The work area at Steenberg’s Cape Colonial Suite  

Working remotely and staying in touch with friends and family from Cape Town improved in the last couple of years. It used to be some high end hotels offered internet access, but it was low speed and from shared computers in a common business center area. The slow speed and set up were so frustrating we used the hotel access only for the most urgent issues.

Recently, we discovered two luxury properties with excellent connectivity and ideal conditions to work remotely. One in the central area of the city is the Cape Cadogan Owner’s Villa, a one-bedroom two story villa with the privacy, space and convenience of a villa and some of the amenities of a hotel. It offered excellent wired high speed internet access downstairs. The Cape Colonial Suite, one of the Steenberg Hotel’s recently opened Heritage Suites, is excellent for executives who need to work remotely from Cape Town. More a townhouse or villa than standard hotel suite, it had all the services and facilities of a small hotel and additional suite amenities.

The Cape Colonial Suite, a two story one bedroom suite, has a separate section for working executives on the first floor. It comes with complimentary Wi-Fi and internet service, personal fax and copying facilities, PC data and power outlets, extra large safe for laptops, audio entertainment system, iPod station, and large work desk. The Steenberg property, surrounded by vineyards and a golf course, is in the outskirts of town, a 15 minute drive from central Cape Town.

Click here to read about Cape Cadogan Owner’s Villa at the Cape Cadogan Hotel and Cape Colonial Suite, one of the Heritage Suites, at the Steenberg Hotel.

Tranquility Bay resort in Marathon had WiFi

When we visited the Florida Keys late last year we wanted to be able to relax and get away for a couple of days. Little did we know that there would be a crisis a work that would require our full attention for a part of the weekend regardless of how happy we would have been to just chill on the beach.

It was at that moment that we most appreciated the high speed Internet access available in our Marathon hotel, Tranquility Bay. Thanks to the in room excellent WiFi connectivity we were able to quickly and easily go online and solve the issue from the comfort of our suite. Although it was inconvenient to have life interfere in our getaway, it was a great consolation to be able to deal with it quickly and easily from our room.

In addition to WiFi Internet access, the hotel had

1. Spacious two-story suites facing a white powder beach
2. A free form pool
3. Motorized water toys
4. Fitness center and in-room massage treatments 
5. A gourmet restaurant that served breakfast, lunch, dinner and take out

Click here for information on Tranquility Bay Beach House Resort

The view from our patio in Crown Court 44A, our rental villa

When we looked into an island getaway earlier this year, we wanted to work part of the time and vacation part of the time. To do that, we had to have a high speed Internet connection and a reliable phone line.

We set our sights on Bonaire, a small Dutch island in the southern Caribbean known for its relaxed ambiance and fabulous diving. It was difficult to plan our trip with certainty. Finding out what speed and type of Internet access was available at our hotel proved so challenging we gave up. A waterfront rental villa with high speed Internet access became available at the last minute and we decided to take our chances.

In the end, it all worked out. To our surprise and relief the cable modem Internet connection at the Crown Court 44A villa was great. It was fast enough for a VoIP, allowing us to use our Vonage phone line for U.S. and international phone calls.

After a week working at the villa, we moved to the Harbour Village Beach Club, a favorite spot, for our vacation. Although we were officially on holiday, we still had to connect to the Internet multiple times a day and check voicemail messages daily. The WiFi connection in our suite was weak. Phone calls with the VoIp were unreliable. After several attempts, we gave up and used our cell phones. Although the Internet connectio cut out intermittently during the day, we were able to connect well enough for essentials.

Overall, working remotely from Bonaire was a success made possible thanks to the excellent quality Internet connection at the rental villa. Staying in touch while at Harbour Village was a welcome bonus. Although next time we’d rather spend the entire time relaxing, it’s good to know we can work remotely again if we have to.

Desk with laptop computer and WiFi access at Rattray’s

Usually when we travel to Africa it’s for at least two weeks, sometimes longer. While we’re away, we need to stay in touch with work, family and friends. For phone access we  rely on multiple mobile phones for a combination of texting and calls. Although our provider, T-Mobile, said they had GPRS service (General Packet Radio Service) in South Africa, we were never able to use it. Even after more than six hours on the phone with their technical department over the course of two weeks, they could never figure out why it wouldn’t work. We hope the next time they will have it up and running.

The good news is that in South Africa more and more luxury properties offer complimentary (or fee based) high speed connectivity in guest rooms, making it easier to stay in touch than it used to be even a year ago. During our most recently visits to South Africa we used dial up and high speed Internet connections and were almost always able to connect.

In the hotels and lodges that didn’t offer in room Internet access, we were able to connect via dial up from our rooms using a local account. The charge for the local account was minimal. The only other cost was the hotel’s charge for one local call which was also minimal.

In Johannesburg, The Peech, a 10-room boutique hotel with a restaurant in the heart of one of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods, offered guests complimentary in room WiFi connectivity. In Cape Town, our 12-room boutique hotel, the Cape Cadogan, had WiFi in the main building and wired high speed access in the Owner’s Villa.

In the Sabi Sand Reserve, our favorite property for connectivity among other things was Rattray’s at Mala Mala where we found a laptop computer with WiFi connectivity for our use in our suite. Sister property Mala Mala Main Camp had a library with one computer with a dial up connection for guest use during the day. Singita Boulders had one computer with Internet access for guest use in the restaurant. Ivory Lodge had one computer with Internet access for guest use in the conference room.

We worked from our suite at Sanbona near Cape Town

During a business and pleasure trip to Southern Africa, we went to Sanbona, a luxury game reserve near Cape Town known for its beautiful landscapes and white lions. Although there was very little access to the Internet, we were able to work on our computer in the few hours between game viewing drives and meals. Click here to read about Sanbona and its white lions.