3-star hotels in Hout Bay

Hout Bay sits in a steep valley 20 km south of the city centre, ringed by the Sentinel, Karbonkelberg and Chapman's Peak, with a working fishing harbour at one end and a kilometre of grey sand at the other. It is a small coastal town rather than a suburb: houses on Baviaanskloof Road, the Imizamo Yethu settlement, and a harbour where snoek is still landed and salted. January doubles run R1,400 to R3,000. The hotels here sit on the valley addresses (Sentinel Close, Little Lions Head Road, Pondicherry Avenue, Princess Street, Luisa Way, Whittlers Way, Penzance Avenue, Meadow Lane, Victorskloof Road) and inland streets such as Park Ave, Brighton Street, Well Way, Darling Street and Bethal Road. It suits hikers, families, and anyone driving the peninsula; skip it if you want restaurants past 10pm, have no car, or dislike the drive over Suikerbossie.

These 3-star properties are guest houses and lodges rather than large hotels, most with gardens and outdoor pools. Couples get quiet rooms and mountain views; families find family rooms and cots at Hout Bay Breeze, Intaba Lodge and Brightwater Lodge, and babysitting at The Platinum Boutique Hotel and Intaba Lodge. Business travellers can use meeting rooms at Beach House Hout Bay and Victorskloof Lodge, and business centres at Beach House Hout Bay and Whittlers Lodge. For a short break, the highest-rated picks, The Platinum Boutique Hotel and Hout Bay Breeze, put the beach and harbour within easy reach by car.

Getting there and around

MyCiTi routes 107 and 108 run Civic Centre to Hout Bay via Sea Point and Camps Bay along Victoria Road, roughly 45 to 60 minutes and about R21 with a myconnect card, with route 108 continuing up to Imizamo Yethu. Services thin out sharply: at 9pm Hout Bay is mostly done. Chapman's Peak Drive starts at the southern end of the valley, tolled at roughly R67 for a car, open dawn to dusk and closed in bad weather. Circe Launches and Nauticat run from the harbour jetty at the end of Harbour Road roughly hourly from 9am in season.

When to go

Summer, roughly November to March, is when the beach, the harbour launches and Chapman's Peak Drive are at their best; January doubles run R1,400 to R3,000. The Friday Bay Harbour Market runs year-round from 5pm to 9pm and is the liveliest thing in the valley. Winter brings rain and possible closure of Chapman's Peak Drive in bad weather, and on winter weekday nights the place feels almost rural.