Whale Cottage Portfolio Blog

FIFA’s MATCH accommodation agency has cancelled 65 000 bed nights in the Western Cape, and 441 695 bed nights nationally, reports the Cape Times.

The release of rooms without cancellation penalty to MATCH is a further sign that the World Cup may not be as successful in terms of international bookings as may have been hoped internationally.  The article’s opening paragraph states: “FIFA has relinquished 65 022 rooms nights in the Western Cape because of lack of demand….”

Vivienne Bervoets, Senior Accommodation Manager of MATCH,  stated in the article that the reasons for the room cancellations include that the rooms booked by MATCH were not on match days, that the establishments were further than 70 km from a host city, and that the accommodation type (e.g. timeshare) proved to be unpopular with international visitors.   The bulk of the room nights cancelled in the Western Cape appear to be in Cape Town.   The dates already cancelled appear to be bookings MATCH made with establishments for dates before 11 June and after 11 July, signalling that pre- and post-World Cup tours are unlikely to happen.   The article intimates that further accommodation cancellations may be possible, depending on the demand for tickets.

Business Day also reported on the accommodation cancellations, stating that 31 % of the bed nights booked initially, and representing 7 843 rooms, had been cancelled by MATCH.  The timeshare cancellations amounted to close to 31 000 timeshare weeks.  Bervoets is quoted as saying “Match has substantially curtailed its procurement drive to concentrate on sales and operations”.  She stated that MATCH is still looking for “good quality hotel rooms, specifically in Gauteng, and also for contract properties if customers specifically requested this”.  

It is surprising that so much of the room stock has been cancelled, given the outcry about the poor support of MATCH, and that it had to bring in cruise liners and contract properties in neighbouring countries, including Mauritius, to build up sufficient accommodation stock for the World Cup accommodation requirements.  

The Cape Argus also reported on the MATCH cancellations, and quoted Dr Laurine Platsky, the Western Cape province 2010 co-ordinator, as saying that “rooms were released because of a lack of demand and fewer bookings than expected.”   Rooms cancelled in the Western Cape were on the West Coast and in outlying areas, she said.  

The room nights cancellations may imply that MATCH’s Matchville concept, in creating hubs or concentrations of accommodation outside host cities, in supplementing accommodation supply, may have raised the hopes of accommodation establishments which cannot be fulfilled.   In Plettenberg Bay, a Matchville centre, for example, it appears that 50 % of the room nights booked by MATCH have been cancelled already.

MATCH has until 10 April to cancel further room nights without being subject to its cancellation policy, and resultant payment to accommodation establishments for accommodation cancellations.   More cancellations are expected before this date.

Accommodation establishments who have had their MATCH room nights cancelled are unhappy, saying that FIFA “overhyped” its accommodation needs, reports a further article in the Cape Times.

FEDHASA CEO Brett Dungan is quoted in reports about the MATCH cancellations, in which he opportunistically offers cancelled MATCH establishments the hope that his new (personally owned) website “portal” www.rooms4u.travel, which has been set up on behalf of S A Tourism, can fill all the room nights cancelled by MATCH.  This is contradictory sentiment, as Dungan has praised MATCH consistently, and protected their rip-off pricing, pointing a finger at non-MATCH contracted properties and blaming them for “rip-off” pricing!

Even Cape Town Tourism has insensitively “welcomed the release of the rooms and the opportunity now available for establishments to market their rooms during the 20 weeks leading up to the tournament.   Experience has taught us that last-minute bookings for events like the World Cup are not unusual and we are expecting an increase in booking confirmations during the next few months”, according to a quote in the Cape Times.

Non-MATCH contracted guest houses are complaining that bookings are not looking as rosy as they were led to expect, and many are only about 50 % booked, even if they are charging “reasonable” prices for their accommodation.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The festive season saw fewer holiday makers in the Cape, they stayed for a shorter period, and they spent less during their stay, say the tourism authorities, reports Fin24.   According to the Cape Argus, international tourism numbers dropped by 6 %, compared to 2008, due to the recession and due to the stronger Rand, offering lesser value for money.

