Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel

We use the Belmond Mount Nelson when a journey needs a calm first two nights. It stands in the Gardens at the foot of Table Mountain, with the Company's Garden next door, and it has been a hotel since 1899. With 197 rooms it is larger than our other Cape Town choices, but the grounds absorb people. You spend the first afternoon in the gardens or by the pool, and dinner is in the hotel, early, so the long-haul flight can settle.

For families it is our usual Cape Town base. There are two pools, the gardens give children room to run, and afternoon tea is an institution here. For grandparents we ask for the garden suites with level access. The Sabi Sand Estate, The Malaria-Free Family Circuit and South Africa Complete all open here, for families of four to six, up to three generations.

On the golf side it starts The Southern Arc and Gorillas, Migration & Golf. A day here is easy to fill or to leave empty. Klein Constantia is a short drive for a private tasting, and the dinners we book are FYN in the City Bowl and Salsify at The Roundhouse in Camps Bay. Your guide is on call for anything else.

You fly into Cape Town International, where we meet you and drive you to the hotel. From here your Embraer Phenom 300 takes you to George for Fancourt in under an hour. On The Sabi Sand Estate a King Air 350 flies the family straight to the Arathusa strip in the Sabi Sand.

Good to know

• Cape Town is malaria-free.
• All ages are welcome, and there are two pools.
• The Company's Garden is next door, an easy walk for every generation.

Country: South Africa