-framing, honeycomb-shaped windows make for especially romantic sunsets. Breakfast consists of a series of trolleys, including a fresh-juice one and a ‘harvest table’ on wheels dispensing charcuterie, local cheeses and fruits, plus pastry baskets and a menu of hot things to choose from.
Hotel bar
The double-height Willaston Bar has teal-coloured banquettes, circular chandeliers and glossy parquet floors – but they almost needn’t have bothered with the design, since all eyes will inevitably be on the windows and their show-stopping views of Cape Town. It’s bound to look even better after a few glasses of South African wine or pink-gin and rose-syrup cocktails. Drinks (and sharing platters to wash them down with) are also served up on the Silo Rooftop.
Last orders
Breakfast is served between 7am and 10am, lunch is from noon until 2pm and dinner is from 6pm until 9pm. Afternoon tea is served on Thursday to Sunday, between 2.30pm and 5pm. The Willaston Bar calls time at 11pm. The Silo Rooftop closes at sunset.
Room service
Dishes and snacks can be served in your suite 24 hours a day.
The Silo Hotel is close to the V&A Waterfront and in the shadow of Table Mountain in Cape Town.
Planes
The city’s main international airport is half an hour away by car – the hotel can arrange transfers on request.
Automobiles
If you’re hoping to get out into the Winelands, a set of wheels will come in handy. There’s free valet parking in the hotel’s underground car park.
Worth getting out of bed for
The V&A Waterfront is right on the Silo Hotel’s doorstep and, just beneath it, is the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, where you’ll be able to take in works by artists from all over the African diaspora. For more artistic immersion, sign up for an art tour and you’ll be whisked to private studios to meet local creatives – the resident art guru Irene will even ship it back home for you. Also steps from your suite is the dock for the Robben Island ferry. Further away but definitely within day-trip distance are the wine-making regions of the Western Cape, which include Stellenbosch and Franschhoek. Table Mountain may steal most of the thunder, but just behind the hotel is Lion’s Rump (also less-exotically known as Signal Hill), whose trail more serious hikers can attempt.
Local restaurants
You’ll be in good company at this harbourside hotel in Cape Town, where your neighbours include the One&Only, which helpfully has a Nobu restaurant. A half-hour drive south to Constantia, Foxcroft has its own cheese room, plant-based tasting menus and an unfussy approach to fine-dining. If you’re a fan of zero-waste, book in at Belly of the Beast, an intimate nose-to-tail eatery with just 30 seats.
Local bars
The Granary Café and Willaston Bar have some of the best views going, but far more await (especially on the terrace) at Bascule Bar, which specialises in whisky and wine.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this arty hotel in South Africa and unpacked their Wineland reds and estate olive oil, a full account of their bottom-of-Africa break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Silo Hotel in Cape Town…
Fans of London’s new(ish) Routemasters will appreciate the design of the Silo Hotel in Cape Town, which was also crafted by British design whizz Thomas Heatherwick, who took one old grain silo and made it one of the hottest places to stay in town (not to mention one of the most visually striking). With windows that look like a playground climbing frame (or some honeycomb under the microscope), the Silo easily flits between old (Egyptian chandeliers, Chesterfield sofas) and new (contemporary artworks, the aforementioned windows).
This high up, you’re in for some pinch-me panoramas, with Table Mountain, the Atlantic and the harbour all peeking out from behind the pillowed-glass windows (whose shape was inspired by a kernel of corn, obviously). The rooftop pool has a bar for drinks overlooking Table Mountain, or guests can enjoy sunsets within the silo at the Granary Café. At night, the idea was for the kernels (/windows) to glow like beacons above the bays – you’ll know when you’ve reached safe harbour.
