Kopanong, Khayelitsha, Cape Town: Accommodation Review

Kopanong
C 329, Velani Crescent
Village 4, Town 1
Khayelitsha, Cape Town | Map

Accommodation type: Bed & Breakfast
Number of stars: 3
Rooms starting from (per person sharing): R250
SA Blog recommends? Enthusiastically!

Snippet
Kopanong has an informal “cooperative marketing” arrangement with other B&Bs and home-stays in Khayelitsha, so if you’re stuck for a place to sleep there – phone Thope! She’ll make sure you are taken care of.

(See full review below.)

Low season specials? No
Breakfast included? Yes
Dedicated non-smoking rooms? Yes
Staff friendliness (out of 10): 8
Staff competence (out of 10): Not reviewed

Room options: Single, Double, Suite
Room comfort level (out of 10): Not reviewed
Noisy? No
Does the TV remote work? N/A
Fan or A/C? Fan
Pool? No

Concierge? N/A
Restaurant? Yes
Conference facilities? N/A
Three ink blot adjectives: Warm, safe, comfortable
Value for money? Yes

Booking information
Kopanong
PO Box 22
Khayelitsha 7783
Tel: +27 (0) 21 361-2084, Fax: +27 (0) 21 361-2084
kopanong@xsinet.co.za

Review
Kopanong (pronounced koh-pah-NOHNG) is a Sesotho word which means “Where the World Meets”, and is certainly appropriate for this busy B&B and home-based restaurant in Khayelitsha, Cape Town’s biggest township. (It’s near the well-known Lookout Hill – the “Table Mountain” of Khayelitsha – which visitors can walk up for a view of almost the whole area.)

Proprietor Thobe Lekau provides a taste of South Africa’s famous open-hearted hospitality with her two rooms (one en-suite) and big breakfasts. Hers is a place where you can comfortably relax, and start experiencing real township life in Cape Town.

Kopanong also offers catering – an African-style dinner can be prepared on request, from R80 per person, or you can take a seminar group to her home for a lunchtime lesson – and does township tours for guests, at R270 per person, which cover up to four townships: Khayelitsha, Old Crossroads, Nyanga and Guguletu.

The tours are conducted by trained guides in a “pro-development” manner, exposing visitors to the many entreprenurs in the densely-populated township, and showing how people have begun to take control of their lives, despite the conditions they are living under. Thope also loves to tell the stories of South Africa’s recent history to her guests.

Kopanong has an informal “cooperative marketing” arrangement with other B&Bs and home-stays in Khayelitsha, so if you’re stuck for a place to sleep there – phone Thope! She’ll make sure you are taken care of.