Cape Grace - A Fairmont Managed Hotel — Hotel in V&A Waterfront

I’m stayed at Cape Grace for 4 nights (8-12 June). The rooms, the hotel, and the location were fabulous. Service was a bit of a problem. I gave my review one star rating to let management know that there are some service issues that must be addressed.

A few incidents made my stay less than pleasant:

1. On the 9th we were disturbed by construction work. When I rang reception they told me to adapt. That was, to put it mildly, an unusual way to address a guest. Anyway I decided to “adapt” and sat in the Library whereby I was approached by a waitress who wondered if she could take our order. I told her we were trying to escape the noise. She said ,”Well, it didn’t help did it?” I didn’t find it funny.

Later that evening we received a phone call asking if there was anything the hotel could do to make it easier for us as the construction work was to continue on the 10th. At least the hotel recognised that the construction work, likely necessary, inconvenienced their guests. I feel that we ought to have been informed that construction work was ongoing during check in and provisions made for those who require a break in the afternoon.

2. I get beans with my English breakfast despite telling the waiters and waitresses that I do not want beans. This happened on at least 2 occasions. Nevertheless, the servers provided pleasant and friendly service.

3. the worst cases of poor service occurred on our last morning while we were in the room waiting our driver. Two ladies, who I assume were from housekeeping came to our room to check the bed linen. They claimed that it was normal and done at the end of each month. Really? Couldn’t it wait until we vacated the room? Did they think we were going to steal the bedding? Anyway, less than 10 minutes later, a lady entered the room WITHOUT KNOCKING using her housekeeping key. Clearly, staff training is an issue at Cape Grace. I and, presumably, most guests would find such intrusions unpleasant.

My concerns were provided to Mumtaaz and she promised to escalate it to management.

There were some highlights. A shout out to Eric at the door. Ably assisted by Sabelo...

A lovely hotel, helpful staff, amazing breakfast buffet. You have wonderful views of Table Mountain and the Marina from the dining room and library and from many of the rooms. |Downsides - the pool is more like a large plunge pool, you cannot swim up and down, and it’s quite a small area so I imagine is very cramped in summer - September here is spring - so locals felt it too cold to go in. In the summer the public can come to sit and drink /eat there as well, apparently. |Also there is hardly any outside space , the exception is the bascule bar which has some outsides seating but this is overlooking a busy path so not quiet . But atmospheric. |This is a great place to stay to visit the lively thriving V and A waterfront area with shops bars and restaurants , as it’s only a 5 minute walk away and very safe to explore. |The hotel is really helpful , they can arrange free shuttles into town and have good local knowledge to share. They will take you as far as Camps Bay. As Brits we found it easy and cheap to get Ubers anywhere, compared to UK prices. |Every evening they offer free port you can have in the library or terrace area (it’s behind glass) overlooking table mountain and Marina. |We had a beautiful spacious room although it was on the other side of the hotel overlooking boats in dock being overhauled so some clanking at times but we didn’t mind. Overall a wonderful stay and a good base to...

We were looking forward to our afternoon tea at Cape Grace, but unfortunately, the experience fell short due to how a food issue was handled.

Shortly after we were served, we noticed that the clotted cream was sour. The staff already seemed quite flustered, so we flagged down someone we believed to be the manager to let him know. He took the pot of cream away without much acknowledgment, and we received no update or replacement afterward. We had already put the cream on our scones, which were now ruined, and no offer was made to replace either the cream or the scones. After waiting around 15 minutes, we eventually asked our waiter for some butter so we could eat the remaining scones that hadn't been affected.

At the end of the tea, we had to approach the same staff member to ask for feedback. He said the head chef should have spoken with us earlier and went to check. He returned shortly after to say the chef blamed the supplier.

I understand that dairy can sometimes spoil, that’s not the issue. What was disappointing was the lack of communication, accountability, and basic service recovery. This afternoon tea was planned months in advance as a gift for our mother, and we travelled a considerable distance to attend, which made the disappointment all the more unfortunate.

I would have rated this 1 star, but I’m giving 2 stars because some of the pastries and savoury bites were...