Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa

This seaside hotel, with seventy rooms, feels beautifully remote, even though it’s just a fifteen-minute shuttle ride to central Cape Town.

• The in-house movie theater
• The gorgeous spa
• The secluded, seaside setting

The ocean vistas from the guest rooms of this hotel are reminiscent of a ship’s cabin. It sits on a stretch of uninhabited coastline between Camps Bay and Hout Bay, but an in-house cinema and a luxury spa make it a particularly self-contained place to stay. The decor is a mix of conservative (nautical stripes) and quirky (shell-encrusted mirrors), but it works, except in the conservative blue-and-white dining room. The restaurant is nonetheless ambitious and good; and the chef constantly creates destination-specific menus, like the one based around the fynbos (fine bush), using the leaves of many of the medicinal plants that are part of the Cape’s famed floral kingdom. The spa is rightfully acclaimed, especially its two mountain gazebos with incredible views.

Couples who don’t need to be based in central Cape Town and are looking for a secluded, quite, romantic experience.