From upmarket backpackers to the most luxurious hotel rooms money can buy, The Telegraph took to rating Cape Town’s best hotels.

I mean, what would we do without them?

Always worth taking a look, just in case you need a sneaky escape from your real life or someone from out of town asks for a recommendation.

At least then you can blame the poor choice on The Telegraph, yes?

Indeed – here’s a quick look at our favourites:

Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel – 9/10

This historic Cape Town hotel, in large, beautifully manicured gardens, opened in 1899, and attracts a loyal and well-heeled mix of locals and guests. Service is impeccable, interiors are glamorous in English colonial style, and cooking is top notch. City-centre restaurants and sights are on the doorstep.

Ellerman House – 9/10

With a jaw-dropping cliffside location above Bantry Bay, this luxury Cape Town hotel offers low-key glamour, splendid isolation and spectacular sea views. There are only 11 rooms in this Edwardian mansion. You’ll need a car to get to restaurants and beaches – if you can tear yourself away from the poolside gardens.

Cape Grace – 9/10

An exclusive Cape Town waterfront property on its own quay, with Table Mountain right behind. Popular with moneyed Americans – including the Clintons and Obamas – who like the secure location, a stroll from the V&A Waterfront restaurants. Dripping with antique character, yet families are made to feel very welcome.

The Cellars-Hohenort – 8/10

This gorgeous country hotel is only 20 minutes from the city centre, yet the sprawling gardens and birdsong soundtrack will have you feeling as if you’ve escaped to a rural idyll – and you have. There’s lots of character, plus classy rooms, two swimming pools, two restaurants, a spa and beautiful gardens.

The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa – 8/10

Dwarfed as much by the mountain range after which it’s named as the blue ocean below it, the 12A hotel offers a dramatic seaside location, five-star service, a world-class restaurant and, in winter, unbelievable value for money – small wonder this member of Leading Hotels of the World is always busy.

Vineyard Hotel – 8/10

This historic hotel is located in a verdant seven-acre garden on the banks of the burbling Liesbeek stream with marvelous views of Table Mountain’s eastern slopes. Setting aside, service and facilities in this family-owned hotel are superlative, and rates represent excellent value for a five-star property.

Winchester Mansions – 8/10

Winchester Mansions is the grande dame of the Atlantic Seaboard, a three-storey gabled hotel enjoying an ideal location on the ocean-hugging Sea Point pedestrian promenade and offering the best-value sea views in the city.

Pod – 8/10

Pod is an uber-hip 17-room boutique hotel near Camps Bay’s beachfront, staffed with a small, intelligent team. Camps Bay’s restaurants are strolling distance away but the hotel’s glamorous bar, opening onto the 55-foot lap pool with partial sea views, is a more exclusive place to watch the sun set.

Surprised? Surely not?

I reckon we might be seeing THIS beauty on some of the ‘best hotels of Cape Town’ in the not too distant future.

You can see a full review of each hotel chosen by the Telegraph here.

[source: thetelegraph]