According to Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO Calvyn Gilfillan the Garden Route was quieter, speculating that this was due to the water shortage in the area.   The bookings however were slow compared to previous years, long before the water crisis became a reality.   The Overberg (especially Hermanus) and the Cape Town city centre were quieter, while the Boland reported similar tourism numbers as last year.   The West Coast had improved visitor numbers, being a more affordable destination.

Tourists were looking for affordability, says Cape Town Tourism, and that is why 5-star hotels struggled financially as guests traded down to lower star accommodation or even to self-catering accommodation.   Fedhasa Cape reports that occupancy in 5 star hotels reduced by 10 - 20 % compared to last year, over the festive period, while 3 and 4 star hotels “did better”.

The lower number of visitors from Johannesburg was evident in Cape Town and especially Plettenberg Bay.  It is said that the Johannesburgers stayed home this festive season, to save money in order to renovate their homes, which they want to rent out for the FIFA World Cup, at which time they want to leave the country.  Even the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company had mainly Capetonians as visitors.

At Whale Cottage Camps Bay bookings are starting to look good from 28 January onwards, the start of the weekend on which the J & B Met takes place, and almost all of February is booked out already.  The Argus Cycle Tour in March is also good for business.

Upmarket restaurants have been reported to have also felt the pinch over the festive season, and many did not manage to fill their expensive tables for New Year’s eve, with prices as high as R 2 000 per person.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Being a great fan of the Grand Cafe and Rooms in Plettenberg Bay, and The Grand in Camps Bay, we felt lucky to be able to book a table for lunch at the new The Grand on the Beach, literally on its own private beach between the Water Club in Granger Bay and the V&A Waterfront, during the busy festive season.   The restaurant has a waiting list of up to 2 weeks for bookings for dinner, but it is a little easier to make a lunch booking.

The first impression is not very grand, when one drives down a dirt track, with huge mounds of soil just left there from some earthworks.  Being close to the Oceana Club launch area, the smell of fish greets you, adding to the unsavoury first impression.  If you are lucky enough to park inside the gates, everything changes, with multi-million Rand cars parked inside, and the familiar Grand branding being visible.  One can see the beach, with tables and chairs, and even couches, on it.

The restaurant is set inside a massive old warehouse, with no attempt made to touch it up outside.  Inside it has had a coat of paint, and has shelves near the bar area.   A long steel table, maybe seating 30 persons, dominates the main restaurant area, over which hangs a huge chandelier, shabby chic with its new-like-old dust.   Pinkish cane-style chairs dominate inside, and the interior comes together with little effort.   A side section of the building houses a shop selling towels, hats, dresses, bathroom products, etc.

First prize in eating at the Grand on the Beach is to book a table outside, either on the terrace, or even better, on the beach itself.   Justin, the Manager, organised us such a table with umbrella - he was previously at the Camps Bay branch, and is a lovely helpful Manager who makes magic happen.   The owner Suzie Main was also there, and attracted a lot of attention from Justin.   He did make time to check on our table regularly.

Dax Villanueva (RelaxWithDax) was our guest and told us more about himself.   He grew up in Port Elizabeth, where his mother runs a guest house.   He studied in Durban and a lucky job offer brought him to Cape Town 10 years ago.   Dax started a newsletter nine years ago, about restaurants to eat at and things to do in Cape Town.   He is also a Blogger and a Twitterer (www.relax-with-dax.co.za). He does not like the question about his favourite restaurants, and sidesteps it neatly, saying that he has different favourites for different occasions.

The private beach of The Grand is about 200 meters wide, and has some tables and chairs, a collection of white couches (for the owner and her friends), a pink “kiss” couch, 2 porta pools, and some showers.  While it looks inviting to swim, one cannot get into the water, as ‘dolosse’ and barbed wire cover the length of the beach, without one seeing it from the tables. 

