Blow your budget at The Saxon (+27112926000) in exclusive Sandhurst. It's where Charlize Theron usually stays when visiting home - along with countless other celebrities and power players. The Saxon was the former home of SA insurance king Douw Steyn; it's also where Nelson Mandela wrote his autobiography The Long Walk to Freedom. Two upper-budget options include Ten Bompas (10 Bompas Road, Dunkeld, +27113252442), a small funky boutique hotel with a popular in-house restaurant, Sides; and the larger Schrager-inspired Melrose Arch Hotel (+27112146666) in the Melrose Arch precinct.

The mid-range Rosebank Hotel (Tyrwhitt Avenue, Rosebank, +27114472700) is within easy walking distance to shops, restaurants and the African Crafts Market. The Rosebank is retro-cool in a pseudo-swank kind of way, complete with two cheesy bars, the best of which is the Parktonian Bar, a 1970s time warp run by the softly-spoken, ever-present Leon (who's a bit of a cult hero without even knowing it).

For budget accommodation, there's the Backpackers Ritz (+27113257125), Dunkeld West, tucked away on a quiet side street between buzzing Rosebank and the exclusive Hyde Park Corner.

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