The Cape Town EDITION opens on the V&A Waterfront, the brand’s first in Africa

EDITION has brought its first hotel in Africa to Cape Town. The Cape Town EDITION, announced on 27 October, stands at Quay 7 on the V&A Waterfront’s working harbour. It overlooks the new superyacht marina and faces Table Mountain. The hotel joins EDITION properties in Lake Como, Tokyo, London, New York and Riviera Maya, and opens with 142 guestrooms and suites, a signature restaurant led by Executive Chef Phil Carmichael, and a heated rooftop pool.

Neri&Hu designed the building with Cape Town-based architects. Its long, low shape and pitched rooflines refer to the warehouses that once defined this stretch of the harbour, so the hotel reads as part of the quayside. The facade is its signature: more than six million bricks, laid by hand in shifting patterns across its surface. It is a slow, labour-intensive way to build, and it gives the exterior a texture that suits a waterfront with a long working history.

At the centre of the hotel is The Drum, a cylindrical space open to the sky. A spiral staircase climbs through it to an outdoor viewing platform. The Drum gives the building a clear architectural heart and a place to take in the hotel’s setting on the harbour, beneath the mountain.

The 142 guestrooms and suites are furnished with custom rugs by Shuttleworth Weaving. Two signature suites crown the hotel: a 240 sq m Penthouse and a 112 sq m Harbour Suite. Travellers who want the hotel’s finest accommodation, or the space to host privately during a stay, should ask about these two first. Given their size relative to the rest of the inventory, they are likely to be the hardest rooms to secure.

Southern Guild curated the hotel’s art collection, which includes work by Zanele Muholi, Usha Seejarim and Chuma Maweni. The collection gives the public spaces their own reason to linger, and it is worth setting aside time to see it properly during a stay.

Food and drink are spread across several distinct venues. Shale, the signature restaurant under Executive Chef Phil Carmichael, serves a seasonal Cape menu with meat dry-aged in house and a wine list drawn mostly from South Africa. EAVE sits on the roof, with the Pool Terrace and the Lobby Bar alongside. The Punch Room serves punch in shared bowls, among them the Brandewijn, which makes it a natural place to start an evening with a group. For private occasions, Vantage is a rooftop event space and the ballroom holds up to 200 guests, so the hotel can host a wedding, a milestone celebration or a company gathering on the waterfront.

The spa sits below sea level. It has five treatment rooms and a couples’ suite, uses Omorovicza products, and includes a sauna, a steam room, infrared beds and Therabody recovery boots. Daily yoga, breathwork and sound-bath sessions take place beside the heated rooftop pool, and the gym is open 24 hours. After a long-haul arrival, or a day on Table Mountain or along the coast, this is a well-equipped place to recover.

For the discerning traveller, the opening adds a design-led hotel to the V&A Waterfront, with real architectural ambition and a restaurant meant to be taken seriously. Its position on the harbour, facing the mountain, puts the waterfront on the doorstep and the city’s most famous view in sight. EDITION regulars will recognise the brand’s mix of strong design, layered bars and a social rooftop. Those new to the brand will find a building rooted in its site, from the warehouse rooflines to the hand-laid brick and the South African art on the walls.

Anyone planning a stay should book Shale for at least one evening, enquire early about the Penthouse and Harbour Suite, and contact the hotel directly about Vantage or the ballroom for an event.

Source: Marriott