Atlantic House

Welcome. I'm Asanda.

Quick orientation. The mountain behind you is the Twelve Apostles. The beach is two minutes downhill. The sunsets here go straight out west over the Atlantic, no buildings, no city skyline in the way.

This works best as a base camp, not a hotel. The kitchen is real, the braai works, use them.

Two notes for your first day:

• Swim in the morning. By 4pm the southeaster picks up and the pool deck gets cold.
• Read the Pool, beach access & security section before you do anything else. The alarm has a 30-second window and the pool is unfenced from the lounge.

Three to five nights is about right. By night two the place feels like yours. By night six the wind starts to feel personal.

Three boxes in the villa, main lounge (behind the TV), kitchen, master bedroom. All three blink white when they're working. Coverage reaches the pool deck.

Tuesday 2am quirk. The internet line goes quiet for about three minutes every Tuesday at 2am for routine maintenance. The boxes reconnect on their own. Don't unplug anything, it'll sort itself out before you've finished worrying.

Need a backup? The Vodacom shops on the main road sell data-only SIMs for under R200. Signal in Camps Bay is reliable enough that most guests don't bother.

The villa sits halfway up the slope on Victoria Road, with the ocean on one side and Lion's Head behind you. Look for the white modernist gate with a brass numeral 47.

📍 Camps Bay Beach is one block downhill, the easiest landmark for any taxi or rideshare driver. Once you can see the beach, you're 90 seconds from the gate.

From Cape Town International (CPT): about 35 minutes by Uber/Bolt (R350–R450) or 25 minutes via the M3 + M62 if you're driving yourself.

Parking is in the underground garage. The remote is on the welcome table next to the keys. Point it at the white sensor on the gatepost from inside the car. The bay closest to the lift is yours; the second bay is for visitors.

Walking distance from your door:

• 📍 Camps Bay Beach, 3 minutes downhill.
• 📍 The Promenade, 4 minutes. The best sunset bench is opposite the music school.
• 📍 The Codfather Camps Bay, 6 minutes. A 25-year institution for fresh fish.

Check-in is anytime after 3pm. Nomvula (the on-site manager) leaves a welcome note on the kitchen counter on arrival days.

• Punch the code into the keypad on the left pillar
• The gate swings inward, stand clear of the arc
• The garage remote is in the kitchen drawer on the right, blue label

One annoying quirk: the garage sensor is touchy. Pop your boot before you reach for the remote, or it can read the motion as a close command.

Parking. Three flat bays inside the gate.

Do not park on the slope to the right of the gate. The gradient is steeper than it looks and rental-car handbrakes aren't built for it. Not something we want to discover at 2am.

Meeting Nomvula. She's on-site Mon–Fri, 9am–12pm. Handles linens and pool chemistry, interior cleaning is already done before you arrive. If something needs sorting in those hours, she's the fastest person to call.

Pool

Heated to around 26°C. Best in the morning, before the southeaster picks up, by 4pm the wind off the Atlantic makes the pool deck cold fast.

• Pool gate (between lounge and pool deck) uses a two-handed child-safety latch: lift the lever up while pulling the gate toward you at the same time. Deliberately awkward
• The pool is visible but unfenced from the lounge-side sliding doors. Children can't be left unsupervised near it
• No glass at the pool, ever. Acrylic wine glasses are in the cupboard above the braai, use those

Beach access

Don't go out the front gate and down the main road. Long way round and the traffic is terrible in summer.

Use the back garden path instead:

• From the rear garden, look for the bougainvillea gate (bright pink flowers, you can't miss it)
• Three stone steps down to the path
• The path cuts through to the beach promenade, you come out about 50 metres south of the main Camps Bay access, away from the crowds
• Keep the gate latched on your way back

Alarm

Enter this code within 30 seconds of opening the front gate. Keypad is just inside the entrance hall on the left.

If you hear a slow beep-beep-beep when entering at night, that's the warning. You have time. If you let it run past 30 seconds it triggers the siren and the armed response.

Auto-arm at midnight if no movement is detected. If you get up at 1am for a glass of water, the panel may beep once to register movement. That's normal, not a fault.

Security panic button. White button on the wall beside the master bedroom door, marked "PANIC". Press it only if you actually need emergency response.

ADT armed response arrives in about four minutes. A false alarm costs the property R500 and generates a police callout, so we trust guests to use this only in a real emergency.

