The Bloomin' Daisies trailer with its cheerfully-painted flowers beckons from a Cape Town roof deck, and I booked Grand Daddy Hotel without hesitation.
I failed to see the flaw in my plan. Having never stayed in an airstream trailer, I had no idea how little space I had to share with a larger man.
It's not spacious, but it could have been fun if not for the roof deck. A nonstop outdoor party with a full menu and its own bar, partying on the roof deck is always an option. Unfortunately, it is a mandatory option if you're staying in the extremely NOT soundproof trailer right next to the party. With music blaring until at least 9 or 10 PM and people shouting over the music, there is no going to bed early, even if you have a 5 AM shark dive.
My experience, until this point, has been my lack of foresight, for which the hotel is not responsible. What I do hold them responsible for is the bare-minimum, sometimes terrible service. They denied us valet parking during our stay, forcing us to pay for public parking instead of their reduced rates. Plus, they gave us a bottle of drinking water (each room gets two per day), on which the top had broken in transit. Shards of glass were crumbling in my hand and had fallen into the bottle. When I asked for a new bottle, the concierge glared at me. "You already have two bottles in your room." He said this over and over no matter how I tried to explain. I'm not sure which special jerk academy this guy went to, but I've truly never had service this bad.
Otherwise, everything was clean, and the hotel was fine, though a little bit pricey. Breakfast is included at the adjoining Thirty Ate restaurant.
They make a nice Latte, and the cappuccino is nice as well.
The Continental Selection is a lighter option, a buttery croissant and crunchy toast with supermarket light blue cheese, a cute little pot of preserves, and plain yogurt.
Daddy's Pancakes are pretty fluffy, sweet with strawberries and gooey caramelized banana. Strips of chewy, wide-cut bacon add the savory.
Another option is the Rustic. Break the fried egg yolks and let the yellow ooze its way through a bed of mild chorizo, sautéed onions, and chunky potato.
We could do worse for breakfast. Everything tastes fresh, and it's all made quite well, so when we were too tired to go out one night, we had dinner there as well.
Dinner was a mistake. Despite the hit-the-spot Chicken Schnitzel, the experience was appalling.
Things started to go downhill when the server brought me Avocado Toast & Bacon Jam. The plate looked delicious, the avocado ripe and the bacon jam a gooey sweet n' savory side...Except I ordered the Baked Camembert. It would have been an honest mistake, had I not pointed to the menu while I ordered. The server came back to tell me that they were out of Camembert. Likely story...the kitchen also happened to be closing and cheese takes a while to bake. Make of it what you will.
I asked for the check multiple times when we were clearly finished. Multiple times. He never brought it until my husband asked.
Grand Daddy Hotel, despite a convenient location and a high-potential experience, is nothing more than a costly tourist trap. The hotel and its restaurant do not cater to their customers, and between the incorrect dinner order and a bottle of broken glass, I recommend you steer clear. At the end of the day, it's just another tourist trap.
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