Cape Town - Stay in Camp's Bay or City Centre?

[kittykittykittykittykitty]

We have 5 nights planned for Cape Town next March, before we join a tour of another part of Southern Africa.

We have never been before. Which option would you pick?

Option 1: 2 nights in city centre hotel to explore the city, 3 nights in a hotel with sea view in Camp's Bay.

Option 2: 5 nights at a hotel in Camp's Bay and then get a taxi in and out of the city centre. This is a slightly more expensive option.

Where in the city centre, waterfront is great and safe to walk around, city centre has some very dodgy areas.
i don’t think 5 night is worth the faff of changing hotels.
What are you planning on doing for 5 days - Robben Island, table mountain, penguins and cape point, wineries?? That’s 4 full days and waterfront is probably easier for all of them if you are getting a tour bus. The open top bus goes through camps bay and will get you to the waterfront, city centre and table mountain so worth buying a 2 day pass, plus you get a harbour cruise as well.
Book Robben Island in advance as it gets quite booked up, you don’t need a separate tour.

We stayed in Camps Bay for 2 nights in April and it was cold! The view of the 12 Apostles with the light of the setting sun on them was stunning, but everything else seemed a bit contrived. It felt like a place to be seen rather than a place to enjoy (just my opinion obviously).

We did a day drive to the penguins at Boulders Beach, Cape of Good Hope etc and had a great day, it is conveniently located for this. I would recommend a visit but I didn’t love my stay like I thought I would.

I didn't like the Waterfront at all and found it incredibly touristy and the standard of restaurants way below those in Camps Bay or Stellenbosch. It reminded me of Fisherman Wharf in San Francisco in a way. Another place that gives me the ick.

Yep the waterfront is extremely touristy, but if you don’t have a car and you want to feel safe walking around it’s not a bad place to stay. Agree on the comments on Camps Bay, its definitely a place to be seen, bit like Rodeo Drive I expect.
We tend to stay at the smaller beaches, we recently stayed near Kalk Bay, I also really like Hout Bay but then we have a car which makes getting around a lot easier.
The weather is very British, expect rain and it’s very very windy!

5 nights in Camps Bay. Taxis are virtually free and Uber is dead easy to use so getting in and out of the V&A is no problem.

We stayed in Cape Town around 10 mins from V&A - less than £2 a trip via Uber. We did Robben Island (as pp said book in advance) and just went to Camps bay via the hop on bus. I’d not stay there as other than beach/shops there is nothing much to do.

I stayed in Bantry Bay (3km from Camps Bay) and had a car and then went back and stayed at The Table Bay hotel, V&A waterfront again with a car.
I really enjoyed staying at the waterfront and would stay there again. I went to Camps Bay for a dinner on my first trip and a lunch on the second.

I forgot to say I went both times in February and the weather was beautiful, not too hot for sightseeing and lovely and sunny with a gorgeous warm breeze.

Either option is a good one, as a PP says it's not worth changing hotels for 5 nights.

We stayed in camps bay for a week in April. It was a great base from which to do day trips around the Cape (we had a car) and then did Uber very cheaply for a visit to the Waterfront. To echo other posters, the Waterfront is extremely touristy.

And yes the winds!