Like clockwork, the Noon Gun is fired from Monday to Saturday, and witnessing it from Dorp’s roof-top terrace is a visceral experience.

Located, as Dorp is, at the very top of Longmarket Street in Schotchekloof, a residential area in Bo-Kaap, Dorp is almost directly beneath the cannon fire.

Despite having witnessed the Noon Gun many thousands of times while in the city, to experience it so nearby is unforgettable.

The thunderous sound is not only heard but also felt, like a belly punch that leaves one a little winded, if for a moment.

The Noon Gun is one of the defining sounds of Cape Town and has, since 1806, been fired from Signal Hill. Another defining sound of the area is the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, heard at intervals throughout the day.

During Farmer’s Weekly’s visit to Dorp, muezzins from two different mosques within earshot called out from their minarets – the first, in a boyish soprano voice, followed moments later by a more mature one.

Time spent at Dorp is thus rewarded. It is an entirely Cape Town experience that looks and feels as if it has always kept watch over the city.

The legacy of Gail Behr

Gail Behr of Plettenberg Bay is renowned as the Baroness of Kurland, a designer at Homework, hotelier at The Grand Café and Rooms and, later still, the Grand Africa Café and Beach. Dorp was her most recent project and sadly her last, as she passed away in 2022.

With its Georgian façade, it looks like it has held its pre-eminent position for a century or more.

Even a gander at the gardens feels like a glimpse of Table Mountain itself, with its big, shady greens and mature, fruit-bearing olive trees, and yet it is barely five years old.
The accommodations in Dorp, comprising 40 rooms and suites, are set up as a village. It is furnished rather than decorated.

This is not a criticism but a great compliment at how comfortable the guest experience is. The attention to detail is also remarkable.

While items may not be antiques, they certainly have had a life elsewhere and, like the vast and varied collection of books everywhere at Dorp, it all adds to the feeling of being in a beloved home.

Charming details and whimsical touches

The mod cons are there, of course – multi-plugs with USB, fast Wi-Fi, a digital safe, Nespresso machine and milk frother but, the linens, in Arcadia Six where Farmer’s Weekly was billeted, might have come from ancestral palaces far away.

Eschewing the duvet for sheets, blankets and bedspread is just one of the ways that makes a stay here unforgettable. The other, of which much is to be found, is whimsy.

In-room bathroom amenities are not off-the-shelf items but made for Dorp. Dorp-stamped soap bars are fun, while shampoo and conditioner are decanted into plastic squeeze bottles that tomato sauce is ordinarily served in at a cheap diner.

In the bathroom is a tin labelled ‘Behr Necessities’. While the nod to the Jungle Book is amusing, the hard-candy elasticated bracelet is hilarious. Dorp supplies the essentials like toothbrush, antacid, and a smart sewing kit too.

Dorp mixes high and low to great effect. Delicious home-made rusks are in a jar at the coffee station.

Another jar has Jelly Tots, chocolate slabs and other nibbles.

Dorp has no liquor licence. They will, however, prestock a boozy locker for your exclusive use with advance warning, and invite you to enjoy a DIY gin and tonic in the sitting room of Arcadia at no additional charge.

Dorp has plunge pools around the property. Like everything else they do, these are elegantly stylish yet comfortable spaces.

The Dorp team is a very important part of why you will want to return here. Sassy and self-assured, the team wear a uniform of a long Indian Kurta pyjama top with their names embroidered on each.

The Salon is the name given to the hub of the hotel. This area houses the sitting room and the dining room with large windows and the name Dorp spelled out on four painted pillar-style artworks.

Elegant gold lettering such as one might see on a museum’s wall demands: ‘Check Your Privilege’.

There are green-baize-covered notice boards with little announcements secured by drawing pins. The messages might vary from one from Gail, telling guests not to take her collection of books away with them, or a sketch of an animal with its hairs on edge that says: ‘Pee on the electric fence, it will be fun, they said.’

Another shows a quote by the late Anthony Bourdain, renowned chef and travel documentarian: “If you’re a cheap tipper or rude to your server, you are dead to me.
You are lower than whale faeces.”

A culinary haven of homely luxury

Dorp is open to the public for lunch and for dinner. Breakfast, however, is a celebration for in-house guests and again speaks to the generosity of spirit and care the Dorp team takes.

Apart from the usual fare, they serve a delicious, rusty-coloured shakshuka that is heady with cumin and boasts perfectly poached eggs simmering above.

The home-made chocolate and cinnamon pastry is a famous thing but none is, however, as famous as their roast chicken, available on the lunch and dinner menus. Whatever their ‘secret’ recipe might be, it is a deeply succulent dish.

Not high cuisine but the kind of meal one wants to eat more than once, made with dedicated time and care.

Yes, it may be everyday, but it’s certainly not commonplace, wholesome but not puritanical, sensual but not salacious.

For more information visit dorp.co.za.