• Pool hours: 8am to 10pm. Sound carries off the Twelve Apostles cliffs and travels straight into the neighbouring properties. After 10pm, voices on the pool deck wake people up. The neighbours have been reasonable; please keep it that way.
• No glass at the pool. Broken glass in the pool surround ends the holiday for everyone. Acrylic glasses are in the cupboard above the braai.
• Maximum 8 guests overnight. The body corporate tracks occupancy and the manager checks on Saturday afternoons in summer. Additional unregistered guests result in a formal fine that is charged back to the booking.
• No outside parties or unregistered gatherings. Camps Bay's body corporate is active and has zero tolerance for unregistered events. If you want to host friends for a braai, let us know in advance. We can often accommodate small groups with a registered guest list. Unannounced gatherings are a non-starter.
• Smoking only on the front deck, outside the gate. Never inside the villa or on the pool deck.

A few add-ons we can sort if you want them. None are required.

Pre-arrival grocery box, R450

A welcome basket waiting on the kitchen counter: bread, butter, milk, eggs, fruit, coffee beans, a bottle of local Chenin, a treat for the kids. Saves the midnight Pick n Pay stop.

• How to request: WhatsApp Nomvula 24 hours before arrival
• Pay: Added to your booking invoice

Sunset catamaran, R1,200/person

A 90-minute Cape Town harbour cruise from 📍 V&A Waterfront with prosecco. Departs 17:00, back by 19:00. Memorable, especially Nov–March.

• How to request: Two days notice; we book through a partner
• Pay: Card on the boat

Mid-stay tidy, R250

Light clean, fresh towels, linen change. Worth it on stays of five-plus nights.

• How to request: Message Nomvula by 18:00 the day before
• Pay: Cash on the day

Check-out is by 11am. Nomvula will be on site from 9am and will work around you.

• Rinse pool toys with the hose by the gate and stack them back in the basket by the pool pump. Sand in the filter costs R800 to clear, so it matters.
• Beach towels folded (not washed) and left in the basket beside the laundry door
• Fridge cleared of perishables. Anything unopened and shelf-stable you can leave behind
• Strip the duvet covers and fitted sheets off all used beds and leave them piled on the mattresses. Don't run the washing machine; Nomvula has a laundry service schedule
• Lock the front gate behind you when you leave. The gate code will be changed for the next guests; no action needed on your side.

Tap any name for the map.

Sunset. The south end of Camps Bay beach has a direct Atlantic sightline. Parking fills by 6:30pm in summer; arrive before 6, or walk down from the villa. The promenade is usually less crowded than the main drag.

Seafood: The Codfather, 4 min drive. Book ahead in season; no walk-ins after 7pm in Dec / Jan. Order the Portuguese-style peri-peri crayfish if it's on the board. Sushi is also good. Fish is priced by weight at the counter.

Gym. Temporary membership to Virgin Active Camps Bay is included. Access fob is in the kitchen drawer, envelope marked "GYM". Return it when you leave.

Surf lessons with Long Beach Surf School. Based in Kommetjie (40 min) but does private sessions at Camps Bay beach on request. WhatsApp (demo only). Two hours, all kit, ~R600 per person.

Load shedding. Cape Town still has rolling power cuts (2–4 hours). The villa's inverter handles lights, WiFi, and the fridge. You won't notice unless you try to run the oven or pool heater. Check the Eskom SePush app (free, iOS and Android). Stage 2 and below barely touches you; Stage 4 and above, plan dinner around the schedule.

Asanda, your host. WhatsApp: (demo only). Usually reachable until 10pm. For anything urgent (alarm, gate fault, security concern), call instead of message.

Nomvula, on-site manager. (demo only). On site Mon–Fri 9am–12pm. Fastest person for a physical issue during the week.

ADT Armed Response, 24h. (demo only). The property is monitored; if the alarm triggers they'll call me first, then Nomvula. You don't need to call them directly unless there's an emergency and you can't reach anyone.

Quick numbers

• Emergency (any mobile): 112
• SA ambulance: 10177
• Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, 181 Longmarket St, Cape Town City Bowl. About 15 minutes by car

Tide times. Boatique app or tides.net for Camps Bay. Low tide is the best for swimming; high tide with a south swell shrinks the beach dramatically, plan beach time around it.