Neighbourgood 84 Harrington — Hotel in District Six

Neighbourgood 84 Harrington is an excellent place to stay for shorter or longer stays. A home away from home. Very friendly staff, a large good and quiet working area, and a good cafeteria. The cafeteria, unfortunately, has limited opening hours some days of the week but offers a reasonably good menu and very good waiters and cooks who go out of their way to make your stay pleasant. Breakfast is not a large buffet spread but you get to choose one of 6-7 choices, a couple or more are vegetarians. Egg breakfast offers feature 3 eggs(!), bacon and sausage; all include freshly squeezed juices and tea/coffee. We had a deluxe apartment and stayed for 8 nights. It was a well designed apartment tastefully furnished. The large living room has a sofa set and chairs, a wall mounted television and two writing desks and a chair. The kitchenette occupies one wall of the living room, has plenty of shelves for the kitchen and more and is well furnished with amenities like fridge (midi size) induction stove top with an oven/microwave (dual function), toaster, electric tea kettle, coffee machine and a dish washer! Plenty of very good quality cookware and baking pans/dishes and good pottery plates, bowls and glasses, etc. (The cutlery - for 4 people is a bit cheap though and clashes with the higher quality of everything else!). Comfortable double bed in the bedroom with wardrobe - a bit narrow but very functional) and shelves. Nice bathroom with bath and a shower. Narrow (depth) shelf behind mirror and cabinet under sink for extra storage. Hairdrier. Also, two windows with ledges. The apartment was serviced everyday and coffee, tea supplies and dish washing soap tablet supplies replenished. Plenty of clean towels everyday. However, (thankfully) the linen was not changed everyday but happened twice I think during our 8 night stay. Toiletries are not supplied (fine by me), though hand wash soap is supplied by the sink and so is a bar of soap for showers. However, I found the bar of soap to be too harsh (mechanically) on my skin! Also, the glass shelf in the shower cabinet shattered spontaneously one day when the shower was not even in use. The mess was cleaned up promptly on reporting but I was glad to not have been in the shower when the incident happened.

Very good lighting everywhere. Fans too. Plenty of electric points and shelves. The apartment has large windows with curtains and remote controlled shades. Did not find an AC/Heating control in our room but temperature was well kept...

I’ve been traveling along the Garden Route and stayed in a variety of charming places – some small, owner-run guesthouses, others a bit larger but still with a personal touch. Now I’ve landed here, in this sleek, modern world. Everything is functional and well set up – except for the Wi-Fi and the TV, which was a bit temperamental.

The staff are friendly and welcoming, no doubt about that. But still, the overall atmosphere feels rather impersonal. This place seems ideal for business travelers who need peace and quiet to focus on work. However, if you’re looking to soak up the last bit of your holiday and feel the unique spirit of South Africa, there might be better places for that.

The design reminds me of a stylish Ikea shoebox – everything is fine, nothing is wrong, but also nothing feels particularly local or rooted in a sense of place. You could be in New York, Chicago, or Brussels. The central location is convenient for getting around the city, though it still takes a bit to reach the waterfront.

In short: it worked perfectly for one or two nights, but if you’re after character, charm, or a true South African atmosphere, you might want to look elsewhere.

Update: Despite asking, the TV still did not work. The windows are not sealed properly, and during the night I woke up because noise from the shaft and through the poor windows was clearly audible in the room. They collect so much data and everything is digital, yet in the end no one seems to know whether I had breakfast booked or not. This is typical bureaucracy that helps no one. For me, if I cannot sleep good, then a hotel stay is pointless.

The stale croissant from yesterday was not even included in the breakfast price – just for your...

LOCATION - Harrington 84 lies within the East City which is a neighborhood with a lot of history. Its located very centrally and both camps bay/clifton as well as the CBD or Woodstock can be reached easily. Its proximity to the CBD though can be viewed as problematic for some. Its seems generally safe but I wouldn’t recommend to stroll around at night. During the day you can enjoy a lot of cool stores and cafes/restaurants but keep in mind that it rather has a city than holiday vibe.

HOTEL - The design is modern, stylish and tasteful. Facilities were all nice and clean (its a fairly new place). The rooftop pool is rather small but good enough for a dip if the co-working atmosphere is not distracting you. In general I would rather describe it as a co-working place with rooms for rent. It does not feel like a traditional hotel.

SERVICE - The staff was extremely friendly, professional, flexible and helpful. They seemed genuinely interested to make our stay enjoyable. Especially Andi (Andeswina ?) was a blessing and helped us with our arrangements.

ROOM - We had a Double bed Studio (Mountain View) which was spacious and the interior was beautiful. The bathroom was stunning. Unfortunately the windows are not very well insulated so it was a bit noisy at times since there was a construction site nearby and the area has a few bars...