It took an unreasonably long time to get the table set up outside and to serve the drinks, with a waiter change taking place too.   One of the problems is that the waiters did not seem to know which brands of beer they stock - we got the full list of Castle, Amstel, Black Lable, Jack Black, and Corona, but every beer we chose was out of stock.  In the end, it appeared that they only stock Corona and Jack Black, but that they were fresh out of Jack Black, so that we could have any beer we liked, as long as it was a Corona!   Once our waitress took over, things moved a little faster, and given the beach setting, the slow service seemed less of an irritation than at a restaurant where one expected to leave more quickly.   In fact we lost track of time, sittting on the beach for 3,5 hours.     

The menu of the restaurant is the same as at The Grand in Camps Bay. The first choice starter of Avocado Ritz (R 75) could not be ordered, as the restaurant had run out of avocado.   The Caprese Buffalo salad was lovely, exactly how it should be served, slices of mozarella on slices of tomato, and some basil, drizzled with olive oil.   Dax’s Waldorf salad with bacon was served in a slice of lettuce, an attractive presentation.  Both salads cost R65.   Alex loved his grilled chicken breast with yoghurt dressing (R 85), Dax his Steak Bearnaise (R 130), and I the grilled calamari (R 80).    Other mains are entrecote (R 140), mussels and chips (R 80), line fish (R 120), sugar salmon (R145), grilled crayfish (R240), LM prawns (R 200), “Grand crayfish pasta” (R 200) and a seafood platter for 2 at R 695.    Shrimp tempura (R 75), prego roll (R 75) and caviar (SQ) can also be ordered.   Unlike its other Grand sisters, The Grand on the Beach has a pizza oven, and serves a large margarita at R 90 and a margarita + anchovies and artichokes at R 120.  We were not offered the pizza options.    The Affogato (R28), an espresso poured over ice cream, went down well. 

We are charged for a green salad that was meant to come with the calamari, but which we did not receive.  We missed the trademark excellent music compilation which is played at strong volume at The Grand in Plettenberg Bay.

Despite all the hiccups, the service was attentive, and the food good, so it was an overall enjoyable experience.   The beer stocking and supply needs to be addressed however.

The cost of 3 Coronas, a glass of house wine, two salads, the steak, the chicken and calamari, as well as one dessert was R 602.

The Grand on the Beach, off Beach Road between Water Club and V&A Waterfront,  tel 021 425 0551. www.thegrand.co.za

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

“Cape Town tourism plummets” was the dramatic headline of EyeWitnessNews yesterday, reflecting the decline in tourism this season so far, particularly in the Western Cape interior.

The report quotes Cape Town Routes Unlimited, which it mistakenly refers to as “Cape Town’s official tourism marketing body”, as admitting that “the Mother City is experiencing a dismal year, with the number of visitors significantly lower than in previous years.”   According to the report, Cape Town Routes Unlimited CEO Calvyn Gilfellan has visited Western Cape tourism districts, and received feedback of varying tourism numbers, especially along the Garden Route.

The Whale Cottage Portfolio can also confirm this scenario, with November being a poor month in Franschhoek (32 % occupancy - normally this month is close to fully booked), in Hermanus (66 % occupancy - usually close to fully booked), and in Plettenberg Bay (28 %).   Only Whale Cottage Camps Bay in Cape Town held its own with an occupancy in November of 88%, yet down from 96 % last year.

The festive season period is almost fully booked at the Whale Cottages in Camps Bay and in Plettenberg Bay, the cricket match in Cape Town in early January being a big boost for Camps Bay bookings.   Hermanus is seeing the poorest bookings over the festive season, despite the area having a new Destination Marketing Organisation, but which is just not bringing in the bookings.

