Information

For places to eat there are some fantastic restaurants in the surrounding area – obviously we recommend our very own Flukes Restaurant with the Sea Food speciality dish, but there are other excellent venues for your culinary pleasure.

The picture is from the deck of our sister restaurant at Boulders Beach Lodge, home of the Boulders African Penguins.

The unit of currency is the South African Rand (R). R1 = 100 cents. The picture is our own southern right bank note.

For up to date exchange rates click on www.xe.com.

Most international credit cards are widely accepted and foreign currency can be exchanged at airports, commercial banks, Rennies Travel or American Express outlets. Most banks are open from 09h00 – 17h00 Mondays to Fridays and 09h00 to 13h00 on Saturdays. Tipping is standard procedure in South Africa with an average being 10- 15% of the total bill in restaurants. We do tip at petrol stations too!

The country code for South Africa is +27 for all telephone calls.

To make an international call from South Africa: dial 09 and the country code, area code and telephone number you require.

Public telephones accept coins (blue boxes) or phone cards (green boxes). Cards are available at post offices and most shops. Simon’s Town Post Office is open from 8.30am – 4.30pm on weekdays and Saturdays from 8am – 12pm. Tel.: 021 786 2114

To get to Southern Right Hotel from the Airport:

Exit the airport following signs for N2 Cape Town. The freeway splits and follow the signs left for M3 (direction Muizenberg) ; you are headed southbound and not north to the city centre. Continue along the M3 until the end of the freeway and turn left at the traffic lights. At the next set of lights, turn right in the direction of Muizenberg on the M4. Follow the coastal road, through Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay until you reach Fish Hoek. At the traffic circle in Fish Hoek, keep to your left and follow the directional signs "to Simon’s Town". Pass through a set of traffic lights indicating the M6 to Ou Kaapse Weg and turn an immediate right into Glen Road, take the first slip road left into the hotel parking area. The Southern Right Hotel is the large orange building with the Charcoal roof.

To get to the Southern Right Hotel from Cape Town City Centre: Follow directional signage to De Waal drive and the M3 southbound (direction Muizenberg). If you are near the V & A Waterfront, get onto the freeway towards the N1 Paarl but KEEP RIGHT, following signage to M3 Muizenberg as the freeway forks. Continue as above.

Cape Town International Airport is serviced by all major airlines and is a major domestic hub for national flights. Cape Town International Airport flight information number is 021 934 0407. (www.airports.co.za) The airport is 42 km away from the Southern Right Hotel and takes approximately 45 minutes by road.

Boulders Beach penguin colony down the road is a fantastic place to go to when you get here. Check out www.bouldersbeachlodge.com for more information.

For sporting enthusiasts, Cape Town has two of the most famous sports grounds in the world – Newlands Rugby Stadium (home of Western Province Rugby- www.wprugby.co.za) and Newlands Cricket Ground (home to Western Province - Boland Cricket - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

There is an endless supply of sporting events in the Western Cape from the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in March (www.cycletour.co.za), Two Oceans Marathon in April (www.twooceansmarathon.co.za) , rugby all winter, cricket and soccer all summer. You can participate or spectate and watch out for the World Cup Soccer to be hosted by South Africa in 2010!

Living in an environmentally sensitive area and the heart of a world heritage site we at Southern Right Hotel have an environmental policy whereby all staff and management are committed to using reasonable efforts to reduce the environmental impact of our business.

This means that wherever possible we try to:

* Reduce, reuse, recover, replace, recycle and safely dispose of waste products - Please help us recycle our cans (www.collectacan.co.za)

* Apply practical measures to reduce energy and water use while maintaining high standards (we use multiflush toilets and low flow shower heads; energy saving light bulbs)

* Purchase environmentally-friendly products for use in our operations

* Encourage, support and participate in environmental and conservation initiatives, especially in Simon’s Town. We use earthworms to digest our kitchen waste. Check out our worm partners at www.wormhammock.com

* Raise environmental awareness amongst our staff, suppliers and guests, and implement any of their ideas for improving our environmental performance.

We are proud participants in the “Western Cape Hospitality Industry Cleaner Production Pilot Project” organised by the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning. The project involves an initial audit by specialist consultants in the categories of Water, Waste and Energy Usage, with subsequent recommendations and implementation of chosen aspects. There is ongoing monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the implementation process and the intended consequence of the project is to develop a green-rating system in the South African Hospitality and Tourism industry. Please see the government website that includes this project and numerous others: www.capegateway.gov.za

They say that Cape Town is a weather-obsessed city and being near the tip of the African continent, weather can change pretty rapidly and dramatically.

However the warm dry summers and moderate, moist winters will no doubt pleasantly surprise you. Average summer day temperatures are in the high twenties (Celsius) and average winter temperatures are in the upper teens. Summer can see the infamous South-Easter wind transform an otherwise beautiful day.In winter the crisp cool days can be altered by the North-Westerly wind which dumps much needed rain upon the Cape.

The “secret season” in the Cape is Autumn (May – June)- although it is not quite so secret any more. surf-body-board-kommetjie With warm days, minimal wind and fewer tourists it really is a fabulous time to visit. For a detailed daily or 5 day forecast (www.weathersa.co.za) or call the Cape Town weather forecast on 082 231 1640, the wind report on 082 234 6300 or the surf report on 021- 788 1350. South Africa works 2 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. What that actually means is we are 1 hour ahead of Central European Winter Time and 7 hours ahead of the USA’s Eastern Standard Time.