The StayEasy Hotel Cape Town City Bowl is in the city center area, overlooking the skyline and the famous Table Mountain. It is part of a local South African chain of hotels operated by the Tsogo Sun hotel company.
The StayEasy Hotel in Cape Town is ideally located for the city center and to walk to nearby attractions such as the Table Mountain Cable Car or the V&A shopping mall at the Waterfront.
Related: Read My Full, One Week South African Road Trip Itinerary Here
Finding the Hotel
The StayEasy hotel is on Bree Street but if you want to park in their garage the best is to set your GPS to Castle street where the parking garage entrance is.
Entering the StayEasy City Bowl Hotel
If you come from the direction of Bree Street, the reception desk will be on your right as you enter through the big revolving doors. If you parked your car, take the lift to the Ground Floor and walk to the reception on your right. The car park cost 50 rand per day allowing entry and exit any time during the stay.
First Impressions
I really liked the design and feel of the hotel – it was super clean and smelled fresh when we entered. It is not your typical low-key chain, they have put a lot of effort and money into designing and building the place.
The Lobby Area
The lobby was in front of the reception with three separate seating areas and a big screen TV on the left of the reception desk. The lobby had huge glass windows letting in lots of natural light and making the whole place seem airy and bright.
Checking In
The check-in process was good and Keitumetse, the receptionist was very helpful. Checking in took a bit longer than usual because they were fully booked and we arrived late in the day so they did not have the type of room we booked. In the end we received a room with two single beds instead of a double.
The Lift and Public Areas
There were four lifts and stairs, but the stairs were only open to the public areas and I could not walk up to the room. I tried this once as the lifts were taking ages every morning and I got up to the 6th floor when I figured out that the door wouldn’t open!
I was pretty pissed off about it because I had to walk all the way down even though the staff told me I could take the stairs up to the room!
The lifts were pretty slow and in the mornings and evenings it got super busy with people taking the lift for just one floor, slowing the entire system down.
Inside the Room
I was on the eight floor with views over Table Mountain and the city. The room smelled very fresh and I especially liked the door and the door numbers. The key card worked for the first time although mid-stay they had to recut the keys as one of them got deactivated.
As I entered the room it was already very nice and cool, and smelled really good with their own air freshener. The bathroom was in front of me with the bed and the fridge, desk and TV on the left.
The Beds At The StayEasy Hotel
There were two single beds in the room with two pillows on each – I thought it was really comfortable. The pillows were firm, just as I like them and the duvet was light but warm.
The Rest of the Bedroom
There was a big flat screen TV in front of the beds and on the side were the coat hangers, a couple of drawers and a seat.
There was a fridge, a bar stool and a granite worktop in the room with some quirky design features like the hair dryer hidden under the table and the shelves and drawers fitted around the seat.
The views from the room were pretty amazing and I could open the windows half way so at night I could sleep with the fresh air coming into the room.
Wifi in the Room
The wifi was quite fast and I could watch youtube and check my mail.
The Bathroom
I really liked the bathroom, especially how spacious it was. The only thing I did not like was the fact that the towel hanger was right above the toilet, so I was always worried the towel would fall into the toilet or touch the water when I dry myself.
The shower was nice and spacious with instant hot water although we visited during the worst drought in history so we had to be cautious with our water usage.
Breakfast
The breakfast room was on the first floor with at least 100 tables and several staff on hand to help. The problem is the layout of the breakfast area was not very well designed so I had to run back and forth between my table and the various parts of the self-service area.
For example, the flat plates were under cereals and yogurts while the breakfast bowls were under the sausages and the bacon, so when I wanted my cereals I had to walk to the sausage bit for the bowls. I then forgot to pick up a spoon and they did not have any on the table, so I had to walk back.
There was also no fork and knife left on the table because they couldn’t clean the tables fast enough after all the guests.
On my final day they forgot to put the mustard out and once they did there was nothing to serve the mustard with so I had to use my knife to get it out of the bottle.
The lamb sausage was also cold by the time I sorted everything out and the glasses were far too small so I had to take two to have enough juice.
Overall Impressions
I would say it is a nice hotel but they need to sort out the breakfast area – otherwise I have nothing to complain about really.
Address: 54 Bree St, Cape Town City Centre, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa
Telephone: 0027 21 492 9988
