The Silo

City Hotel, V & A

Description

Namedrop the ‘Grain Silo’ to any Cape Town local, and they’ll know exactly where you mean. Opened in 1924 as part of the city’s agricultural boom, the iconic V&A Waterfront building closed in 2001 and entered a Battersea Power Station-like limbo. But it has now returned – and how. Boldly redesigned by A-List architect Thomas Heatherwick, it joins the likes of Birkenhead House and La Residence in hotelier Liz Biden’s prestigious Royal Portfolio. And below its six floors is the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA), set to be one of the world’s great cultural spaces when launched in September 2017.

Accommodation

Where once were grain elevators are now 28 rooms and a spectacular penthouse, their seven categories divided by view – of either the harbour or Table Mountain – and size. Biden has individually styled every one, meaning brightly-coloured bedspreads, vintage furniture and smile-inducing curios. Heatherwick’s touches include curving, floor-to-ceiling windows which create a lantern effect from outside at night, and hulking black frames to retain that industrial feel. Each high-ceilinged chamber also comes with a gasp-inducing balcony.

Facilities

Smugness is inevitable while you sip fizz at a rooftop champagne bar, or splash in the adjacent, thrillingly glass-sided pool, looking towards Robben Island or Devil’s Peak. Life is just as good at the fourth-floor Silo Spa, whose five treatment rooms employ top products and therapists. A gym stands by, too, as do a battalion of restaurants including the Sky Terrace and more chilled Granary Cafe. Afternoon tea is among the culinary possibilities.

Activities

Once the vast Zeitz MOCAA opens, The Silo will be able to set up guided tours. For now, its concierge can also arrange Table Mountain trips and golf games, or make Waterfront shopping suggestions.

Child Policy

The rooms include a quartet of four-person Family Suites split over two levels. Children of all ages are welcome.