Yahoo Finance Affordable style on South Africa's coast: The best budget hotels in Cape Town
Despite its popularity Cape Town remains a good-value destination, with the generally weak currency enabling visitors with pounds to eat and drink like kings. Depending on the time of year, this value can grow exponentially – travellers visiting between May and September pay up to a third less for accommodation than the summer rate, and enjoy crisp days, the annual whale migration, flowering proteas and aloes, misty mountains and cosy fire-warmed wine-tasting rooms, along with bargain rates. Here's our pick of the best budget hotels in Cape Town.
Stock Exchange
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
Located in the edgy and fast evolving Woodstock neighbourhood, this stylish but affordable hotel is furnished almost entirely by nearby businesses, giving it stacks of local flavour. Staff are unfailingly warm, cheerful and eager to help with enquiries, and an expansive lounge (with bar) gives onto an outdoor 'entertainment deck' that features a small pool and gym overlooking the docks and beyond to Table Bay. Exposed brick, smooth concrete, full-height windows and contemporary furnishings define the spacious, studio-style bedrooms. Read expert review From £65 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Gorgeous George
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
This urban hipster hot spot celebrates great design and offers a fresh angle on the inner-city streetscape of Africa's oldest colonial outpost. Gorgeous George is like a mini Soho House: the interlinking public spaces on the sixth-floor rooftop are pure eye-candy, richly textured with Moroccan cushions, plenty of books and plants, and large works of art. A choice of 32 rooms in studio, one- or two-bedroom units, luxuriously fitted with contemporary Victorian-inspired design elements that contrast with the raw concrete ceilings and exposed steelwork. Read expert review From £193 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
• The best hotels in Cape Town
Chartfield Guesthouse
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
Sea views, inventive breakfasts and comfortable rooms in Cape Town’s Kalk Bay, near Boulders beach (where you can swim with penguins) and the Constantia winelands – Chartfield Guesthouse is ideal for those who would prefer to swap the city for a laid-back, artsy seaside village, with great restaurant choices a stroll away. Simple, unfussy and comfortable, it's the kind of place that encourages you to take your shoes off and put your feet up. The best rooms have sea views (ask for the deluxe category), of which Impala and Star of the Sea are top picks. But the best room in the house is the Loft, with its own private balcony and lovely Kalk Bay views. Read expert review From £45 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Rouge on Rose
Cape Town, South Africa
7Telegraph expert rating
An attractive, good-value hotel offering nine deluxe rooms and self-catering suites, each spacious and quirky in their own way. Within strolling distance of the city centre and bustling De Waterkant district, this guesthouse draws guests attracted predominantly by the good-value rate and convenient location. It's also in multicultural Bo-Kaap, where the call of the muezzin has resonated for over two centuries. Objects collected by the owner over three decades add individual character. Only breakfast is served here but the city options are within walking distance. Read expert review From £107 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
The B.I.G Backpackers
Green Point, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
B.I.G. is a wonderful hybrid backpacker and b&b, with 12 en-suite private double/triple/family rooms, six en-suite dorms and the most engaging hosts you could hope for. Want to climb Lion’s Head to watch the sunrise? They’ll wake you up at dawn and walk up with you. Want to tool around Bree street people-watching and gallery-hopping on First Thursdays (the first Thursday of every month when art galleries and shops stay open until late)? They’ll not only arrange the Uber but come along for the jol (SA slang for party). Read expert review From £65 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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La Grenadine
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
Step behind the garden gate at the end of a tiny cul-de-sac off one of the city’s busiest streets, and you walk into a parallel universe – a renovated 19th-century farm building owned by French artistes, set in a pretty, tranquil garden with old pomegranate, guava, avocado and olive trees. It’s an exclusive and peaceful set up – just five en-suite rooms and a self-catering garden cottage share the garden – a boon in summer, but note there’s no pool. Book either rooms 4 or 5, the two upstairs room that lead out to their own terrace with views of Table Mountain and Lion’s Head. Read expert review From £107 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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2Inn1 Kensington
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
This guesthouse offers a boutique hotel experience at a bargain price in a quiet yet central location, with well-equipped rooms, a great pool area, wonderful breakfasts, professional concierge service, 24/7 reception, on-site spa and lots of generous touches. Given this, the rates really are unbeatable. The character of the Victorian home – with its pressed ceilings, large sash windows and whitewashed pine floors – is offset with contemporary furniture and African overtures such as antelope horns and zebra skin; African crafts are used in the décor of all the rooms. Read expert review From £110 per night
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An African Villa
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
Unbeatable rates in Tamboerskloof, one of Cape Town’s oldest and most charming suburbs, where narrow streets are lined with Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Popular with young and middle-aged couples, the hotel is within walking distance of the Kloof Street dining strip and a 10-minute walk into the city. Hosts – Jimmy, Louise, Cindy and Keith – ensure that guest comfort goes beyond mere accommodation needs, with restaurant bookings, transfers and tours recommended and arranged. Book one of the rooms on the second floor for street or partial mountain views. Read expert review From £112 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel on the Promenade
Cape Town, South Africa
8Telegraph expert rating
A slick, modern boutique hotel with just seven rooms in the heart of Cape Town, close to the sea and with a charming bistro serving good, light meals. It's sandwiched between the Sea Point promenade that winds along the Atlantic to Moullie Point (adjacent to the Waterfront), and the Main Road with its numerous shops and dining options. Rooms are compact but every detail, from the Nespresso machine to the wine selection in your minibar, is carefully selected. Make sure you book a room upstairs and try to bag the only one with a sea view. Read expert review From £100 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Contributions by James Litston
