La Splendida Hotel

The reception area is a simple foyer with big windows and mostly white décor. The restaurant and bar, Sotano, with its outdoor 'just-off-the-sidewalk' patio and posh interiors, is a fab place to sip a cocktail (or two) when the sun goes down. They are well-known for their tapas plates and seafood options, as well as tasty breakfasts and top-notch coffee. With wooden floors and moody lighting, funky touches and curved furniture it's a place you'll likely visit a few times.

The 24 rooms are variously appointed, ranging from double rooms, suites, superior rooms and superior suites. They have different orientations - partial, mountain and sea views. All have ensuite bathrooms, air-conditioning, mini fridges and satellite TV. Superior suites are double-storey duplexes, with a main bedroom on the bottom floor and an upstairs sitting area with a sleeper couch. Both levels have a balcony with either a sea or golf course view. Décor is minimalist and nothing too fancy, with liberal use of white and splashes of primary colours for a clean and cool feel.

Take your pick, from wandering the city centre to tracing the peninsula by car, to venturing further afield to the gorgeous winelands, there's such diversity at your front door. Cape Town is home to a burgeoning foodie scene: myriad coffee shops and boutique bars, gourmet weekend markets, hole-in-the-wall ethnic joints and top-notch restaurants. And the opportunities to get outside are limitless: take your pick of beaches (Atlantic or Indian Ocean side), hike one of the hundred trails up Table Mountain, wander through Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and marvel at the endemic flora, photograph a penguin on a white-sand beach, dive with great whites, wander through a vineyard then picnic in its gardens, stand on what feels like the ends of the earth at Cape Point....need we say more?