One&Only Cape Town

Any property by Sol Kerzner promises big things, and the amount of sheer luxury that’s on tap at One&Only Cape Town meets all expectations of ostentation. The location, first of all, is about as privileged as it gets, smack in the glitzy Waterfront area, with direct access to the shops and marina — in case you arrived by chartered yacht — and arresting unobscured views of Table Mountain.

Next, there’s the sheer size of the place. Suites in the Marina Rise building overlook a sprawling central lagoon and an artificial island on which exists palm trees, waterways and more suites. Accommodations deliver on the promise of size, with square footage ranging from 650 to just shy of 3,000. Anything smaller than a 42-inch flatscreen TV would seem ludicrously tiny in rooms of these proportions, and likewise beds and bath tubs continue the ‘big is beautiful’ motif. The scented pillow of your choosing, free wi-fi, iPod hook-ups and daily fruit baskets are just a sample of the One&Only’s additional room inclusions.

For food, you could wander along the V&A Waterfront, but in all likelihood the pickiest diners are wandering to the One&Only. It’s home to Africa’s only restaurant by the prolific master-chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (you may know him simply as Nobu), and another by Reuben Riffel, among South Africa’s own top culinary stars. The offerings at Nobu and Reuben’s tend toward creative preparations of classic Japanese and South African cuisine, respectively, though both make unsparing use of the region’s bounty of outstanding seafood and produce.

The mantra here is — as with the One&Only brand in general — “more is more.” Repeat it as you transition from the signature sea salt scrub to the licorice body wrap, from the property’s Maybach Zeppelin town car to your poolside chaise longue. Should you need a reality check before heading home, an excursion up Table Mountain or down into Great White shark territory (cage-diving is a favorite activity in Cape Town) should do the trick.