South African Tourism’s Global Manager: Product, Hanneli Slabber, states in her Christmas message that this “..has been one of the industry’s toughest years”.  She encourages emphasis on Service Excellence, in that it is the little touches that makes visitors return to a destination and a tourism product.  “What our visitors want in 2010 is something their money can’t buy.  It’s called Service Excellence - and it comes from being professional at what you do, competent in how you do it, and treating people with genuine warmth and respect when you do it” she writes.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The 2010 Eat Out magazine lists five pages of “10 of the best….” restaurants, many of these not being on the top 10 restaurant list.

The best restaurant sommelier list includes The Atlantic Grill, Azure, Catharina’s, Delaire Graff (interesting that the restaurant is included, only being 6 months old), Hartford House, Jardine, Ritrovo, Roots, Rust en Vrede and Signal.

The 10 best cheese platters are to be found, amongst others, at Caveau, Cotage Fromage, Hartford House, Mosaic, The Saxony and Zacharay’s.

The 10 best bathroom list includes Catharina’s, Grand Provence, maze, and Roots.  Missing from this list, it is believed, is the bathrooms of Delaire Graff, the cleanest and best smelling cloakrooms ever experienced.

Best value for money restaurants include Bellini’s, Sinn’s, Societi Bistro, and Pronto.

Some of the best bread boards are to be found at Cape Atlantic at the Table Bay Hotel, The Food Barn, Ile de Pain, Jardine, Manna, maze, Reuben’s, and The Saxon.

The top desserts are the Grand Marnier souffle at The Green House, the ginger and pistachio cake at La Petite Ferme, the chocolate mousse at Overture, and the strawberry vacherin at Terroir.

The best service comes from Rust en Vrede, Auberge Michel, Aubergine, Grande Provence, Cape Colony, Fyndraai, Mosaic, and Roots, amongst others.

The best tea and cake are served at the Mount Nelson, Cape Grace, Myatt, The Cellars Hohenhort, The Saxon, The Westcliff, The Twelve Apostles and the Vista Bar.

The restaurants with the best view include Buitenverwachting, Delaire Graff, Dieu Donne, Harbour House, La Vierge, Overture, Salt, and Tokara.

The best coffees are served at Doppio Zero, Miss K, and Ritrovo.   The best winelists and cellars include the following restaurants: Buitenverwachting, The Greenhouse, Linger Longer, maze, Mosaic, Ritrovo, Roots, Sands at The Plettenberg, and Zachary’s.

The “restaurants that buzz” include Caveau, Olympia Cafe’ and Pronto.  

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

An unlucky restaurant location for the Cape Town branch of Bouillabaisse, and new sister restaurant Crepe Suzette, in the Rockwell Centre in De Waterkant in Cape Town, in what was meant to have become Conrad Gallagher’s Epicurean Gourmet Market before he fled the country with huge debts, resulted in both the restaurants closing down in September.  These restaurants have fused, and have just opened as Camil’s Restaurant, ironically in the previous location of Gallagher’s Geisha Wok in the Cape Royale Luxury Hotel on Main Road in Green Point.   Whilst now fused into one restaurant, a creperie menu and an a la carte menu will be offered to all patrons.   Camil and Ingrid Haas are to run the operational side of the restaurant, while the new partner Jochen Buechel, previous owner of the Place on the Bay in Camps Bay, will look after the marketing of the restaurant.   It is bold to close two restaurant brands which were marketed jointly, off the base of the respected Bouillabaisse brand in Franschhoek, and to start from scratch with the new Camil’s brand.   A review of Camil’s will follow.

