POD Cape Town

Class: First

Style: Modern design

Rooms: 15

POD is the only modern deluxe boutique hotel in Camps Bay, the strip of palm-lined beach that is Cape Town's sunshine playground. Quietly discreet, with just 15 bedrooms, it delivers design with a big D; but it's terribly relaxed too, breezy even, which is probably why it appeals to an international, design-savvy crowd that likes to fly a little below the radar. Architecturally, POD is a mini version of the modern mega-villas cantilevered on the slopes of Lions Head above it. Wraparound glass walls, mirrored sultriness, raw-wood clad walls and low-slung, organic-shaped furniture crack the design code for high-end chill-out, but there is something for everyone here. Food is not POD's thing; cocktails are. Keep your mojo motoring with a glass of Champagne or a Caipirinha from the bar in the lobby lounge (which, with clever glass sliding doors, is sometimes indoors and sometimes out). Or have the staff bring one down to the beach for you, a service that alone makes a stay here worthwhile: they'll kit you out with anything you need for a day on the sand and keep you plied with provisions as required.