Mother City's Townhouse Hotel to shut doors after 50 years due to Covid-19 lockdown

• The Townhouse Hotel has announced that it is permanently closing its doors following 50 years of service in Cape Town's hospitality sector.
• The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, led to the decision to shut shop. 
• New owner and operator, Murray Clark of Neighbourgood, plans to transition the Townhouse property from a traditional hotel to a modern living and workspace offering.

The Townhouse Hotel in Cape Town is permanently closing its doors, after 50 years of service in the hospitality sector as a result of the crippling effects the national Covid-19 lockdown has had on the tourism industry.

The 107-room hotel will officially shut shop next Wednesday, 31 March 2021.

According to the group's director and shareholder, Lex Petousis, the decision to close was due to the impact of the pandemic.

"We could not have imagined the impact that Covid would have on the global tourism industry; the extended impact this has had on South Africa’s hospitality sector and our family business particularly", Petousis said.

"As a result, we made the difficult decision to close the hotel."

Petousis marked the closure as an end of an era in Cape Town hospitality history.

"Four years ago, we could see that Cape Town's inner-city was experiencing a revival. We had a dream for the Townhouse as a mixed-use development and invested significantly in its future role in rejuvenating the city centre precinct," Petousis added. 

CEO George Petousis said there was a deep element of sadness to the move.

"Our Townhouse team have played such an integral part in the Petousis family story, many of whom have been with us for decades and have invested years of service to delivering our vision and creating memorable experiences for our guests. 

"We are facing another tough year in the hospitality industry with the ongoing effects of Covid," he added.

"As a family business, our focus is to continue weathering the global pandemic storm whilst retaining as many jobs as possible and to always offer our guests an exceptional destination experience."

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Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) CEO Tasso Evangelinos expressed his sadness following the announcement that the hotel was closing.

"At the CCID, we are very sad to see it go", Evangelinos said.

"We have always had an excellent working relationship with the hotel's management team and owners, who have been keen to work with us to keep the East City, where it is situated, safe and clean," Evangelinos added.

New owner and operator, Murray Clark of Neighbourgood, plans to transition the Townhouse property infrastructure from a traditional hotel to a modern living and workspace offering.

"Our plans for the property envisage connected communities of young working professionals", Clark said.

The group will be handing over the property on 31 March and all April Townhouse bookings will be transferred and hosted at the group's Vineyard Hotel in Newlands. 

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