Locals are priced out

TOURIST TOWN: FIVE-NIGHT STAY FOR TWO IN JANUARY COSTS R40K-R55K

A growing segment of hotels in Cape Town targeting foreign tourists are becoming unaffordable for South Africans. This is particularly true of the V&A Waterfront, which is pursuing a strategy of owning more and more of its hotels going forward.

Some hotels in the city, like the new luxury hotel development at the waterfront's Quay 7 (behind the existing Table Bay Hotel, towards the helistop) are explicitly for the very wealthy. More One&Only than Westin, for example.

In December and January in particular, Cape Town is not wallet-friendly to South Africans.

Flights are hellishly expensive. Try R7 000 return per person for a "last minute" five-night, six-day trip after Christmas Day, returning after New Year's Day. Soon, that'll be R8 000. A midsize rental car such as a Toyota Corolla Cross will set you back R13 000.

That's nearly R30 000 for a couple just to get there and get around. Then there's accommodation. Moneyweb costed a five-night stay (including a weekend) in late January for two adults. This period was selected as it is after schools return for 2025 but is still in season.

Within the Waterfront precinct, the prices for a Tuesday-to-Sunday stay stretch from R280 000 at the One&Only and R190 000 at The Silo Hotel, down to the roughly R25 000 level at the Breakwater Lodge (a Protea/ Marriott property) and AC Hotel by Marriott, on the harbour side nearest the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).