The Cape Town EDITION: The Brand's First African Hotel Opens on the V&A Waterfront

EDITION has arrived in Africa. Marriott International’s design-led hotel brand has opened The Cape Town EDITION on the V&A Waterfront, its first hotel on the continent. It joins a portfolio of 23 EDITION hotels that stretches from Lake Como and London to Tokyo and the Riviera Maya.

The hotel sits at Quay 7 in Cape Town’s historic harbour, with views of Table Mountain and the Waterfront’s new superyacht marina. Museums, galleries, restaurants and shops are on the doorstep.

Straight-line distances. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Bricks, a drum and a spiral stair

The design comes from the Shanghai studio Neri&Hu, working with Cape Town architects and specialists. Their long, low building takes its cue from the warehouses that once stood on the site, with sloping roofs and materials that recall the working harbour. More than six million bricks were laid by hand in changing patterns, giving the façade its texture.

At the centre is The Drum, a cylindrical, open-topped space that lets in daylight and sea air. A spiral stair leads up to an open-air viewing platform with views of the harbour, the mountain and the Atlantic, and the platform is open to visitors and locals as well as guests.

142 rooms with local craft

The 142 rooms and suites have bespoke furniture, natural materials and built-ins styled after 19th-century travel trunks. Furniture and rugs come from the KwaZulu-Natal weavers Shuttleworth Weaving. The top addresses are the 240-square-metre Penthouse and the 112-square-metre Harbour Suite, both with panoramic views.

Art plays a large part. Design Network Africa selected pieces by craftspeople and designers from across the continent, among them Zulu ukhamba vessels and hand-blown glass from recycled material from Eswatini. The Cape Town gallery Southern Guild curated a collection that includes Zanele Muholi’s black-and-white portraits in the Punch Room.

Shale, EAVE and the Punch Room

Executive Chef Phil Carmichael, who previously worked at Berners Tavern at The London EDITION and in leading kitchens of the Cape, runs the food and drink together with the South African drinks expert George Hunter. The signature restaurant, Shale, cooks seasonally with produce from regional farmers, fishermen and winemakers, dry-ages its meat in-house and leans on a largely South African wine list. One dish pairs Saldanha Bay mussels with a curry velouté, seaweed salad and braised black rice.

EAVE is the rooftop restaurant and bar beside the heated pool, moving from lazy afternoons to sundowners and dinner with a curated music programme. The lobby bar plays the role of a Cape living room, and the Punch Room revives an old drinking tradition that arrived along the trade routes, with punches served in large shared bowls.

Spa and events

The spa lies below sea level, with five treatment rooms, a couples’ suite, sauna and steam room, and uses Omorovicza products. A 24-hour gym and a daily programme of yoga, breathwork and sound baths complete the offer. For events there is a ballroom for up to 200 guests, a boardroom, two meeting studios and the rooftop venue Vantage.

“We want The Cape Town EDITION to feel as relevant and welcoming to the people of Cape Town as to someone visiting for the first time,” says General Manager Leonie Andereya.

The Cape Town EDITION, Quay 7, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town (South Africa) · marriott.com

About the author

Roger Hohl

Roger Hohl has been at the helm of Luxvisor since 2006. From his base in Switzerland he travels to test what the luxury travel industry promises, from the seat at 40,000 feet to the last course of a tasting menu, and writes about it with an independent eye.