Cape Town: Where to Stay: Hideaways: Ellerman House

Ellerman House

With just eleven rooms and suites and a private villa with its own swimming pool, this hotel is the top choice on the Atlantic coast. Its location, overlooking Bantry Bay, a small bay between Sea Point and Clifton, is fabulous, and the service, presided over by the ebullient Tim Cumming, is impeccable. My husband and I stayed in the villa, which is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, with a huge living and dining room, two smaller lounges, a fully equipped kitchen, and three en suite bedrooms, with two more a floor below. There is direct access to the spa below, which offers a wide range of treatments. If you don’t stay here, be sure to stop by for dinner (call for a reservation); the food is delicious, the garden is delightful, and the owner has made the place a showcase for the finest South African art of the past half century. Rooms from $470.