Signature Lux Hotel by ONOMO, Waterfront

The skilful design of the 89 contemporary-style rooms has assured the preservation of this Waterfront heritage building. Sitting in the hotel's Vivaldi restaurant, one can see the impressive beams of the original warehouse, built in 1901 for German importer Wilhelm Spilhaus. Samantha Annandale, Onomo Group's Regional Operational Director, stresses that the historical integrity of the building is of huge importance to the group. Designer Johan Frank, of the property company Richland Properties, was challenged by keeping the authenticity of the building all the while transforming it into a hotel. "Some of the rooms have these beautiful beams running through them and we also have an incredible collection of antique furniture thanks to the developer's vision for the hotel," says general manager Walda Meyer.

Vivaldi, the hotel's restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, supports the adjacent Waterfront Theatre School with live performances nightly by musical theatre students from the school. Annandale describes the restaurant as 'not your typical hotel restaurant'. "We wanted to offer our guests something unusual, and with Onomo group's love of the arts and the Waterfront Theatre School as our neighbour, it was a resounding sign to pair the two together. The result is something special, and we plan to put Vivaldi on the Cape Town nightlife map."

The hotel has also placed a strong focus on servicing the tech-lovers and offers self-service kiosks that allow guests to check in and out as the hotel's app incorporates check-in and check-out facilities, mobile key function, and easy reservation, laundry, room service, instant messaging with the front desk, and wi'fi dialling services. Televisions in the rooms are set up with Chromecast, which allows guests to screen mirror from their phones to the telescreen.

The Onomo Group's expansion continues, as they remain steadfast to their strategy of becoming the leading pan African mid-market hospitality professional platform. To add to various recent hotel openings in Kigali and Durban, the group is planning openings in Casablanca, Maputo, Douala, Kampala, Tangier and Dar es Salaam.