Century City Hotel, built at a cost of R200 million and located adjacent to the new Century City Conference Centre, Cape Town, is catering for both business and leisure markets and with its 125 rooms it brings the total number of rooms now available in Century City to 600.
It is the sixth hotel within the burgeoning precinct with construction having commenced at the beginning of May 2014 and its doors having opening during Q1 2016.
The development was a response to the growing demand for hotel accommodation at Century City which is now home to more than 4000 residential front doors and 500 businesses. The office component at Century City alone exceeds 300 000 square metres making it the third largest commercial precinct, says Greg Deans, a director of Rabie Property Group.
General Manager of the new hotel, Walda Meyer, says it has been designed to be out of the ordinary with a great emphasis having been placed on room efficiencies for both business and leisure travellers.
“The only thing traditional about it is the laundry shoot.”
Among its iconic features is a Green Wall comprising more than 3500 living plants that forms a backdrop to the reception area.
Paolo Viotti of Vivid Architects, says every city should have at least one public square that offers a dynamic, vibrant and safe environment for the public to enjoy.
“Century City Hotel is one of three buildings that now form the new Century City Square, a beautifully proportioned space that will offer users the opportunity to socialize, relax, dine and be entertained. The Hotel experience within this environment is further enhanced by the introduction of the extended canal system of Century City and the bold landscaping themes that frame this development. “
He says the urban design and planning of this precinct has ensured and encouraged pedestrian connectivity and hierarchy of that over the motor vehicle, a comfortable and safe human environment and a seamless interface between building and square.
“The Hotel architecture has employed the maximum use of glass at the ground floor plane to ensure transparency between inside and out while the developer’s brief has ensured that restaurants, coffee shops and Hotel public areas spill out onto the square to ensure there is a constant buzz of activity, life and energy.”
Meyer says the multi-purpose Square Café and Wine Bar on the ground floor of the hotel have been designed to be part of the public square on to which they flow and to welcome not only hotel residents but also non-residents.
The square, which will host community and cultural events, is also fronted by the neighbouring Century City Conference Centre, offices, restaurants and apartments with this entire development representing a private equity investment of more than R1billion.
The other hotels at Century City, which will also benefit from the new Century City Conference Centre, are the 180 room African Pride Crystal Towers Hotel & Spa, the 165 room Stay Easy, the 68 room Colosseum Luxury Hotel and two boutique hotels Manhattan Suites and Island Club which have 28 suites and 23 rooms respectively.
Century City Conference Centre to boost business tourism to Cape
The 1200 seat Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town is located in the Century City Square development within walking distance of the Canal Walk Shopping Centre, convenience retailing at Colosseum, the MyCiTi bus station, as well as the Century City Station.
The Conference Centre is expected to attract major additional business tourism to Cape Town, according to Alan Winde, the Minister of Economic Opportunities in the Western Cape.
The Rabie Property Group has developed the Conference Centre as an integral part of the Century City Square, the new commercial and hospitality hub of Century City, which has been completed at a cost of R1 billion.
The development comprises the Century City Conference Centre, a 125 room hotel, offices, apartments and restaurants all situated around an open public square with 1330 under cover parking bays being provided in a super basement and structured parking garage.
With a total capacity of 1900, the Century City Conference Centre has been designed to complement Cape Town and Century City’s existing facilities and to not only fill a gap in the market but to also further cement Cape Town’s position as one of the world’s most sought-after conference destinations.
It offers flexible configurations and a total of 20 different venues including 11 meeting and breakaway rooms as well as a business lounge.
Three adjoining halls on the ground floor have a total capacity of more than 1200 delegates seated cinema style with a fourth hall able to accommodate a further 480 delegates cinema style. The multi-function venues are also available for banqueting and exhibitions while a large pre-assembly area is available for exhibitions, product launches and the like.
Officially opening the Conference Centre in February, Minister Winde commended the Rabie Property Group for its R1billion investment at The Square.
He said the tourism sector had been identified as a key growth area for the region and one of the strategic goals they had set themselves was to create an enabling environment which would grow business tourism to the region.
The new Century City Conference Centre and Hotel, he said, would make a major contribution to drawing in and accommodating new business to Cape Town and increase the number of conference delegates to the region. It was also generating more than 300 new jobs.
The joint CEOs, Gary Koetser and Glyn Taylor, estimate the Conference Centre will host in excess of 72 000 delegates in its first year alone and say over 300 new jobs have been created in the conference centre and hotel.
The Conference Centre was a response to market demand and had been designed to complement Cape Town and Century City’s other conferencing facilities, says Koetser.
