InAweStays
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Gardens · Cape Town · est. 1994

An old house on Kamp Street, kept for thirty years.

Six self-catering cottages in a walled garden beneath Table Mountain — slow mornings, wood smoke, and a resident dog called Snuifel.

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A Note from Doreen

Thirty years of keeping the door open.

I bought the house on Kamp Street in 1994, the year everything changed. The garden was overgrown, the floorboards were tired, and the kitchen had a coal stove no one had lit in a decade. It has been my project, my quiet companion, ever since.

Over the years the cottages have appeared one by one — built from the bones of outbuildings, weavers' lofts and a servants' quarters that was never used as such. Each one is different on purpose. None of them were designed by a hotel chain.

Stay long enough and you'll meet Snuifel in the garden. He owns the pizza oven; we just operate it.

— Doreen, proprietor

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Doreen, founder of InAweStays, standing in the courtyard garden at 34 Kamp Street, Gardens, Cape Town
Six Cottages

Choose where you'd like to wake up.

Each cottage is fully self-catering with its own entrance, kitchen and patio. No two are alike.

House Awe, the main heritage cottage at InAweStays, Gardens, Cape Town
House Awe · Sleeps 4

The house that started it all.

The original 1994 purchase. Wide floorboards, tall ceilings, a kitchen built for cooking real meals. The most complete of the six.

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Garden Cottage with private patio at InAweStays, Gardens, Cape Town
Garden Cottage · Sleeps 2

Steps from the lemon tree.

A separate bedroom, full kitchen, and a patio that opens directly into the garden. Quiet in every direction.

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The Jade Cottage interior at InAweStays, Gardens, Cape Town
The Jade Cottage · Sleeps 2

Named for the colour of the afternoon light.

Cooler tones, a calmer feel. Jade is the cottage guests ask to return to by name.

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The Loft cottage with exposed beams and reading nook, InAweStays Gardens Cape Town
The Loft · Sleeps 2

Beams, books and afternoon light.

A converted upper storey with a kitchenette, a long writing desk, and the best window on the property.

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Olive's Cottage with walled courtyard at InAweStays, Gardens, Cape Town
Olive's Cottage · Sleeps 4

Private, walled, and unhurried.

The most secluded cottage on the property. Its own entrance, its own courtyard, two bedrooms and the quiet of a place that forgets the city exists.

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Self-catering Studio cottage at InAweStays, Gardens, Cape Town
The Studio · Sleeps 2

Small, considered, and very quiet.

The most compact of the six — and the most often booked twice. A wood stove, a good bed, and nothing unnecessary.

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InAweDoes

What you can do from here.

01 — On the mountain

Table Mountain on foot.

Platteklip Gorge and the Pipe Track trailheads are a short uphill walk from the front gate. Most guests are at the contour path before breakfast.

02 — Around the corner

Kloof Street, slowly.

A two-minute walk drops you onto Kloof Street — the city's best independent restaurants, bookshops, wine bars and Sunday breakfast spots.

03 — In the garden

The pizza oven & Snuifel.

The wood-fired oven in the courtyard is lit for guests on request. Snuifel, the in-house dog, will supervise. He works for crusts.

04 — Start the day right

Breakfast, arranged.

Breakfasts can be brought to your cottage or laid out in the garden. Ask Doreen what's good that morning — the answer changes with the season.

05 — Into the city

Graffiti tours & food jams.

Cape Town's Bo-Kaap and city bowl have a street art scene most visitors walk past entirely. We know who to call. We also know where the food jams are.

06 — Further out

Tips, swims & rides.

Boulders Beach, Chapman's Peak, the Winelands, or a sunrise at Cape Point — we'll tell you exactly when to go and which road to take back.

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InAweSays

What returning guests say.

"We arrived for two nights and stayed eleven. The Loft has the kind of quiet you forget exists."

— Anya & Jonas, Berlin

"It feels lived-in in the best way. Doreen left figs on the table; we left different people."

— Sophie M., Paris

"The closest thing to a Cape Town home we've ever found. We booked next December before we'd even unpacked."

— The Pillay Family, Durban
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Best rate is always direct.

No commissions, no surprises — just the right cottage, the right week.

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