Queen Victoria Hotel & Manor House

VACATION

Regal-royal abode

Situated in the heart of Cape Town, the Queen Victoria Hotel welcomes guests to reside in classic elegance within contemporary design. Its prime location in a quiet, historic precinct near to the V&A Waterfront allows for a serene city escape as well as convenient access to a range of outstanding amenities.

The hotel’s regal ambience is felt throughout the property, from its triple-volume foyer with a dramatic spiral staircase and crystal chandeliers and marble finishes, to its spacious rooms and breathtaking suites. This grandeur, along with fine touches expected of five-star properties, have earned the Queen Victoria—also referred to as the QV— recognition as one of the top 25 luxury hotels in South Africa. As its name suggest, this hotel truly is fit for royalty.

Offering a swimming pool and panoramic views over Table Mountain and Cape Town Harbour, this venue was opened in 2011 in a Victorian-style building. Signal Hill is a little over a mile from the accommodation, while Cape Town International airport is about 12 miles away. A 15-minute walk will take guests to Prestwich Memorial Garden. Restaurants, a stadium and an oceanarium are also nearby. Within just a short stroll, you’ll find Cape Medical Museum and the Company’s Garden.

You can have a buffet breakfast before going out to explore the area. You can also dine at the outdoor Dash restaurant, which offers French/South African cuisine. Guests can relax and have a snack in the cocktail bar. The coffee shop offers space where you can enjoy a meal of contemporary cuisine a few steps from the property. The Queen Victoria Hotel Cape Town is at a short distance from Woodstock Railway train station. Facials and massage treatments are available on site. A gym and fitness center is available to guests.

In a colonial building overlooking Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront, this 35-room boutique hotel was inspired by the romance of Queen Victoria’s passionate early years with Prince Albert. The style is anything but 19th-century, though, with spacious rooms, marble bathrooms and a soaring lobby decked out in whites and creams and warmed up with royal purples and opulent fabrics. A smartly attired bellhop — stylish blue suit, white shirt, no tie — whisks your luggage away so you can concentrate on the lobby’s seductive centerpiece: a curvaceous, Gehry-esque white staircase.

Bed and Bath

The white theme continues in the guest rooms, but here it’s given a jewel-box makeover. The bed has a dusky lilac headboard with a shimmering gold satin throw; the mirrors could be from Dita Von Teese’s boudoir. And a woodcut profile of a young Queen Victoria surrounded by delicate flowers and foliage adorns the wall. But it’s the view that steals the scene. Outside the huge windows are the twinkling lights of the waterfront, with its yachts, 19th-century clock tower and the crashing waves of the Atlantic. The rooms on the other side of the hotel look out at iconic Table Mountain.

Beyond

Downstairs, in the hotel’s dark purple cocktail bar, stylish locals sip cocktails and premium wines from nearby Stellenbosch before dinner at Dash. Cape Town isn’t short on gourmet eateries, and this is among the best, serving excellent cuisine in an elegant, mirrored dining room.

In the Area

Take a five-minute walk to Bascule Bar for an alfresco bottle of Steph Weiss beer with the yachties whose boats are docked in the harbor out front. For a memorable massage, make an appointment at the hotel’s own small spa, which it shares with its sister hotel next door. Skip the soulless market at the V&A Waterfront and drive to Greenmarket Square to pick up souvenirs; foodies shouldn’t miss the Saturday Neighbourgoods Market at the Old Biscuit Mill.