celebrating 115 years

It was in February 1800 that the Barnards (Irishman Andrew barnard & his Scottish wife Lady Anne Barnard - nee Lindsay) moved into their new home "The Vineyard"

In 1894 a Scottish Banker – James Mitchell, decided to buy ‘The Vineyard’ – not so much as a home, but as an investment. He decided to turn it into a Hotel, and a formidable Irishwoman named Mrs. O’Sullivan was appointed to run it as ‘The Vineyard Hotel’. Rudyard Kipling came out to the Cape in 1898 and stayed at the Vineyard for a while. He loved the surroundings and described the hotel as "a quiet place surrounded by oaks under the shadow of Table Mountain. He described Mrs O'Sullivan and her helpers: "The hotel is kept by three thoroughly
acid female devils, one with a moustache and no figure, who have made things just as unpleasant all around for the guests as the twelve hours of daylight would let 'em, but in spite of it all, we all got on very well!"

War broke out in 1899, a bitter battle between the British and the Boers, but Cape Town was crowded and financially buoyant. During this time the Vineyard Hotel flourished, where every room and every inch of space was occupied.

The following years saw the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 and during this time The Vineyard kept its place as one of Cape Town's best loved hotels.

In 1948, after the second world world, Mr and Mrs Turkstra bought the hotel. The Turkstra's will be remembered as the people who brought the fountain to The Vineyard.

The tradition of The Vineyard, its history, its romance and elegance has been revised and extended by the Petousis family who came to the hotel in 1980. The Petousis Family – who had previously owned the Criterion Hotel in Johannesburg and in 1973 built the Townhouse Hotel in Cape Town saw the huge potential and redeveloped the property into one of the finest hotels in the Cape.

Today the Vineyard Hotel & Spa is a deluxe hotel with 207 rooms, situated in 6 acres of attractive landscaped parkland, on the banks of the Liesbeek River, overlooking the forested slopes of Table Mountain. It has two restaurants, ‘The Square’ – the hotel’s main restaurant - a great favourite for breakfast and dinner, as well as a popular sushi bar. ‘Myoga’ – an outsourced restaurant run by the well known Executive Chef, Mike Bassett, renowned for his contemporary fusion style of cooking. It also boasts two heated swimming pools – one outdoors, surrounded by loungers, and one indoors. The addition of an award winning Conference Centre, a Health & Fitness Centre and an outstanding international Angsana Spa contributes to its position as ‘The Perfect Setting’.

115 commemorative box of wines A limited edition of 115 cherry wood boxes each containing 5 wines from our wine partners - Simonsig Cuvee 2003, Meerlust Rubicon 2005, Warwick Three Cape Ladies 2005, Waterford Kevin Arnold Shiraz 2005 & Klein Constantia Vin de Constance 2004. Signed by the winemakers & available for sale at R1150.00 for enquiries: eat@vineyard.co.za