A new “Caffe”, which opened five weeks ago, is L’Aperitivo, a wine and cocktail bar that serves breakfast, and light lunches and dinners from “9h00 till late”, the sign on the door says.  Owners Andrea Gargiulo (Italian) and Stef Rau (Swiss) are charming hosts.  They met two years ago, on a cruise liner, and fell in love with Cape Town.   Before setting up their restaurant, they ran the Primi Piatti in the V&A Waterfront for two years.  It is located next door to the Bang Bang Club, a favoured haunt of teenage disco lovers, adding a free bonus to L’Aperitivo patrons, if they enjoy the music and watching the youngsters coming and going from the venue from Wednesdays - Saturdays.   The food menu is written onto a blackboard: the base Insalata L’Aperitivo costs R 30, and R 40 when tuna or chicken mayonnaise are added, and R 55 if salmon is added.   The Frittata costs R 40, the Chicken Parmigiana and a salad (just some green leaves) R 55, Roast Beef with baby potatoes and salad costs R 58, and sandwiches R 45.   For dessert the choices were an Affogato at R 22 and half a pineapple and ice cream at R 25.   Every day fresh ingredients are bought, and the menu changed to reflect what is available.   L’Aperitivo only stocks the very good Glen Carlou wines at the moment, Stef having a close relationship with the Swiss owner Hess.  They plan to offer 30 - 40 wines-by-the-glass, a commendable goal (Stef used to work at Belthezar, known for its wide selection of wines-by-the-glass).    Andrea was previously a ‘mixologist’, he says, a cool word for a barman!    His favourite restaurant is Aubergine.   L’Aperitivo stands for fresh quality food, and good and prompt service.  An ordered take-away Parma ham and brie roll turned out to be a salami roll when opened, a disappointment in an otherwise good experience!  Its brochure states: “L’Aperitivo is a Wine & Cocktail Bar with a Caffe providing a variety of freshly produced food, and which encapsulates a European style of life.   Enjoy the gathering of like-minded people to understand the way of life.   The setting is intimate, comfortable and relaxing, to ensure you enjoy your stay at whatever time you visit L’Aperitivo”.   L’Aperitivo, 70 Loop Street, tel 076 574 1805/082 898 7079.   Open Mondays - Saturdays.

Vanilla officially opened in the Cape Quarter just over a week ago, to a record crowd of 250 guests, the launch invitation being such a hit that the expected one-third no-show did not happen.   This created a problem for the owners initially in coping with serving the drinks and excellent snacks, but was quickly addressed.   It is a shame that the City of Cape Town cannot get the paving completed outside the main Somerset Road entrance to the Cape Quarter.   In fact, the main entrance to the centre was closed off on Thursday evening, meaning that one would have to find the entrance from the street behind the centre.  Franschhoek chef Matthew Gordon is the consultant chef to Vanilla, while its chef is Evan Coosner, previously with Reubens in Franschhoek and at Ginja.  A review of Vanilla is to follow.

The Grand Cafe’ branches in Plettenberg Bay and Camps Bay are soon to be joined by a third branch in The Water Club in Granger Bay, adjacent to the V&A Waterfront. 

Franschhoek is set to see the opening of a new bakery and cafe’ in the building which once housed the Franschhoek Tourism Bureau and, more recently, Winelands Experience.  The new La Place Vendome, a stylish center set to open at the entrance to Franschhoek soon, will house another new coffee shop, a deli and food hall, and a champagne bar.

Genot restaurant on Klein Genot wine estate in Franschhoek was relaunched last week, with the owner Angie Diamond taking over the management of the restaurant.   It is beautifully located above the wine cellar, with a view of the vineyards and surrounding Franschhoek mountains when one sits on the terrace outside.  Inside no expense has been spared in the large restaurant space, with lots of chandeliers perhaps making it too bright at night. The restaurant’s model is Baia, a well-known seafood restaurant in the V&A Waterfront, but at far more reasonable pricing.  Angie feels that Franschhoek does not offer its visitors a good selection of fish dishes.  The winelist is restricted with about five choices per variety, one of them being the Klein Genot, where applicable.  The Klein Genot Shiraz is the lowest priced, at R 158 per bottle, but is still very young, being a 2007 vintage.   The chefs come from Malawi, Mocambique and Zimbabwe, and they add an African feel to dishes, Angie says.   Eleven starters are priced from R 38 (chicken livers, sardines) to R 58 (mussels, and a delicious prawn cocktail), with oysters costing R 18 each.   Five salads (Caprese, Greek, etc) cost about R 48 and three soup choices are also offered, at R 48.   Eight seafood main courses range in price from R 78 for the calamari to R 228 for a seafood platter, and include two kingklip dishes.  The baby kingklip was huge, and came on the bone, which re-created an old childhood fear of bones. The restaurant would have filleted it, had one requested it.  Steaks cost R 138 for a 500 gram fillet, and R 78 for a stuffed chicken dish.  Eight desserts (excellent Pavlova being one of them) cost R 48 each.   On weekend nights live music will be offered, and a Frank Sinatra interpretor Andre Ahlers entertained the fully booked restaurant.   It was a pleasure to meet a fellow Twitterer @MarcKatzy, who came over to introduce himself.   Genot, Klein Genot estate, Franschhoek, tel 021 876-2738, www.kleingenot.com

