A five-star hotel opened its doors in the Cape Town CBD on 15 December and promises to add a Middle Eastern flavour to the city's cosmopolitan feel.
Hamza Farooqui, CEO of Cii Holdings, whose property arm Cii Hotel and Resorts developed the R220m Coral International Cape Town, believes the venue, which includes facilities such as a shisha bar and a Lebanese chocolatier, will add to the diversity of cosmopolitan Cape Town. "It will provide a fantastic flavour that should appeal to everyone and not just Middle Eastern people or those belonging to a certain group."
Built on a heritage site at the intersection of Wale and Buitengracht Streets, the "dry" hotel, where no alcohol will be served, is aptly positioned at the entrance to the historical Bo-Kaap, a residential area traditionally home to Cape Town's Muslim community.
Although its proximity to the Bo-Kaap was a determining factor, the site was primarily chosen because of its central location in the CBD, with parliament and other business and tourist destinations just a stone's throw away, says Farooqui, who believes the hotel will become a city landmark.
As the site had been given heritage status because it comprised three consolidated erven and also by virtue of its Bo-Kaap location, several statutory issues and sensitivities among the community had to be addressed before the existing buildings could be demolished and construction of the new hotel begun.
"We've been working on this project since 2005. The National Heritage Council had a substantial amount of input into the design, and the look and feel of the building. Many developers find such input a nuisance, but in hindsight we're happy about it because blending a development into the local environment, culture and area is how you start creating a landscape of value and character. I think this is one of the first steps we've taken towards doing that," says Farooqui.
Managed by global hotel operator Coral International, the hotel, which is about 15,000sqm in extent, comprises 13 storeys, including two levels of underground parking. It has 137 luxurious rooms and suites, some of which have been sold on a sectional title basis. "We offered only 15 units for sale, and this was done more on an invitational basis," Farooqui says.
"Normally developers like to cash out quickly, but we intend holding a majority interest because we believe in the product, the ethos and the whole cycle that has been created."
Jacqui Booyzen, the hotel's general manager, says the sectional title units, located on the 7th and 8th floors, have been bought by South African, Middle-Eastern and international purchasers, some of whom own more than one unit. The accommodation offered ranged from hotel rooms of 45 – 50sqm to one-bedroomed suites averaging about 90sqm, and two-bedroomed suites of 120sqm.
In addition to the shisha bar and chocolatier, the hotel's facilities include a fully-equipped gym; an outdoor swimming pool and pool deck; a hair salon; a tourist gift shop for hotel guests; a car rental agency, which is based within the hotel; two eateries, including an Indian restaurant; a business centre comprising executive boardrooms and conferencing facilities; a prayer room with prayer directional signage (towards Mecca) for Muslim hotel guests and staff; and rooms which have wheelchair-access or are suited to the needs of paraplegics.
"The emphasis at the hotel is to cater for a variety of guests and appeal to the broader market," says Farooqui.
The interior décor, done by Les Harbottle Designs, features very rich, warm colours to create a Middle-Eastern or Arabic, contemporary feel. "In our Indian restaurant, on the mezzanine floor, the colours are a bit different, although also extremely rich. The décor is beautiful: we've tried to create a very special Indian restaurant," says Booyzen.
As in the other two restaurants, all food in the shisha bar is halaal. In this venue, male and female guests can also smoke the shisha water pipes of fruit-flavoured tobacco favoured in the Middle East.
Booyzen, who relocated to Cape Town last July, after working in the hotel industry in Dubai for eight years, believes the hotel's conference facilities, comprising three executive boardrooms, plus six conference rooms that open up into one large room, are likely to be a drawcard for the corporate sector. "These facilities are extremely well-equipped, with a fully integrated audio-visual system to facilitate state-of-the-art conferencing."
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