The Ritz Hotel is an icon of Sea Point’s skyline, and exploring it is on my bucket list. It looks like I might get my wish, because it is set for renovation and reopening after years of sitting empty. My dad has told me stories of visiting when he was young in the seventies, and how businessmen would time the rotation of the restaurant to reserve the perfect table for sunset. Do you have a memory of the hotel back in its heyday? I’d love to hear your stories.
Back when the Shimmy crew owned it, I organised a story on the refurb job when I was still at Popular Mechanics. Secured the interview and tour with the lead engineer, got a drone photographer and triple checked that everything was sorted the day before the visit. Only for the engineer to be dreadfully ill on the day - even after the admin/PR team confirmed when i called them on the drive in - and had the story cancelled while sitting at a coffee shop in the shadow of the Ritz.
Details of the corner cutting and general money laundering would emerge months later. My aversion to being shot at by the Cape Town underworld kept me from reporting the full story.
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