Rust & Vrede has just been named the best Restaurant of all wine regions in the world, in the 2010 Best of Wine Tourism Awards, organised by the Great Wine Capitals Global Wine Network.  It was lauded for its “welcoming, top quality restaurant”.  It is the only South African entry to have won an accolade.   Will it become South Africa’s Top restaurant of the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards, presented on 22 November?

Steenberg Winery is opening a new restaurant this week, called Bistro Sixteen82, serving breakfast, lunch and tapas seven days a week, its ad says.   Reservations tel 021 713 2211.  

Beefcakes is a new restaurant with a large space on Somerset Road in Green Point, close to Limnos.  It is clearly set to cater for hungry soccer fans when they walk along Somerset Road to and from the Cape Town Stadium for the 2010 World Cup!

Ginja has made the move into its new premises at the previous Nova/Relish location, at the start of New Church Street.  Chef Chris Erasmus and executive chef Michael Bassett run the restaurant, which now also serves lunches.

Bukhara has re-opened in its Burg Street location in Cape Town, after a fire necessitated a renovation lasting about three months.   “Bukhara Cape Town is proud to announce the opening of their new look restaurant”, its ad says.    Tel 021 424-0000.

Doppio Zero has a special Breakfast offer of R 35 for a cooked breakfast, or fruit and yoghurt, with toast and a cappuccino or a fruit juice, at its Main Road, Green Point branch, from Mondays to Fridays.  Tel 021 434-9581, www.doppio.co.za

Clos Malverne wine estate is one of a number of wine estates to open a restaurant this month (George Jardine opens The Restaurant at Jordan next week).  The restaurant opened last week on the Stellenbosch Devon Valley estate, simply called “The Restaurant”.   It offers a choice of five starters, ranging from R 39 - R 44, seven main courses, ranging in price from R 89 - R 98, and four desserts, at R 35 - R39.  The ad refers to the restaurant as follows: “…this Contemporary South African cuisine style restaurant will truly tantalize your taste buds”.   The Restaurant is open on Tuesdays - Sundays for lunch only. Tel 021 865-2022.

Reuben’s in Robertson was a refreshing pit stop on a trip to Plettenberg Bay last week.   The 30-seater restaurant is located in the 10-bedroom Small Robertson Hotel, a beautifully renovated historical building creating an oasis in an otherwise dreary town.    The staff at all levels were extremely friendly.   The menu design is the same as that of the Reuben’s Franschhoek branch, but the menu items differ vastly.   Four starters range in price from R 58 for a salad of beetroot and goat’s cheese to R 70 for salmon sashimi.   Five main courses start with R 78 for a gnocchi, to R 135 for the veal fillet.  Two cheese courses are offered, at around R 65, and four desserts range in price from R 30 - R 62.   Whilst our party of four loved our food and the good service, one was left with a feeling that the prices may be too high for a small town restaurant, no matter how good it is, and that its menu may not be appropriate for someone wanting a good light lunch, having a further 2 - 4 hours to travel to the Garden Route or to Cape Town.   As per the Reuben’s menu in Franschhoek, the menu lists Reuben Riffel as the Concept Chef.  The Reuben’s Robertson team are Aviv Liebenberg as the Executive Chef, and Christien van der Westhuizen as the Pastry Chef.  An interesting feature of the menu not seen on the Franschhoek menu is a listing of the suppliers of the fruit and vegetable, dairy and olive products, and the pork (including Happy Hog!).   Reuben’s Robertson is located at 58 Van Reenen Street, tel 023 626 7200. www.therobertsonsmallhotel.com.  

