Photo: Brian Berkman
Situated just 8km from the CBD and 25km from Cape Town International Airport, Lagoon Beach Hotel & Spa combines easy accessibility with beachfront charm.
Overlooking Table Mountain and Robben Island, it offers direct access to Milnerton Beach and serves as an ideal base for business and leisure guests, delivering some of the city’s best sea and mountain views.
Contemporary comfort meets spectacular views
With 229 rooms featuring balconies and sitting areas, many have recently undergone an extensive Phase 1 refurbishment project that is transforming the guest experience.
Refurbished to better reflect the hotel’s seaside location, the new rooms feature the warmth of raw timber with all-new cabinetry and vinyl flooring. The overall look and feel is one of tranquillity, enhanced by state-of-the-art technology upgrades, including smart TVs, improved Wi-Fi (free and uncapped), and innovative charging stations built into bedside tables and work desks.
The bathrooms have been completely retiled for a fresh new look, with improved lighting ensuring better functionality. These updates combine aesthetics with practical improvements for enhanced guest comfort.
What makes this renovation special is the hotel’s commitment to social impact.
“I’m especially proud of the efforts we’ve made to ensure this is more than just a refurbishment project,” says Pieter Buitendag, the hotel’s general manager.
Working extensively with the Amy Foundation, the refurbishment project incorporated skills development and corporate social investment without compromising quality.
The bedroom scatter cushions were produced through the foundation’s sewing skills centre, while 32 engineering interns from the foundation gained further skills in areas like plumbing, painting, and other maintenance tasks. And the coffee table sleeves were produced by the Society for the Blind.
“With the problems our country faces in terms of youth unemployment and skills development, I’m especially proud of the small but significant contribution we have made with this project,” reflects Buitendag.
His passion for people development, cultivated over nearly three decades in hospitality, shines through in this approach. Having started his career with Protea Hotels in 1994 and becoming a general manager in 2003, Buitendag has mastered everything from financial management to creative marketing.
After an 18-month sabbatical in 2015 to rekindle his passion for hospitality, he launched his own venture, Vintage Ella Holdings, before returning to hotel management where his expertise in project management and people development continues to create meaningful impact.
For those seeking extended stays or self-catering options, self-catering apartments are available, providing the flexibility of home-style living with hotel-level service.
Surf-and-turf dining
The culinary journey at Lagoon Beach Hotel celebrates Cape Town’s bounty from land and sea. Expect fresh, locally sourced cuisine served across two in-house restaurants. Whether you’re enjoying breakfast with an ocean view or an intimate dinner as the sun sets over the sea, the dining experiences here are designed to complement the spectacular setting.
Wang Thai restaurant sits within the precinct and is accessed via a shortcut through the undercover parking or via the corridor that connects the hotel rooms with the apartments. Restaurant owner Chaiphorn Leckcharoensuk is also the entrepreneur behind Simply Asia, the affordable noodle and Asian curry outlets around the country.
Wang Thai, now in its third location since it first opened on Cape Town’s foreshore in 1992, offers an elevated approach to cuisine, service, and interior design. The enviable position it shares with Lagoon Beach Hotel brings spectacular ocean sunsets and magnificent sea and mountain views.
The uninitiated can select a set menu that delivers the five Thai tastes: salt, sweet, sour, umami, and bitter, or order à la carte. Farmer’s Weekly’s recommendation is either tom yam, the hot-and-sour soup, or tom ka, a coconut milk and lemongrass soup to begin, or a perennial favourite: sweetcorn fritters.
One of the many curries with steamed rice is essential, or perhaps a platter of Thai-style vegetables. Pad Thai, a peanut-heavy glass noodle dish, is always delicious, and the choice of protein, in addition to fried tofu, is yours.
They offer beef, prawns, fish, and duck. With sour notes from tamarind paste and sweetness from palm sugar, this dish ticks all the right boxes. Make personal adjustments with the served condiments of sliced fresh chilli in fish sauce for a salty, spicy, and umami hit; or, for a punch of heat, ground dried red chillies. Soy sauce is also offered.
To end such a feast, mango sticky rice, when the fruit is in season, is the first recommendation and one of Thailand’s most beloved sweets. Wang Thai also offers battered and deep-fried banana and, on occasion, deep-fried ice cream.
In addition to the extensive Thai menu, there is a vast selection of sushi and sashimi alongside deep-fried options.
At La Mizu, the coastal Japanese bar and restaurant located directly opposite the hotel’s reception area, the menu features fusion dishes not seen elsewhere, including boerewors shakshuka for breakfast and vetkoek/magwenya with interesting fillings like prawn thermidor and roosterkoek sub sandwiches, whilst desserts include matcha brûlée, koeksisters, and triple chocolate bento.
Breakfast is available à la carte or from the buffet in the adjoining Au Bleu restaurant at R265pp.
Spa and wellness
The luxurious Camelot Spa offers body treatments, providing a sanctuary for rejuvenation and relaxation, while the hotel’s three outdoor pools provide options for serious swimming and leisurely lounging.
Conference and events facilities make this an ideal venue for corporate retreats, weddings, and other special occasions, with the dramatic backdrop of Table Mountain and ocean providing an unforgettable setting.
Travellers consistently praise Lagoon Beach Hotel’s excellent staff, breakfast, food, rooms, and service, and reviews unfailingly emphasise the “great location to access the beach”.
For more information phone 021 528 2000, email [email protected], or visit lagoonbeachhotel.co.za.
