Photo: Brian Berkman
The Cape Town CBD might have benefitted from 2 000 more parking spaces if the initial plans for what today is called Heritage Square had materialised.
With records of the earliest occupants intact from the 1770s, today’s use of Heritage Square is very closely linked to how it was used in the past.
There were a number of boarding houses then, Neale’s, Albany and Concordia among them, while today the Cape Heritage Hotel provides luxe accommodations.
Ludwig Fichtner’s Attwell Bakery is long gone but Caffe Milano now bakes Milanese confections and fresh pasta.
A Tavern of the Seas
Today’s food options on Heritage Square are still wonderfully multicultural. Jerry’s Burger Bar makes some of the best smoky BBQ ribs Farmer’s Weekly has enjoyed, while Sloppy Sam, absent for some years from the dining scene, is back and on Heritage Square in a space that feels it was always intended to be occupied by purveyors of Aegean cuisine.
Heritage Square is once again the Tavern of the Seas with options that span much of the globe. Mochi Mochi is particularly fun for a quick steamed bun or Japanese-style confectionery. For even more elevated cuisine, Chefs Warehouse is directly across the road in The Bailey on Bree Street.
World’s Coolest
The Cape Heritage Hotel entrance is at 90 Bree, the street voted by Time Out magazine as 11th Coolest in the World in 2024.
Shortmarket Street, the original conduit between Greenmarket Square and Riebeeck Square, marks the southern border of Heritage Square.
Bree Street was so named as its width allowed ox wagons space in which to turn.
Although 88 Shortmarket Street, a few paces away, briefly housed Luke Dale-Roberts’s Shortmarket Club dining venue, that address has housed some of the best-loved Cape Town nightclubs from The Navigator’s Den of the 1960s and 1970s to Scratch and The Base in the 1980s and 1990s. Today it houses Destiny nightclub, playing hip-hop and R&B.
Oldest grapevine
According to the Cape Heritage Hotel, the Cape’s oldest living and producing grapevine continues to flourish here and you can sit under the shade it provides in the hotel’s courtyard.
A decade ago an innovative idea re-energised the inner city and, in particular, its art and antiques route in Church and Hout streets. First Thursday takes place on the first Thursday of the month and art galleries and participating retailers, bars and eateries stay open between 6pm and 8pm and some later, too.
Farmer’s Weekly attended the April First Thursday opening night of artist Sulette van der Merwe’s solo exhibition, Surrealistic Synapse, at Worldart at 54 Church Street, which marks a century since Surrealism first impacted the world.
The area was abuzz with people and live music that continued quite late into the night. The management of the Cape Heritage Hotel left a kind note explaining the event and expected noise disturbances, along with ear plugs in the hotel room.
Deluxe rooms
A graded four-star hotel, Cape Heritage Hotel delivers romantic history with a dark-timber four-poster bed, elegant armoire and period furniture, but with all the expected 21st-century amenities. Room 106, a suite-category room, has a separate sitting room with an ox-blood- coloured comfortable couch.
Rooms still have the original opening sash windows, wooden floors and timber roof trusses. One enters 106 directly into the very large bedroom, while the sitting room and smart bathroom are off the bedroom.
A Victorian-style slipper bath, shower with a wonderfully large and powerful brass shower head and marble double vanities add to the comfort.
There are large wall-mounted televisions in both the bedroom and the sitting room. A Nespresso-style machine with well-supplied coffee pods and a well-stocked bar fridge are all in the sitting room.
On the roof terrace, a spa pool and sun loungers sit on top of astro-turf-style flooring.
There is a sauna too in a timber hut on the landing beneath the roof terrace, but neither were ready for use during Farmer’s Weekly’s visit and require a few hours’ notice. Do let them know when you make your booking.
Superb breakfast
There are many outstanding places to eat within the square itself and nearby, but the best breakfast in the city will likely be in the hotel itself. This can be enjoyed in the hotel’s two front rooms, one a clubby library lounge with high-back armchairs and a leather Chesterfield couch, and the other the Sisonke Gallery.
There is an impressive South African art collection at the hotel, including a painting and sculpture by Paul du Toit and a large Richard Scott acrylic tree painting.
Breakfast can also be enjoyed in the courtyard alley under the vine and in the hotel’s dedicated breakfast room, adjacent to the 24-hour manned reception desk.
A small but high-quality buffet is for self-service, while coffee or your beverage of choice, either from a steaming pot of filtered brew or from the barista-style coffee machines, is served by the hotel’s staff.
The service team was flawless and delivered a five-star experience. The cooked breakfast, inclusive within the accommodation rate, was outstanding. Dishes are all simple but well executed.
Croque Madame, grilled cheese and ham but with the addition of an egg, was a generous portion on a home-made loaf. Each of the many side choices to accompany eggs was perfectly seasoned and separately cooked.
Wilted spinach, sautéed mushrooms, tomato confit along with sausage and bacon were all perfect. Cheese from the Kwaito range of semi-soft Indezi River Creamery was delicious.
There are seven room categories in the Cape Heritage Hotel, which also include two-bedroomed self-catering apartments.
Farmer’s Weekly considers the contribution that Heritage Square and its wonderful Cape Heritage Hotel makes as a vibrant record of the city’s past far more valuable than the benefit of additional parking. Note, however, that there are reserved parking bays in Riebeeck Square for guest use.
Phone 021 424 4646, email [email protected], or visit capeheritage.co.za.
