Review: Dorp Hotel

At Dorp Hotel, uniformity is intentionally avoided. Every room is different – in layout, mood and detail. Some are airy and expansive, others intimate and cocooning. There are rooftop lookouts, garden-level nooks and larger suites designed for longer stays. The hotel’s layout, spread across a cluster of buildings on Signal Hill, means rooms are accessed via pathways, steps and leafy courtyards rather than corridors. It feels more like a hillside village than a hotel. The main building is the Dorp hotel. Down the hill it turns into Onder-Dorp, the lower Dorp, which houses the self-catering private villas, large suites and small rooms with private terraces.

What unites the rooms is their supremely personal atmosphere – a mix of antique furniture, layered textiles, handmade notes and a sense that everything has been curated rather than styled provides a feeling of a home of an eccentric older relative rather than a hotel.

A room for every kind of traveller

The range of accommodation is generous. There are single rooms that suit solo travellers and shorter stays, garden rooms that open directly onto courtyards and lavender-filled terraces. The larger Onder-Dorp suites offer separate living spaces, dining areas and in some cases, kitchens are also available. These long-stay suites are especially popular with artists, writers and remote workers looking for a slow, quiet base in the city.

For those chasing postcard views, many rooms come with balconies or verandas that overlook Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and the harbour. Some include fireplaces for winter stays. Others are designed to be thrown open to summer breezes. Whatever your fancy, Dorp can usually find you a room that fits your requirements.

The iconic Tower Room

The Tower Room is one of the hotel’s most sought-after spaces and a favourite among returning guests. Surrounded by windows on all sides, it offers sweeping, cinematic views of Cape Town, Table Mountain and the Atlantic and a feeling of being entirely removed from the world below. Inside, the aesthetic is consistent with the rest of Dorp. It’s romantic, peaceful and slightly eccentric.

Details that matter

Across all rooms, you’ll find a deliberate absence of modern hotel tropes. No television. No minibar. No keycards. Instead: worn rugs, piles of books, handwritten labels and fresh flowers in mismatched vases. Bathrooms often feature clawfoot tubs or walk-in showers, with fluffy robes and simple, elegant fittings.

Some rooms have four-poster beds. Others are tucked under pitched ceilings or open onto hidden corners of the garden. It’s not luxury in the conventional sense – it’s something softer, more thoughtful. There may be the occasional creak in the floorboards or a lamp at a charming tilt, but it all feeds into the unpolished, lived-in atmosphere that makes staying here feel so human.

A place to linger

Dorp’s rooms have a habit of shifting your plans. Many guests arrive expecting to explore Cape Town and end up spending their days reading, writing or simply staring out at the view. Whether you’re here for a few nights or settling in for a slow month, the rooms invite you to take your time – to sleep in, to watch the weather roll in over Table Mountain, to rediscover stillness.