Reuben Riffel has been a Brand Ambassador for South African Tourism, in its campaign on CNN.   Erstwhile Top 10 chef Richard Carstens is said to be cooking at Reuben’s in Franschhoek.  Recently he was helping out at Roots restaurant in Gauteng, after Nova closed down.

Alle’e Bleue in Franschhoek has a new surprise every few weeks, and the latest is its menu for its beer garden adjacent to the picnic area at the bottom end of the wine estate.   One can order Paulaner beer and a spinach and smoked chicken salad, a quiche and salad, a Swiss sausage salad or a local cheese platter, at prices ranging from R 45 - R 59.  It hosted its first sushi/wine pairing dinner on Friday, and its first High Tea yesterday.

Grande Provence received a rave review in the Weekend Australian last month, journalist Susan Kurosawa describing it as the “best restaurant in South Africa’s winelands”.    She makes one odd comment about the Grand Provence menu: “The menu is seasonal but, for this being South Africa, expect cute wildlife to be involved. …..  I can’t pronounce much of it, let alone countenance eating Bambi’s relatives”!

Allora in Franschhoek, an Italian restaurant that is part of a chain with a number of branches in Johannesburg, has introduced a restaurant booking incentive called the Allora Miles Program.   The Allora Miles Card will be handed to accommodation staff, and they will receive points each time they make a booking for guests (who arrive!).   Prizes are awarded on the basis of points accumulated, and include airtime and Allora vouchers, vouchers for shopping at Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay, and electrical appliances.   Feedback supplied to the restaurant is that the incentive programme is ‘too Johannesburg-like’ to be a success in Franschhoek.

Col’cacchio Pizzeria makes delicious pizzas (in Camps Bay at least), and all eight branches in the greater Cape Town area, including Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, are offering a special “Mix & Match” lunch offer, with two courses on the lunch menu for R 99 on Mondays - Thursdays, between 12h00 - 17h00.

Baraza in Camps Bay is to relaunch itself next week as Sapphire.

Nando’s, South Africa’s most creative chicken restaurant chain, is turning up the heat in Turkey, when it opened its first branch in Istanbul last week, reports the Hurriyet Daily News of Turkey.   The company aims to open 60 Nando’s in Turkey, to add to its total of 850 restaurants in 26 countries.  Known for its sharp marketing and cheeky advertising campaigns in South Africa, the Nando’s co-founder Robert Brozin said at the Istanbul opening: “I think that we are representing our leader Nelson Mandela with our restaurants.  Nando’s is like a messenger of South Africa.   With each new restaurant that Nando’s launches in other countries, Mandela sends a signed letter to us”!   Nando’s in Knysna has just closed down, reports CX Express.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The strangest tourism news report ever received is that Cape Town Routes Unlimited has accredited Cape Town Tourism as an official tourism association, in accordance with the accreditation powers that Cape Town Routes Unlimited holds through the Western Cape Tourism Act of 2004.

What is bizarre about the report is that the Act was promulgated five years ago, and Cape Town Routes Unlimited has been in existence for the same period of time.   In this period very few tourism associations were accredited by Cape Town Routes Unlimited - Plettenberg Bay, Franschhoek, and Oudtshoorn come to mind as being the few tourism bureaux whose accreditation was publicised.

Cape Town Tourism is the largest and leading Tourism Bureau in the Western Cape, and one wonders what politics lie behind the accreditation.   What makes the  report in bizcommunity.com so odd is the following sentence:”Accreditation of these tourism organisations ensures that international operating standards are adhered to”.  However, the industry believes Cape Town Tourism to be the more organised and state of the art than Cape Town Routes Unlimited!   The report states that Calvyn Gilfellan, CEO of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, handed over the accreditation certificate to Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, CEO of Cape Town Tourism, at a ceremony attended by the media.

