Location, location, location. The dictum has, perhaps, never rung truer than in the case of the Holiday Inn Express in Cape Town’s city center. Situated at the top end of St George’s Mall – a tree-filled pedestrian-only street lined with coffee shops and restaurants – the hotel is within walking distance of most major businesses, parliamentary buildings, Greenmarket Square, the Company’s Garden, and the city’s Iziko Museums. A short taxi drive will get you to the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain or the city’s gorgeous Atlantic beaches.

Despite the fact that it is so conveniently located, the hotel is actually a little difficult to find thanks to a preponderance of one-way streets. Your best bet – particularly if you are looking for parking – is to turn into St George’s Mall from Longmarket Street. One of the downsides of this great location is that, like all cities, the city of Cape Town can be noisy at night. Although the double-glazed windows do filter out much of the noise, you may still be woken in the middle of the night by a wayward reveler. If you decide to sleep in, you will almost certainly be roused – albeit pleasantly – by the bells of the nearby St George’s Cathedral.

The Holiday Inn Express doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t: essentially, it is a place to sleep at night and, if you are so inclined, conduct business. The rooms are uniform and, whilst comfortable and fitted with all the basic amenities, are not in any way outstanding. Geared towards the business traveler, the hotel offers guests 100MB of complimentary WiFi and access to a 24-hour business center and two boardrooms.  The service is efficient – the fact that my bedding was stripped while I was enjoying the complimentary buffet breakfast suggests that the staff may err on the side of being too efficient – but it does feel a touch impersonal.

Given the great location, though, you’re not likely to spend too much time cooped up in your hotel room. After all, you have the Mother City at your doorstep.