Opulence right outside your doorstep

Published Aug 19, 2014

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Cape Town -

If you think staying in a hotel is only for when you travel somewhere, you’re missing out on a whole lot of fun on your own front doorstep.

There is something decadent about spending a night away from home, even if it’s not far from home. Maybe you need a night off from the children, a little bit of romance, or a girly getaway. Maybe you don’t need a reason at all; sometimes it’s enough to simply be looked after by people whose job it is to make your life easy.

15 On Orange has a brilliant location. It’s walking distance from Long Street and all the nightlife there, as well as several restaurants. Societi Bistro is across the road, the Labia cinema is right there, as is the museum and planetarium, and the Company’s Garden. Our plan was to be lazy so we didn’t move further than the restaurant and, the next day, the spa.

Dinner and breakfast were taken in Savour restaurant. There is a great special on there, whether you’re staying at the hotel or not: two courses for R245 or three for R295, including a glass of wine. It’s a separate menu, but some of the dishes are also on the normal menu. Breakfast has some interesting options as well.

I had the Sante Fe burrito with scrambled eggs, ham, cheddar, onions, and peppers. But back to dinner; don’t hesitate to order a salad – it will be big enough for a main course, especially if you have the strip steak Cobb salad which is layered beef sirloin, avocado, tomatoes, bacon, Roquefort cheese, and hardboiled egg.

After our meal we repaired to the Judges Lounge, which was thankfully deserted. I say this because we decided to play a game on the purple pool table. This turned out to be the longest game in pool history. Ever. If we had been at Stones in Long Street we would probably have been thrown out for embarrassing ourselves. But we had the Judges Lounge, where the walls are lined with hundreds of real law books, to ourselves with no spectators.

According to the hotel’s website “couples can experience the superb sound quality of a live music show in the intimate Sound Room, a spacious lounge equipped with LCD (screen) and adjustable surround sound” which is adjacent to the lounge. I’m not sure why only couples because that seems like it could be fun. Guests can also rent DVDs to watch in the comfort of their rooms, or suites.

The highlight of the Sunday was our trip to the Suntra Spa on the top floor of the hotel, where there is a stunning pool deck overlooking the Company’s Garden. It has always been part of 15 On Orange although independently owned, but has recently changed hands and been expanded and re-designed to accommodate 11 treatment rooms, where there were six before. Divine Lady D disappeared into one of them which has a massive tub and exotic fringed curtains. She emerged an hour later soft and soppy and dreamy-eyed, mumbling something about the best full body massage she’d ever had.

After avoiding admitting I use nothing fancier than Dove soap and moisturiser that costs less than R100, I lay back and enjoyed a facial which involved the application and removal of several (no doubt more expensive) lotions, potions, tonics and creams, which left my skin feeling refreshed, renewed, and oh so soft.

Specials until August 26 are a 90-minute couples’ package of a Aromaceane jet bath and a hot chocolate massage, as well as hot chocolate to drink, for R1 400 (normally R1 800); and the 120-minute Beauty Bliss – a Guinot or Babor classic facial, and a deluxe OPI mani or Gellish paint and paraffin wax for R650 (normally R830). The spa is open Mondays to Saturdays 8am till 8pm, and Sundays from 10am till 6pm.

l 15 On Orange, corner Grey’s Pass (or as I always thought it was, Queen Victoria Street) and Orange Street, Cape Town. Telephone 021 469 8000, e-mail [email protected].

Weekend Argus

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