Simon’s Town Guest House

This was a fantastic guesthouse, the location was perfect and the room was very modern and clean with stunning views. The bed was very comfortable and Nicky went above and beyond to make our stay a great one. Nicky cooked us the most delicious breakfast in the mornings and there was a very good restaurant at the foot of the hill which we could walk to for dinner at night. We felt very welcome and safe, and would highly recommend staying here. Close to boulders beach, Simons Town and cape of good hope.

When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed. The room was spacious, clean and had a wonderful view. The breakfast was complete and the service was nice and friendly. The accomodation is on a good location, and there is enough parking-space on the street.

My husband and I had booked in to the Aha Quayside Simons Town hotel from Friday 7 April, departing on Monday 10 April. We booked via Bookings.Com as our usual booking agent. We left this hotel – with as much haste as we could muster – on Saturday 8 January (please see flight home). This was 2 nights early. This hotel is an absolute disgrace. I wish I could find something nice about the hotel – oh wait, there’s the view (one of the reasons we chose the hotel) and there was one employee who fetched ice for us. But that’s it. Oh and I did request an early check-in – we arrived at 11:30 and were “checked-in” (if you can call it that) 30 mins before the actual check-in time. Those are the only good things I can say about this hotel. My husband and I thought this was an easy choice, having stayed at other Aha hotels previously – most notable is Shepards Tree which we have frequented many times over the last few years. And have enjoyed. So, the state this hotel is in and the fact that it is still “rated” a 4 star hotel, absolutely horrifies me. I will try break this down. The check-in – When we arrived, the hotel felt almost deserted. Yes, it was Good Friday and a holiday. But it’s a hotel and as such, if they are booking rooms and taking money for the stay over a holiday, they should be prepared to have staff to serve their clientele. After all – that is what they do! After sitting at the reception desk – where there was an empty sherry bottle (which I can only assume was sherry as we weren’t offered any, despite my husband asking for some) and 5 used glasses – for about 10 mins, someone eventually “sort of” checked us in. We were told by this employee (I never got her name) that she was currently on leave that day and just happened to be in the hotel. She was walking around in tracksuit pants, a sweater and a baseball cap. Someone who is dressed like that and on leave should not be dealing with guests, but should rather see where the staff member on duty is. We were asked whether we wanted separate beds? Apparently this had been requested. I didn’t request this. As a married couple of 11 years, we found this to be a very odd question. We were told to wait while the staff “pushed the beds together and put on different sheets”. We waited. There was no offer to help bring in the suitcases in from the car (it was raining at the time so perhaps no one wanted to get wet?), so my husband brought them in. When the apparent receptionist eventually came to sit with us – it felt like she was gracing us with her presence actually - she just sat at the computer, typed whatever she was typing and when I asked for a later check-out (I hadn’t seen the room yet), she simply replied – “I can do 12 and that’s it”. Fine. I thanked her for her help. My husband who was shivering at this point asked whether that was sherry on the table. She simply replied “Yes”. I had to say to her “I believe my husband is asking if he can have some”. Nothing. She didn’t mov

If you want to stay somewhere close to the penguins, as someone else said, it doesn’t get any better than this. And that was what was most important to us. Even if the beaches are closed, you can see the penguins on the walkways that connect them. You are literally staying next to the entrance to Boulders Beach. You can pretty much see penguins at any time of day. If you want a good nights sleep you may want to bring ear plugs. The penguins woke us up at 3:00 am. But we didn’t mind. It was all part of the experience. It is a short walk to Simonstown which we did as well. We spent most of our time enjoying the penguins because that’s what we came for, and it was fabulous.

View was fabulous, very close to restaurant & beach