One of the things I love about Cape Town is that you can drive for less than an hour from the city and feel like you’re in a completely different place. It makes it pretty easy to go on holiday in your own city. Kommetjie is one of my favourite weekend breaks – it’s so chilled that you feel like you’re on holiday (even if it’s only a weekend away) and Long Beach is wide and beautiful with spectacular views of the back of Table Mountain.
Last Word Long Beach is a great place to stay in Kommetjie. The five-star boutique hotel is right on the beach and has uninterrupted views of the sea and mountains, as well as fabulous suites. What I liked about it was that you have that cosy, intimate feeling of staying in a guesthouse (the hotel was a former family residence) but with five-star service and quality. For the past three years in a row the hotel has won the accolade of South Africa’s top luxury beach hotel at the World Travel Awards, so other people obviously agree with me.
The hotel has only six suites, each of which looks out to the ocean and the small garden with a heated pool. Our suite was massive – basically the size of a small flat – and opened out onto our own private courtyard next to the pool.
You could spend all weekend at the Last Word Long Beach, relaxing next to the pool, soaking up the views, or getting a massage, or you can go for walks along the eight-kilometre Long Beach, walk up Slangkop Lighthouse, go horse riding or hit the surf. The hotel can organise any other activities for you, such as tours of boutique wine farms in the Constantia Winelands and historical walks around Cape Town.
The hotel offers dinner if you book in advance, but we decided to make the long trek (15 minutes) to Noordhoek to eat at the famed Foodbarn in Noordhoek Farm Village. We had the summer bistro menu – three courses for R220 – which was sublime. I particularly loved the starter of prawn fritters with coriander samoosas and harissa mayo, but the mussel, lemon and calamari risotto was delicious. My pudding of shortbread, raspberries, crème anglaise and passion fruit ice cream was all kinds of awesome, while my boyfriend chocced out on a dark chocolate marquise.
We came home to a romance-ified room – the lights were off, candles were scattered all over, rose petals littered the floor and bed, a bottle of Graham Beck Brut sat sweating in a bucket of ice next to the bed. The cherry on the top was a duo of choc-mint mousses placed among the rose petals on the bed. Champagne, chocolate, and the sound of the sea – a great way to round off our stay.
Breakfast, a buffet of pastries, fruit and cheese, was consumed overlooking an overcast Kommetjie sky and slate-grey sea dotted with surfers. We ate our smoked salmon scrambled eggs and perused the Sunday papers, looking up now and then to see a surfer catch a wave, feeling that relaxed holiday languidness take over. A short weekend break had felt like a week away.
Last Word Long Beach
The lowdown: Six ensuite rooms in a small boutique hotel on Long Beach in Kommetjie, a 45-minute drive from Cape Town.
Rates: There are special rates for South African and SADEC residents, starting at R2500 a person sharing, including breakfast.
Contact: Tel 021-794-2036, [email protected], www.thelastword.co.za
Win a fabulous two-night stay for two people at the Last Word Long Beach by entering Getaway’s competition! All you have to do is click here and then answer an easy question.
