Mount Nelson, A Belmond Hotel, Cape Town

Visited for Afternoon Tea on a lovely Sunday in January during my 60th birthday trip to South Africa. Beautiful setting and lovely food but let down by the casual level of service I experienced. I arrived early and was seated in the beautiful garden where I bought a drink. After spending 20+ years in the hospitality industry I expected more from such a prestigious establishment than staff from various departments and arriving and departing staff wandering through this area for a chat with their colleagues. When seated at my table for tea, as a solo traveller it seemed like I was unimportant and at times even an inconvenience. My waiter came and introduced himself, told me he would be looking after me but then disappeared and I had to ask other staff passing by for service. All of this led me feeling totally underwhelmed and disappointed by the whole experience and would struggle to recommend it to others.

We enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea experience. The service was impecable, Ntumbi gave us excellent recommendations for trying teas of South Africa that paired with each course. A stand out was the African Pride Honeybush. All of the food was delicious and beautifully prepared, it was truly a decadent event and I highly recommend it to any tea enthusiast visiting Cape Town.

I've always heard about High Tea at the Mount Nelson and yesterday I was lucky enough to have the full five star experience. I cannot recommend it enough. It more than surpassed my expectations. The service from Thuli was outstanding. The food and the presentation thereof was spectacular and delicious. Do yourself a favour and for your next celebration make it a high tea!

What a wonderful hotel. We spent our first three nights in South Africa and liked it so much we came back for our last night before we flew home. It was a fabulous place to arrive feeling tired after an overnight flight, it was far too early to get into our room so we treated to breakfast on the verandah of the Oasis breakfast and lunch restaurant. The breakfast buffet is outstanding - everything you could wish for. The pool area was lovely and never to crowded, our room beautiful and what made our stay so special was the outstanding service and attention to detail from every member of staff we interacted with. We particularly commend Azola (? Not sure if I have spelt that right) who dealt with our massive load of baggage and car, Zane who was very efficient and charming when serving us lunch on our last day and Wellington in guest experiences.

We were at Mount Nelson for high tea. The food on offer was excellent. What we liked best was the friendliness of the staff, from the moment we got out of the taxi until we said goodbye. We would particularly like to mention Cheslyn, who looked after us wonderfully. Dear Cheslyn, thank you very much. We would love to come back.

The complimentary rose bubbles on arrival was delightful. Four course afternoon tea was delicious - could not fault it. Asanda our waitress was wonderful. We will certainly be back to see Asanda and Craig our tea expert. 10 out of 10. A must to do!