I have stayed in a lot of hotels. I say that not to impress but to give context for what I am about to tell you: Cape Grace is one of the best family hotel experiences I have had anywhere in the world.
We arrived at the V&A Waterfront on a clear Cape Town afternoon, Table Mountain visible from the moment we stepped out of the car, and within an hour my kids had claimed their bunk beds, discovered a room full of safari-themed toys, and declared the hotel the best one we had ever stayed in. They were not wrong.
THE SUITE THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING
Cape Grace recently completed a stunning nine-month renovation, reopening in 2024 as South Africa’s first Fairmont-managed property. London-based design firm 1508 reimagined every corner of the hotel with Cape Town’s history as its guide — the maritime heritage, the trading routes, the rich cultural layering of the Cape — and the result is a property that feels both timeless and completely alive to where it is.
For families, the jewel of the renovation is the Signature Safari Family Suite, and it is genuinely unlike anything I have encountered in a city hotel. The kids’ room has safari murals painted across the walls, twin beds with a bunk above, and a curated collection of toys and games that my children gravitated toward immediately. A secret interconnecting door leads to the parents’ suite, which means everyone has their own space without anyone feeling far away. For grandparents or larger groups, a third room can be connected — the hotel has clearly thought through every configuration of how families actually travel.
But the detail that made the suite truly work for us was the living and dining area between the rooms. We ordered room service one night and sat around the table together like we were home. We played board games there after the kids were winding down. We had nowhere to be and nowhere we wanted to go. That is a very specific kind of luxury — the kind that does not announce itself — and Cape Grace delivered it effortlessly.
THE FEELING OF THE PLACE
Cape Grace has 112 rooms. In a city where the competition includes sprawling five-star resorts, that number matters enormously. It means the staff know your name. It means the welcome treats that 
appeared for my kids on arrival felt personal rather than procedural. It means when you walk through the lobby you feel like a guest rather than a booking number.
The property sits on a private quay, which gives it a quietness that the rest of the Waterfront does not have. You are steps from everything — the aquarium, the Cape Wheel, the markets, the harbor cruises — but the moment you walk back through the doors you are in a different world. Calm. Considered. Genuinely beautiful.
WHAT WE DID
We had brunch at Heirloom, the hotel’s new restaurant, and it was the kind of meal that reminds you what hotel dining is supposed to feel like. The menu is rooted in South African ingredients and changes with the seasons. We ordered too much and did not regret it.
My husband and I took turns at the Fairmont Spa while the kids played back at the suite. The salt room — a genuine rarity in a hotel spa — is worth booking for its own sake. There is something specific about sitting in that mineral stillness for thirty minutes that resets something in you. After a long journey from the US, it was exactly what we needed.
We also used the suite’s dining table for room service more than once, which with a full living area between the kids’ room and ours felt like the most natural thing in the world. One of my kids described it as “living in Cape Town for a few days” rather than visiting, and that is about as good a review as a hotel can receive.
THE LOCATION
Cape Grace’s position on the Waterfront is one of its strongest selling points for families, and not just because of what is immediately outside the door. Cape Town is one of the most approachable cities in Africa for first-time visitors — English is spoken everywhere, the infrastructure is excellent, and the Waterfront itself is safe, walkable and genuinely spectacular. The hotel’s concierge team is outstanding at building days around your family’s interests and energy levels, from Table Mountain and Boulders Beach to the Winelands and beyond.
If you are planning a South Africa trip that includes a safari, Cape Grace is the perfect beginning or end to that journey. The bush is extraordinary, but arriving at Cape Grace first — or returning to it after several nights in the wild — is a transition that makes both experiences better.
A FINAL THOUGHT
I left Cape Grace the way I leave the places that matter: already thinking about when we would come back and what we would do differently. We would stay longer. We would book the spa for the first morning rather than the last. We would tell the kids about the salt room so they could experience it too.
What we would not change is the hotel itself. Cape Grace got everything right.
If you are planning a trip to Cape Town and want to talk through the details — the suite options, the best time of year, how to combine it with a safari or the Winelands — reach out. This is one of my favorite properties in the world to plan for families, and I would love to help you make it yours.