Oddly, the event seems to be a non-event, as neither Cape Town Tourism nor Cape Town Routes Unlimited have issued a media release about it, nor has Cape Town Tourism informed its members of this event!

Anyone in tourism will wonder about this event, given that the two bodies are trying to work together in marketing Cape Town, a role that previously was the responsibility of Cape Town Routes Unlimited, but has been handled by Cape Town Tourism for the past year.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The Whale Cottage Portfolio turns 13 today, having opened in Hermanus in 1996 as one of a handful of B & B’s in the seaside town, known to offer the best land-based whale watching in the world.  It was therefore apt that the guest house was called “Whale Cottage”, being housed in a lovely Victorian cottage on Main Road when it opened.   Seven years ago the guest house was moved to Westcliff Drive, with a lovely unspoilt seaview.

The Whale Cottage Portfolio has grown to four guest houses in the past 13 years, to include Whale Cottage Camps Bay, Whale Cottage Franschhoek, Whale Cottage Plettenberg Bay and the ‘birthday child’ Whale Cottage Hermanus.

Owner of the Whale Cottage Portfolio, Chris von Ulmenstein, said it would not have been possible to run and grow the Whale Cottage Portfolio without her faithful and hardworking staff, loyal suppliers, and the many thousands of wonderful guests who have visited the Whale Cottages, many of whom have become regular return guests or recommend Whale Cottage to others.

It is fitting that the 13 th birthday of Whale Cottage coincides with the celebration of Women’s Day today, as the Whale Cottage Portfolio has an all-women team.    “I have found women employees to be far more reliable and better home-makers, and therefore I will always employ a woman first.” said Ms von Ulmenstein.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

The Sweet Service Award goes to William of the Camps Bay branch of Computicket.  A customer wanted to exchange tickets for the Jonny Cooper Orchestra performance at the Theatre on the Bay to a later date, but this is only allowed if the new date is before the booked date.   William found a way to book an alternative date for the show. 

The Sour Service Award goes to The Flower Shop in Plettenberg Bay.   A customer ordered flowers for delivery in Plettenberg Bay.   The shop assistant appeared very badly trained, was slow, did not offer an invoice, and could not indicate when the delivery would take place and the customer had to ask her to call her boss.   In front of the customer she referred to the customer as “tannie” when phoning her boss.    As the recipient had not acknowledged receiving the flowers, the customer called the florist the following day (a Saturday morning), to check whether the delivery had taken place.   The same shop assistant said that as it had not been returned to her by the delivery person, it must have been delivered.  As this was too vague an answer, the customer called the owner.   She said that she would have to ask her husband, as he had done the delivery, and would call back.    About 5 hours later the customer realised that she had not yet heard from the owner, so called her again.   The owner confirmed that the flowers had been delivered.  When asked why she had not called the customer, she said that she was spending time with her family (it now being Saturday afternoon), and that she would have called back on Monday!   The Flower Shop staff and owner have no understanding of customer service at all, nor an appreciation of the value of their customers’ business.

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com.   Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.

Of the towns on the Garden Route, Plettenberg Bay appears to be worst hit, with many shops standing empty.   Business has been very slow and few tourists are visiting the beautiful seaside town, despite whale and dolphin sightings. 

Restaurants have been coming to the party, some having closed for longer over the winter break, and most offering exceptional special offers.   So, for example, Emily Moon is offering a two-course “winter warmer menu” for R 100, and 3-courses at R 120.   Nguni offers a “Bring back the “Good Old Times” (plus a little inflation and a day or 2 later!!) on Friday evening, and charges R 50 per head.   Specials have included steak, eat-as-much-pastsa-as-you-can, and sole.   Miguels offers two courses for R 85.

Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com