LABOTESSA’s elegant new boutique is now open to the public and stocks a curated selection of high-end fragrances, room scents and bathroom amenities, ranging from French brands Diptyque and L’Artisan Parfumeur to Italian range Dr Vranjes, Japanese label Comme des Garçons, and Penhaligon’s, a line patronised by the British royal family.
These cosmopolitan and sought-after ranges are stocked in an accessible yet elegant manner, giving guests of the hotel, or local passersby, the opportunity to spoil themselves or stock up on beautiful gifts for their return home. In addition to the standard of its product offering, the boutique shopping experience itself places excellence and refinement at the forefront with a beautifully appointed interior boasting marble and velvet fittings and antique objet d’art as decor.
When LABOTESSA’s owners Johan Du Plessis and Jan Fourie decided to manifest their vision for a boutique hotel in Cape Town, they had a clear picture in mind – a small, intimate, beautiful space that would engage with its surroundings and form a beacon of hospitality and lifestyle excellence in the city centre. The resulting property, housed in a heritage building on Cape Town’s Church Square, brings together old-world architecture and 21st-century amenities in a seamless bridging of past and present. An experiential approach to retail underlines the hoteliers’ desire to create a unique and memorable experience with the LABOTESSA brand as a whole and will put it on the map for discerning lifestyle seekers.
Du Plessis and Fourie are uniquely positioned to bring a global standard to South African, thanks to their extensive international hospitality experience. Their hotel proposition is underpinned by core values like exceptional quality and personal touch. The duo wanted every element of the hotel’s offering – from the accommodation to the culinary experience and retail space – to personify these attributes. When conceptualising the various aspects of the LABOTESSA brand, they were particularly mindful of the elements brought on board.
This was especially true for the on-site boutique, which caters to fragrance-lovers looking for something less commonplace by offering exquisite scents and home products not readily available through mainstream suppliers.
The focus is primarily on Diptyque Paris, a brand synonymous with olfactory excellence – its luxury scented products evoke a timeless elegance. Founded in 1961 by three friends (painter Desmond Knox-Leet, set designer Yves Coueslant, and Christiane Gautrot, who was working in an architecture firm), Diptyque originally produced printed fabrics, but in 1963 it branched out into a range of scented candles, now the company’s core product.
Diptyque’s distribution model is as discerning as its clientele, with only a few hotels around the world having made the grade to stock the range. LABOTESSA is one such establishment and one of only 11 hotels in the world to carry the prestigious product range as bathroom amenities in all six of its Signature Suites and the Penthouse.
The new boutique is set at the street-level, on the ground floor of the hotel, and spills out onto the square, with its picturesque potted plants and powder-blue façade framing the scene. It is open from Monday to Sunday from 09h00 to 17h00.
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