The Portswood Hotel

My husband and I felt very well cared for at Portswood Hotel, especially when we both got sick during our travels. The team checked in on us regularly and even arranged soup to suit us, which meant a lot and helped with our recovery. Everyone was attentive, friendly and kind. Ashley deserves a special thank you for making sure we were comfortable and looked after. The location gets a 10/10 from us. We felt safe, and it was easy to walk to the lively, beautiful V&A Waterfront for meals and a stroll. We felt welcomed and supported, and we’d absolutely stay again. Highly recommend it.

I came to Cape Town for my birthday and joined a National Geographic tour group. I arrived a few days before the tour, so I stayed at the Portswood Hotel. It was comfortable and clean, with good food, very friendly staff and a location you can walk around from. A few weeks before my trip, I contacted the hotel about activities for those days, and they put me in touch with Muneeb. I sent him a list of things I wanted to do over the following weeks, and he answered my questions and offered great suggestions. By the time I arrived, he’d arranged a fun day that included Table Mountain and a winery farm tour. I had my own driver, with someone sharing local history and facts along the way, and felt like a superstar. I’d also asked for a photographer, which Muneeb arranged for me. I’d definitely stay at the Portswood Hotel again 💖

We’d really hoped to love The Portswood because of the location, but our stay left us wondering how it has a 4-star rating. To us, it felt like a 3-star experience at best. Being close to the V&A Waterfront was the biggest plus. It felt very safe, and restaurant service was pleasant. Ashley at the front door was a standout, warm and genuinely kind every day, exactly the kind of hospitality you hope for. The front desk experience with Tamlyn was the opposite. She was cold and robotic, with no eye contact or hello, just a request for our passports. It felt so unwelcoming that we skipped the hotel breakfast because we didn’t want to spend more time in that atmosphere. The room doors also slammed loudly and constantly, and no one seemed to try to close them gently, making sleep difficult. The room’s cleanliness was the most troubling issue. The surfaces looked clean until we wiped a counter with a damp towel and it came away brown. We had to buy cleaning supplies and scrub the glass and other surfaces ourselves. For a 4-star hotel, that’s inexcusable. The pool was there, but ice cold and uncomfortable to use. If safety and a spot near the V&A are what you want, the location is great. But between Tamlyn’s impersonal service and the housekeeping, it felt like a 3-star hotel with 4-star branding. Ashley was the one bright spot.

The restaurant staff were excellent, and that was the one positive part of our visit. The room itself felt outdated and needs refurbishing. The front desk attendants weren’t customer oriented. We were charged R450 for two calls to arrange a hire car, so watch out for the phone charges, which are extortionate. When our arranged transport to the cruise was 90 minutes late, staff showed no interest in helping us find out what had happened. We had to make our own way to the cruise terminal and pay R600.