Ellerman House

Ellerman House is the best luxury hotel in Cape Town for travellers who want a private house rather than a hotel. Thirteen rooms and suites plus two villas fill a 1912 Edwardian manor above Bantry Bay, hung with one of South Africa's most significant private art collections. Two Michelin Keys, Relais & Chateaux.

"A thirteen room Edwardian manor holding one of the finest private South African art collections, a spiral wine cellar and uninterrupted ocean frontage."

Aggregate 9.5/10 on our editorial scale (Room & Design, Service, Location). Independently scored; see our methodology. This is our opinion, not an aggregate of user reviews.

Affiliate disclosure: we may earn a commission from bookings at no cost to you. We never accept payment for placement. Hotel status, room product and awards were verified against official sources in July 2026. Michelin does not operate a restaurant guide in Africa, so no restaurant listed here is starred; Michelin Keys are a separate award for hotels.

What makes Ellerman House special?

Ellerman House earns the top spot on rarity, not on scale. The house is an Edwardian manor built in 1912 for the family of shipping magnate Sir John Ellerman, and it has operated as a hotel continuously since 1988 without a rebrand or a group takeover. What separates it from every other address on the Atlantic Seaboard is one of South Africa's most significant private art collections, hung through the drawing rooms, corridors and bedrooms as part of daily life rather than sealed into a gallery wing. Guests walk past the works on the way to breakfast. The second proprietary asset is the Wine Gallery, a sculptural spiral cellar of South African wine that runs from the iconic estates to producers few visitors will have heard of. Inside it sits Curate, the dedicated multi-course dining experience, which opened in May 2024 and marked its first year in May 2025. House sommelier Joe Beziek was named South Africa's Best Young Sommelier in 2026. The hotel holds two Michelin Keys from the guide's first South African selection in 2025, is a Relais & Chateaux member, and was named the top city hotel in Cape Town in the 2025 Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards.

Which room should you book?

The house holds 13 rooms and suites in five categories, plus two separate villas on the estate. The line-up runs from a single Classic House Room and a single Superior House Room through seven Deluxe House Rooms and two Deluxe Spa Rooms to two Ellerman House Suites. The two Deluxe Spa Rooms adjoin the spa itself, which is the practical choice for guests who plan to use it daily. Villa One is bookable as either a three or a five bedroom house and can be taken with exclusive use of the spa at a premium; Villa Two has three bedrooms. Because there are only 13 keys in the main house, category matters more here than at a large hotel: there is no volume of similar rooms to move you into if the one you booked is not what you pictured. Interiors sit inside a 1912 Edwardian manor, so proportions and outlooks vary room to room rather than repeating. Rates are inclusive in character, covering breakfast and house beverages among other items; confirm the exact inclusion list with the hotel before booking.

Where should you eat and drink?

Ellerman House has no conventional public restaurant, and that is deliberate. Dining is a seasonal, kitchen-led menu served to house guests, described by the property as seasonal, locally sourced and South African, rather than a booked-out dining room shared with the city. The set-piece is Curate, a dedicated multi-course dining experience set inside the sculptural Wine Gallery, which opened in May 2024 and passed its first anniversary in May 2025. The Wine Gallery is the reason to eat there: a spiral cellar of South African wine running from the country's iconic estates to emerging producers, with house sommelier Joe Beziek, named South Africa's Best Young Sommelier in 2026, running the pairings. One clarification worth making, because it is the most common error written about Cape Town dining: the Michelin Guide's restaurant selection does not operate anywhere in Africa, so no restaurant here or anywhere else in the country holds a Michelin star. Ellerman's two Michelin Keys are a hotel award, not a restaurant one. Guests who want a wide choice of on-site restaurants and bars will need to drive out for dinner.

What is the spa and pool like?

Ellerman House has both a spa and an outdoor pool, but both are scaled to a 13-room house. The spa sits on the estate and is run in house, with no third-party brand attached. Two guest rooms, the Deluxe Spa Rooms, adjoin it directly, which is the closest thing in Cape Town to having treatment rooms next door to your bed. Villa One can be booked with exclusive use of the spa at a premium, which is the option for a family or a group that wants the facility to itself. The pool is outdoors on the lawn terrace above the Atlantic, with striped loungers and umbrellas and an open outlook over Bantry Bay. It is not rooftop and not indoor, so it is a summer asset first: in the May to August low season the Atlantic Seaboard is cool, wet and windy, and the terrace is often a view rather than a swim.

Where is Ellerman House, and how do you get there?

Ellerman House stands at 180 Kloof Road in Bantry Bay, on the slope between the road and the Atlantic, between Sea Point and Clifton. The trade is a straight one: uninterrupted ocean frontage in exchange for a car. Bantry Bay is a steep residential street with no shops, restaurants or nightlife within a comfortable walk, so every dinner, museum and beach trip is a drive or a hotel transfer. Approximate off-peak driving times put the V&A Waterfront about 6 km away at 10 to 15 minutes, the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway lower station about 7 km at around 15 minutes, and Cape Town International Airport about 27 km at 30 to 35 minutes. Traffic between 07:00 and 09:00 and again from 16:00 to 18:30 can double those figures. Like Camps Bay, Oudekraal and Constantia, this stretch of the Atlantic Seaboard is car-dependent by design, with limited pavements and no walkable route into the city. Guests who want to step out of the door into a neighbourhood should look at the City Bowl instead.

What do guests consistently say?

Guest feedback on Ellerman House splits cleanly between the experience, which is consistently praised, and the price, which is consistently questioned. The recurring positives track the things the property is built around: the art collection encountered casually through the house, the Wine Gallery and its pairings, and the ratio of staff to the 13 rooms, which produces a level of recognition that larger hotels cannot match. Third-party recognition points the same way, with two Michelin Keys in the 2025 inaugural South African selection, Relais & Chateaux membership, and the top city hotel placing in Cape Town in the 2025 Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards. The recurring negatives are equally consistent. Reviewers flag the rate as hard to justify against the wider Cape Town luxury market even in the cheapest month, and guests without a car or a driver find the Bantry Bay address limiting after the first day. A smaller group finds the house too quiet, with no bar scene and no choice of restaurants on site.

Honest cons: who should skip it?

Three honest limitations. First, price. Even the entry-level room sits at the top of the Cape Town market in the cheapest month of the year, and both guests and reviewers consistently name it as the hardest thing to justify about the hotel; the value case rests entirely on the art, the wine and the service ratio, so guests who do not engage with those will feel the gap. Second, the location is car-dependent. Bantry Bay is a steep residential slope with no restaurants, shops or nightlife within a comfortable walk, and there is no walkable route into the city, so every outing is a drive or a hotel transfer. Third, scale. With 13 rooms, no full public restaurant and no bar scene, the property is deliberately still. Guests who want atmosphere, a choice of places to eat on site, or a large resort spa will find it limited, and the outdoor pool and terrace are weather-dependent in the wet May to August low season.