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tl;dr – The Hyatt Regency Cape Town is a full-service hotel for leisure and business travelers. I found the service friendly, the amenities adequate, and the rooms spacious. Rates are affordable, and there is excellent availability for point redemptions, making the Hyatt Regency Cape Town a frictionless option to lay your head while exploring Cape Town and the surrounding areas.
After a few nights in Johannesburg, we flew to Cape Town to explore the city and visit some nearby wine regions before flying on to Kruger. I chose the Hyatt Regency Cape Town as our base camp for three nights; it was a good fit for what we needed. Let’s jump into the review.
Booking the Hyatt Regency Cape Town
As of 2024, the Hyatt Regency Cape Town is the only (non-Mr & Mrs. Smith) Hyatt property within the city of Cape Town.
I think I booked and canceled the Hyatt Regency Cape Town three or four times before solidifying our reservation, as it took a while to confirm the exact dates we’d be in town. In the end, I redeemed 12,000 World of Hyatt points for a standard king room and attached a suite upgrade award to confirm a Regency suite.
Getting In, Location and Check-in
If traffic is smooth sailing, you can get from Cape Town International Airport to the Hyatt Regency Cape Town in under 20 minutes. Located on the edge of the historical Bo-Kaap and the more business-district City Bowl, the Hyatt Regency is a 137-room operation. The main entrance to the hotel is right on a corner, which makes it hard to miss. At check-in, we were offered a welcome drink, a refreshing non-alcoholic beverage while learning that we had been upgraded from the Regency suite to a Mountain suite. With keys in our hands, we made our way to the room.
Hyatt Regency Cape Town lobby – Source: Hyatt.com
The Room
The Mountain suite is spacious and efficient. Here’s a quick walkthrough:
A tasty assortment of snacks—biltong, peanuts, and some sweets—was laid out as a welcome amenity.
The main sitting area has a table with seating for two (an under-appreciated commodity in hotel rooms today and crucial for room service orders), a couch, a lounger chair, and a TV.
Mountain Suite living room – Source: You Are Travel
If you need to work, a desk in the bedroom faces the very comfortable king bed. Inside the wall unit, you’ll find storage space for clothes, the safe, an ironing board and iron, and some robes.
Mountain Suite bedroom – Source: You Are Travel
There’s a half bath back in the main room and an en-suite bathroom with a large soaking tub and shower.
Bathroom and half-bath – Source: You Are Travel
Basic coffee and tea offerings are available, alongside a microwave and mini fridge for any leftovers or food you get out.
In-room amenities – Source: You Are Travel
The winner in this room? The views. They are quite spectacular. Looking out the room’s window, you have the colorful houses of Bo-Kaap beneath you as Signal Hill, Lion’s Head Rock, and Table Mountain dance with clouds in the distance.
Views from the Mountain Suite – Source: You Are Travel
Grounds and Amenities
As a Hyatt Regency, the hotel is well-situated to handle events—business and otherwise. There are meeting rooms on the Mezzanine to accommodate conferences or celebrations. Throughout the hotel, the decor matches the brand—lots of muted colors and alcove seating for spontaneous ‘breakouts’ so folks can ideate while sipping their Nescafe.
Hotel decor – Source: You Are Travel
When I visited in July 2024, the pool area had just been renovated, and turf-like flooring now covers the deck. I didn’t test the pool, but it looked like a cool place to hang out if the sun was overhead.
Pool area – Source: Google
The fitness center is modest. There are two or three cardio machines, a few more for strength training, and some free weights. It’s not a huge space by any means, and it might feel crowded if there were more than a handful of folks in there at one time, but there’s enough to get a good workout.
Surprisingly, there was also a steam room in the lockers, which requires a reservation in 30-minute blocks but isn’t really enforced. I wanted to check it out but eventually gave up after another guest spent about an hour and a half there.
Muslims make up just under 7% of Cape Town’s population, and as the hotel is in the heart of a Cape Malay neighborhood, a healthy portion of its guests practice Islam. You’ll see this reflected throughout the hotel – prayer rooms on the Mezzanine level close to the gym and meeting areas.
Additionally, it’s generally a less alcohol-forward property. You can order drinks with meals and on the room service menu, but you won’t find a dedicated hotel bar or anything like that. However, you will find two hookah outlets – one on the ground floor outside the lobby and the other on the pool deck (Signal Hill Terrace).
Hookah areas and mocktail advertisements – Source: You Are Travel
Dining
There are four dining outlets at the Hyatt Regency: Urchin Restaurant, a dinner-only sushi and seafood restaurant; 126 Cape Kitchen & Café, a full-service restaurant serving breakfast (where the complimentary breakfast buffet is), lunch, and dinner; Pool Deck at Signal Hill Terrace, for eats by the pool; and Bo-Kaap Souk, a sweets shop in the lobby.
We spent a lot of time outside the hotel during our time in Cape Town, so much so that we didn’t have one meal at the hotel. As a Hyatt Globalist, you received complimentary breakfast and access to the Club Lounge for a happy hour presentation. We planned to eat breakfast at the hotel at least once, but between some very early starts and other dining plans outside the hotel, we couldn’t sit for any food. Mrs. Blackbeard was gracious enough to snap a few quick photos of breakfast buffet offerings one morning before we set out.
Breakfast buffet – Source: You Are Travel
We also poked into the club lounge (located just above the lobby) for an evening presentation. There, you can expect a smattering of finger foods, a tub of non-alcoholic beverages, and two or three wines by the glass.
Club lounge offering – Source: You Are Travel
Service
Service at the hotel was strong. We didn’t have any significant requests or needs, but you could see the effort from the team in every interaction. Every time we entered or exited the premises, there was a warm greeting from the bellman, who was always ready and willing to lend a helping hand. The front desk was super helpful in recommending some fantastic nearby dining options – (slide by Bukhara if you can!). Midway through a three-week trip, we needed to get some laundry done and used Hyatt’s laundry service. Our clothes came back clean, timely, and so well-organized.
Returned laundry – Source: You Are Travel
Conclusion
The Hyatt Regency Cape Town isn’t the trendiest hotel but is comfortable and ideal for a few-night stay in the heart of downtown Cape Town. The hotel is well-located for setting out on foot, has spacious rooms, provides helpful and efficient service, is equipped with enough amenities to keep you busy, and makes an effort to acknowledge Globalist status. As you can regularly book this hotel on points (and upgrade your room to a suite), it should be a worthy contender for your Cape Town accommodation options.
