Cape Town, the capital of South Africa, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Laying in the shade of the impressive Table Mountain, this coastal city has some interesting history, stunning nature, and delicious food. If you’re looking for a nice and affordable place to stay in the middle of all this, we can definitely recommend 91 Loop Boutique Hostel.
91 Loop Cape Town
91 Loop is a boutique hostel, located in the Cape Town City Centre. With minimalist rooms for all needs, the rates at 91 Loop are pretty affordable for their central location in Cape Town. All their rooms are named after a city, with the reason explained on their website.
Apart from the regular dorm rooms and double/twin private rooms, 91 Loop has a Pod Experience on offer as well. Named after the largest city in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, this is the largest dorm room at the hostel. Each capsule is a tiny room within the dorm, with its own reading light, shelf, power socket, and lockable storage space.
Did you know the first capsule hotel was designed and opened in Japan in 1979? In recent years it has become a more popular way of spending the night on a budget when travelling.
Fun fact: this hip hostel got its name from its address: 91 Loop Street in Cape Town.
Our room at 91 Loop
However cool the Pod Experience at 91 Loop Boutique Hostel sounds, as a couple we opted for a double room with private bathroom, codenamed London.
We could appreciate the minimalist interior, although taking a shower was an unusual experience. Everything looked pretty new and clean, and towels were provided.
Although the room is minimalist, it had everything we needed, including a safe, personal power outlets and free WiFi with a pretty fast connection.
Note that small children cannot be accommodated at 91 Loop Hostel.
Facilities and Services at 91 Loop
A breakfast buffet at the attached bistro, called The Honey Badger, is included in your stay at 91 Loop Boutique Hostel. Have some cereal, pancakes, toast or fruit with your morning coffee before you start exploring Cape Town. Feel free to return to The Honey Badget in the afternoon for a barista brewed coffee, or at night for a sports game with an artisan beer. You can have lunch and dinner there as well.
How did they come with the name The Honey Badger? It’s a pretty badass animal, as explained in the “educational” video on their website.
The WiFi connection is pretty fast throughout 91 Loop, and free, which is always a plus in our book. They also have an airport pickup service for 180R (~ $12 ~ €10) per person, if you prefer that over a taxi, an Uber or public transport.
You can book tours at the in-house travel agency Backpacker by STA at 91 Loop. If you’re not willing to spend any money, the hostel has a bunch of recommendations on free things to do as well. Find them on the 91 Loop website, or ask about it at the reception. The friendly staff is happy to help in any way!
We actually experienced that firsthand when we noticed a warning about bad weather on the Robben Island website the morning of our tour. The receptionist called the tour company for us to check if they were still going out. Luckily they did, and we got to enjoy a tour of the famous Robben Island.
Behind the reception area there’s a small courtyard where you can sit outside in comfortable chairs, enjoying the WiFi or the company of other travellers. Want to socialize even more? There are social events and activities at least 3 times a week. Check the announcements board at the stairs for more information.
If you’re driving a (rental) car, like us, you can park it at the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, across the street from 91 Loop. It’s a covered parking garage, but they still advice you to not leave anything visible in the car. Rates start at 5.50R (~ $0.38 ~ €0.33) per hour for 24 hours, but go up to 12.50R (~ $0.87 ~ €0.74) for just 1 hour. Click here for up-to-date rates.
Cape Town is pretty big, so obviously not everything is within walking distance. Because (affordable) parking can be hard to find, we used Uber to get around. Another option is using public transport: Cape Town’s public MyCiti bus system stops right in front 91 Loop Boutique Hostel.
How much will it cost you?
We booked our stay at 91 Loop through Booking.com, costing us 2,970R (~ $206 ~ €177) for a private double room for 3 nights. That means it was 990R (~ $69 ~ €59) for one night, including towels, breakfast, and a good WiFi connection. That’s pretty good value for money compared to other accommodation in Cape Town.
We definitely enjoyed our stay at 91 Loop Boutique Hostel in Cape Town. The rooms are minimalist, but have everything you need, including a good WiFi connection. With a bistro attached to the hotel, and the public transport stopping at your doorstep, the frills and flavours of Cape Town are within your reach!
If you gave the Pod Experience at 91 Loop Hostel a try, please let us know in the comments how you liked it.
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