The Trade Boutique Hotel

Every now and then a four-star earns its place on a shortlist by simply doing the basics very well, The Trade Boutique Hotel, in City Bowl, is one of those. What gives the place its edge is the address itself: barely a stroll from the centre of Cape Town, a detail that consistently shows up in what guests write…

Every now and then a four-star earns its place on a shortlist by simply doing the basics very well, The Trade Boutique Hotel, in City Bowl, is one of those. What gives the place its edge is the address itself: barely a stroll from the centre of Cape Town, a detail that consistently shows up in what guests write afterwards. Expect well-appointed rooms with an in-house restaurant, on-site parking and a small spa, practical details that keep showing up in consistently flattering comfort feedback. There's a particular atmosphere to the place, neither overdesigned nor neglected. Pull the review pages apart and you find well over 1,000 reviews, with a strong consensus that's hard to engineer. Reputation has held up across enough stays to mean something. Recent rates have been hovering around €76 a night, which lands as a middle-of-the-road option for the city. Stack The Trade Boutique Hotel against the better-known names in Cape Town and the trade-offs become genuinely interesting.