A fire that broke out in the early hours of Tuesday morning (February 5) at Tintswalo Atlantic on Chapman’s Peak Drive near Hout Bay, Western Cape, was contained by the early afternoon, confirmed Lisa Goosen, CEO of Tintswalo Lodges.
The fire started at around 04h00 in the morning, damaging the hotel’s main lodge – the kitchen, dining room and lounge.
Goosen told Tourism Update that the hotel’s rooms were intact, however guests were evacuated and are currently being housed at Hout Bay Manor and various other establishments around Cape Town. There were no casualties reported.
The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, according to Goosen.
At around 4AM this morning, Tintswalo management received word that the main lodge buildings at Tintswalo Atlantic were on fire. There were no injuries.
No further details can be confirmed at this time. We appreciate the outpouring of support and will communicate in due course.— Tintswalo Lodges (@Tintswalolodges) February 5, 2019
Update: The Zanzibar suite, one of the 12 guest rooms and the one closest to the public areas, was also severely damaged by the fire. Fortunately, with the successful containment of the fire, the other 11 guest suites were not affected.
Lisa Goosen, CEO of Tintswalo Lodges, said the owners and staff of Tintswalo were distraught about the fire, the second in four years. In 2015 (March 2), the entire lodge was wiped out by a runaway veld fire that destroyed huge swathes of natural vegetation, homes and businesses all over the Cape Peninsula.
“This second inferno is an enormous setback but the Tintswalo family is determined to have the lodge rebuilt to welcome our guests back as soon as possible. We have lost some buildings, but our biggest asset is and has always been our loyal staff, who we will retain to the best of our abilities to help rebuild the lodge – a process that we estimate will take about five months. Forward bookings during the rebuild period will be moved to other hotels in the area,” added Goosen.