It’s not the mad-hatter-type chairs, fluorescent lights, quirky bathrooms, or shark-cage lifts that make Cape Town’s Extreme Hotel so off the wall — it’s the service. It’s truly refreshing to be greeted by enthusiastic, familiar, and energetic staff that make you feel comfortable and at home from the moment you arrive.

Stylish to the max

An adventure seeker at heart, the hotel was a far cry from the typical adventure-lovers ‘accommodation’. Everything is a little bizarre, but not overdone — it’s stylish and upmarket, but at the same time allows your mind to be open to any extreme possibilities whether they are décor-, food- or adventure-related.

A personal mindbender for me were the cappuccino cups and spoons at the coffee bar downstairs — it’s amazing how something as small as an oddly shaped cup can get you thinking differently…

Adventure what?

I arrived on a day that was rather rainy, and although this would never deter any adventure lover it did unfortunately deter me in my quest to climb the five-storey climbing wall attached to the hotel, as there were no guides. You can however book to climb the wall which is usually open from 10am to 2pm.

Anything extreme is possible, and the hotel can hook you up with an alphabetical range of activities across Cape Town, from abseiling to windsurfing. So for extreme sports enthusiasts and thrill-seekers the hotel makes an excellent base.

Despite the rain, there was more than enough to keep me busy — some extreme channel surfing (where I learnt just how to corner at speed on a mountain bike), extreme chess (where I found out about extreme losing), some intriguing extreme hotel browsing and some rather extreme eating…

The real gourmet burger

Internationally renowned culinary expert, Mary Rolph Lamontagne and executive chef Jason, have introduced a whole new meaning to the traditional burger. You can have pretty-much any kind of burger you can imagine… and some are rather over the top. The dining area looks right into an elongated pool — much like an aquarium full of tourists — which would give diners an eyeful over dinner. But I guess that’s the extreme idea.

Crest of a wave

As part of the Protea Hotels group the hotel is an innovation within a brand, and a daring one at that. Realising that for some tourists it’s about fast downhill mountain bikes, not fast cars, the group as found a niche like no other.

Inspired by Al Gosling of the Extreme Channel fame, the chain of international hotels is focused on surf, snow (not really an option in Cape Town) and urban adventure. Cape Town has been selected as home for the first Extreme Hotel in the chain, with more set to follow in the near future.

The 130 rooms (each boasting an in-room shower) offer modern design and come with all the latest techno-equipment and amenities such as an LCD flat screen television and complimentary wireless internet. Located in the urban hub of Cape Town’s city centre, it’s also just minutes away from the base of Table Mountain and the cable car station.

Extreme atmosphere

It’s not all about the great outdoors though. Just before it was time to call it a night I ventured downstairs for a cheeky little drink, only to find that the bar was pumping — filled with very fashionable and, I presume, non-extreme resident youngsters. So it seems the Extreme Hotel is also the latest and trendiest Capetonian hangout… so much for the backpackers…

For more information visit www.exhotelcapetown.com