Maybe it was the Waterfront Theatre School across the street, but from the outside, Onomo Waterfront put me in mind of Oliver!, the musical based on Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. The hotel occupies the 1901-built Spilhaus Warehouse on Alfred Street in De Waterkant, a neighbourhood that once brimmed with warehouses in the early days of the nearby Alfred Basin docks. A 2018 conversion – by law – had to maintain the exterior bones. So while it’s scrubbed up now with a row of rental bicycles outside, its broad and muscular facade – red-brick on top, whitewashed below with a lovely set of wooden green doors – seems just the place to be housing a troop of singing Victorian orphans.
Step inside, though, and things go quickly from gruel to glitz. Some exposed brick survives, but here it sits beside a whole wall bedazzled in gold mosaic tiles. A crystal chandelier hangs from the double-volume ceiling opposite a giant mirror. Two porter’s chairs, upholstered in navy velvet with gilt trim sit beyond a sleek, modern reception desk – an intentional clash that feels both rich and retro.
Check-in is superfast, thanks largely to the hotel’s tech-forward identity. A few days before arrival, I was invited to check in online, not only providing the usual information but also having to ponder a list of optional add-ons that felt quite a lot like checking in for a flight. But instead of on-board snacks and extra bags, you can add things like early check-ins or late check-outs (R500 per hour); room upgrades; movie-night snack platters and “comfort sleep packs” with “plush pillows and cosy blankets”. You can even pay for a “Romantic setup” – which includes rose petals and swan-shaped towels in your room. There are also optional shoe shines and newspapers and luxury transfers to spots such as Camps Bay and Kirstenbosch.
THE ROOMS
While personality pours from the common areas, the hotel’s 87 rooms put function before flourishes. Standard rooms are compact but comfortable, with queen, king or twin beds, and all come with air conditioning, good wifi, coffee-making facilities and showers in the en-suite. The TVs have satellite channels but are also set up for content-sharing from your own device — a useful touch that surprisingly few hotels have caught up with yet.
The more premium “suites” step up in decor and finishes. I stayed in 601, a top-floor corner suite and the only room with a private balcony. At 24m², it’s still on the compact side for a traditional suite, but fits in a sitting area and workspace. Its highlight, perhaps, is the view, which really drives home the great location. From the balcony, there are slivers of ocean and the docks; a chunk of Table Mountain between buildings; the Cape Town Convention Centre. To my left, the Cape Wheel spins in the distance, signalling the tourist mecca that is the V&A Waterfront. Dead ahead is Cape Town’s famous dead-end highway — the unfinished Foreshore Freeway, which has been stopping abruptly mid-air since 1977.
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD
The hotel’s restaurant and bar, Vivaldi, brings the high drama. In design, it embraces the building’s industrial past with soaring ceilings, exposed brick and hefty timber columns. But there’s an opulent twist with oversized gilt-framed mirrors, tropical greenery and giant chandeliers. Against one wall sits the bar, arched and mirrored with decorative ironwork and lantern pendants. The beer taps shaped like saxophones conjure a New Orleans French Quarter-kind of energy; it feels like there should be a jazz quartet in the corner.
The dining area pulls in a different direction — rattan chairs, palm fronds and white animal skull mounts on deep green walls all feel more “colonial safari”. Altogether, it’s pure theatre.
The menu is similarly eclectic, blending South African and European influences. Cape Malay tomato bredie, bobotie, a shisa nyama platter for two sit alongside west coast mussels and beer-battered hake, with most mains under R200. On a flying visit before a show, we managed only calamari starters — the staff were warmly accommodating, the dish hit the spot. I’ll go back for the full show. Vivaldi is open to non-guests and worth the trip in its own right.
Breakfast is served here too, buffet-style from dishes set up along the bar — and notably, a self-service industrial coffee machine that lets guests be their own barista.
SOMETHING SPECIAL
Under its #OnomoCreatives initiative, the hotel hosts exhibitions by local artists — a new show every three months at each of its three Cape Town properties: Onomo Waterfront, Onomo Foreshore and Onomo Inn on the Square in Greenmarket Square.
On now at Waterfront is Space and Time, a solo exhibition by Cascia Day. Her boldly coloured prints — winged angels, astronaut figures, geometric streetscapes — fit well in Vivaldi’s already dramatic interior. Original works are available for purchase, from limited edition A4 prints at R200 to originals at R4,000. Her work will be up until the end of August.
WHAT’S NEARBY
The location is a definite selling point. It’s right on the edge of Battery Park, an urban green space where you can picnic, run and rent paddle boats and SUPs to use on the canals. A 15-minute stroll along the canals will get you to the V&A Waterfront — the way is well-lit and guarded, so I felt comfortable walking it even after dark. Once there, the options are considerable: shopping, harbour cruises and the Two Oceans Aquarium are all within the precinct, as is Zeitz Mocaa — the massive contemporary African art museum housed in a converted grain silo. In the other direction, Long Street, Cape Town’s most eclectic strip of bars, restaurants and quirky shops, is a 15-minute walk or a quick Uber. On weekends, the Oranjezicht City Farm Market is worth a visit for fresh produce, artisanal food and excellent coffee.
CRITIC’S CALL
Onomo Waterfront is the kind of place that’s easy to like: a characterful building, a great location, likeable staff and a restaurant worth visiting even if you’re not a guest. The rooms won’t win design awards but they’re comfortable and have everything you need for a good night’s stay.
After checkout, an email invited me to join the loyalty programme Onomo Fans, with perks such as room discounts and free upgrades. There are 24 Onomo hotels across 15 African countries, including in Morocco, Rwanda, Tanzania and Mozambique. Based on my Waterfront stay, I wouldn’t hesitate to check out the rest. I am, after all, a card-carrying Onomo Fan. And I’d like some more.
RATES: Rooms sleeping two start from R1,270. To book or for more information, see onomohotels.com
