Where to stay in Cape Town: the best areas and hotels

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront is Cape Town at its most polished: a working harbour wrapped in restaurants, shops, the Two Oceans Aquarium and the Zeitz MOCAA art museum in a converted grain silo. Ferries leave from here for Robben Island, and the views of Table Mountain across the marina are glorious.

Many of the city's top hotels are here. One&Only sits on its own islands in the heart of the Waterfront with mountain views, Cape Grace looks over the marina, and the Dock House is a small, opulent boutique hotel. The Table Bay has panoramas of the mountain, the harbour and Robben Island. It's safe, walkable and perfect for a first visit, if a little removed from local life.

Cape Town's compact centre has been transformed into one of the most exciting places to eat and drink in Africa. Bree Street is the foodie strip, lined with art galleries, restaurants and wine bars; Long Street is louder, with bars and live music; and the Bo-Kaap climbs the slopes of Signal Hill in a riot of brightly painted houses and spice shops.

Hotels are full of character. The Taj occupies the former South African Reserve Bank, Gorgeous George mixes Art Deco and Edwardian buildings with an urban edge, and the Pullman is 200 metres from Bree Street with a free shuttle to the Waterfront. The Hyatt Regency puts you on the edge of the Bo-Kaap, close to two of the city's hottest food streets.

Climb from the city towards Table Mountain and the streets turn leafy. Gardens is built around the Company's Garden, the city's oldest green space, and Kloof Street is packed with cafés, restaurants and cocktail bars. Above it, Oranjezicht and Tamboerskloof are quiet residential suburbs with fabulous views over the city and the bay.

The pink-walled Mount Nelson, set in its own gardens, is one of Africa's most famous grand hotels. The Capital 15 on Orange sits by the Company's Garden with a short walk to Kloof Street, Abbey Manor is a century-old guesthouse on the slopes of Table Mountain, and Canopy by Hilton Longkloof is a relaxed, design-led base near the restaurants.

Sea Point stretches along the Atlantic just west of the Waterfront, with a long seafront promenade where locals run, cycle and watch the sunset. Green Point, next door, has the stadium and the park, while Bantry Bay, wedged beneath Lion's Head, is a wind-sheltered enclave of glamorous villas and sea-view hotels.

Ellerman House is one of Cape Town's most exclusive hotels, on the slopes of Lion's Head with Atlantic views. The President Hotel in Bantry Bay has a palm-fringed infinity pool looking out to sea, The Clarendon Bantry Bay is a spa guesthouse, and The Cole is a boutique hotel in Sea Point a short drive from Clifton and Camps Bay.

Camps Bay is Cape Town's glamorous beach suburb: a broad sweep of white sand backed by palms, a strip of bars and restaurants facing the ocean, and the peaks of the Twelve Apostles rising behind. The water is cold, but nobody comes for the swimming; they come for the scenery and the sunsets.

The Bay Hotel sits on the promenade directly opposite the beach, and POD Camps Bay is a stylish guesthouse in the heart of it all. Further along Victoria Road, the Twelve Apostles Hotel sits between mountain and sea, and Tintswalo Atlantic, in Hout Bay, is a 13-room lodge on the water's edge with fireplaces and private balconies.

Constantia is the Cape's oldest wine valley, a lush, leafy suburb on the far side of Table Mountain where historic estates pour world-class wines and lunch can last all afternoon. It's quiet and green, and handy for the beaches of False Bay and the drive down to Cape Point.

Alphen is a five-star boutique hotel in a Provincial Heritage site on the edge of the Constantia Greenbelt. Last Word Constantia is close to seven of the area's top wine estates, and Colona Castle sits on the mountainside overlooking False Bay and the peninsula, with four-poster beds and a terrace restaurant.

Across Table Bay to the north, Bloubergstrand and Milnerton have long sandy beaches, kitesurfers and the most famous view of Table Mountain, seen whole across the water. It's more relaxed and suburban than the Atlantic Seaboard, with more space for families.

The Blaauwberg Beach Hotel is steps from the beachfront, with Atlantic views from every room and interconnecting rooms for families. The Lagoon Beach Hotel sits on a wide stretch of white sand at Milnerton, with panoramic views of the mountain and the ocean.