Craft Travel

We’re going to be honest: when we were invited to inspect the new , we certainly did not expect to be devoting an entire post to it. But the reality is that this hotel is worth dissecting, for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, Canopy is one of the coolest new hotels to come to market in Cape Town for quite some time. Hilton’s Canopy brand has one implicit mission: to make you forget that you are in a Hilton. We feel they’ve succeeded in said mission, with thoughtful design and endless commissioned pieces from local artists showcasing the Mother City’s vibrant personality. The owners are local and literally everything in hotel - minus the amenity kits, for now- has been sourced within South Africa.

Secondly, the price point is unbeatable. We’re talking $300 per night in peak season for a room with a balcony and view of Table Mountain. And these rooms are nice: spacious, equipped with steamers, fab bedding, gorgeous upholstery. They have thought of everything, including various still and sparkling water stations on each floor that can be used with your room’s own personal glass bottles.

Thirdly, we love Canopy’s location in Gardens. Forget the Waterfront: this is the neighborhood where we locals are all going out to eat, shop and socialize. There is no better area for proper city strolling; Gardens is Cape Town’s most cosmopolitan urban enclave.

And speaking of restaurants, Canopy is home to one of the city’s hottest new restaurants, , from celebrity chef . We have eaten here for both lunch and dinner and can say it’s worth the hype: a much-needed tapas style addition to a food scene saturated with exhausting tasting menus.

We’ve said it before and will say it again: we are not a big brand company. Even when it comes to the most iconic luxurious ones, we’re typically on the prowl for a more authentic, high-touch option. But we will give credit where credit’s due: Canopy by Hilton Cape Town has built something very innovative, with remarkable value. If this allows a client to see Cape Town on the cheap and in turn splurge on a top safari, it is definitely something we can get behind.

Our ever-expanding Cape Town office is delighted to welcome its newest exceptional Travel Designer: Meredith McCormac.

For Meredith, as with the rest of our team, joining the travel industry was the natural culmination of an international footprint that has defined her life’s trajectory. She’s not just traveled the world: Meredith has lived in nearly all its corners, including Austria, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya and South Africa.

Meredith was born and raised in Oklahoma, and the itch to travel began as a teenager after visiting her grandmother’s birth home in Northern Ireland. After studying abroad in college and earning her Ph.D in international education policy, she developed a desire to keep exploring and built a career in international development, which provided ample opportunity to travel and work abroad. Before joining Craft, Meredith led multi-country projects in the international development sector, managing large-scale partnerships and complex operations.

She’s hiked Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, explored glaciers in northern Pakistan and witnessed extraordinary wildlife throughout the African continent. These experiences demanded curiosity, creativity, and the ability to navigate different cultures.

Now, based in Cape Town with her young family (fun fact: did you know that everyone in our CT office is parent to two daughters?), Meredith brings insider knowledge of Africa together with a profoundly nuanced world view. She understands the transformative power of travel—and how a journey crafted with meaningful insight can open hearts and broaden perspectives.

Please join us in welcoming Meredith and wishing her every success as a master of her craft.

We’re not usually ones to push boring, big-brand hotels, especially those dominated by loyalty programs. But when it comes to finding a satisfying Mediterranean escape without a major splurge, it would be wrong to gatekeep this find.

For our family’s annual Greece trip this year, I wanted to include Crete, and more specifically the Chania region. , part of the Marriott Collection, seemed like the best kid-friendly option. We couldn’t book peak dates with Marriott points & I ultimately paid full price (though we did meet a family who were able to use points with a very last min booking). However, even with the 2-bedroom villa that can fit a family of 5 & boasts a private pool, the cost felt very reasonable.

The food was a standout: Crete is known as Greece’s top culinary island destination and Domes did not disappoint. Included in our 2-bedroom villa booking was a very flexible half-board offering, which we typically used for a sprawling 3-course dinner. Domes’ food surpassed the quality of some of the top European resorts at which we’ve stayed, without even taking into account its increased value.

Equally impressive was the staff, once again outperforming their peers at bonafide 5-star resorts.

The sleek, modern decor will satisfy most elder millennials who cringe at the sight of dated bathroom tiles and tacky upholstery. Nothing is overtly fancy, but everything is well devised: who doesn’t love a sexy outdoor gym or a pop-up restaurant from a famed Athens chef? And what parent won’t sigh a breath of relief when their kids are elated to spend eight hours everyday at the kid’s club? It gives you time to explore Chania (just 15 min by taxi), visit a vineyard or hike waterfalls.

From a purely logistical standpoint, Crete is so great to incorporate into a Greece itinerary as it has fantastic connectivity with other islands & nearly all major EU airports. You can even do the overnight ferry to/from Athens, my ultimate family logistical solution.

Was it the trip of a lifetime? No, but like Verdura, it was exactly what we needed & I’d gladly return or book it for clients looking for an easy European family beach vacation that won’t disappoint.