Marriott Bonvoy unveils the first Orlando Pirates themed room in Cape Town
Following the success of a similar initiative in Johannesburg, this new offering extends the powerful legacy of Orlando Pirates to the Western Cape, giving supporters a chance to live and breathe the spirit of the club in one of the city's most iconic locations.
'This themed room in Cape Town is a tribute to our fans, offering them a unique way to celebrate their love for the Buccaneers while experiencing world-class hospitality,' said Thandi Merafe, Brand Communication & Partnership Manager at Orlando Pirates. 'Orlando Pirates has always been more than just a football club — it's a legacy, a culture, and a passion that unites our supporters across South Africa.'
Supplied
The room's striking interior design blends the club's iconic black-and-white palette with a coastal ambience reflective of Cape Town's vibrancy. Among the standout features are:
Signed Orlando Pirates memorabilia, including framed jerseys and historic photographs
A custom-designed bathroom featuring a geometric soccer ball-inspired pattern
A frameless acrylic panel honouring club legends
And most notably, a mural by acclaimed Cape Town artist Murray Cowan (aka Strange Harvest), capturing the raw energy of the fans and the symbolic presence of Table Mountain. The dynamic artwork features a figure mid-shout and a player in motion — encapsulating the fervour of the club's passionate supporters.
The themed room is part of Marriott Bonvoy's broader strategy to create unforgettable local guest experiences through cultural and sporting partnerships. Through the Marriott Bonvoy travel programme, members can access exclusive Orlando Pirates match-day perks, travel offers, and curated football experiences. Marriott Bonvoy members also earn points for stays at Protea Hotels by Marriott and over 30 other brands in the portfolio, redeemable for free nights, upgrades, and more.
'With this launch, we're extending the Orlando Pirates partnership beyond Johannesburg, giving football fans in Cape Town — and those travelling with the team — a new way to immerse themselves in the spirit of the club,' said Dorcas Dlamini Mbele, Senior Commercial Director, Sub-Saharan Africa at Marriott International.
Now open for bookings on Marriott.com, the room promises to be a top choice for local fans and travelling supporters alike — whether visiting for a PSL clash, a weekend getaway, or simply to be closer to the legacy of one of South Africa's most storied football clubs.
Book now to stay where football dreams meet Cape Town's iconic skyline.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Juan Mata interview: ‘I love Marcus Rashford – him staying would be a win-win'
You will know by now that Juan Mata is not your typical former Manchester United player, but this scene is typically Juan Mata: perched on a balcony in a dimly lit hangar, under the dizzying high ceilings of Manchester's Aviva Studios, overlooking a dozen or so creations that sit at the intersection of two of his passions: art and football. Advertisement This is an exhibition — his exhibition — titled 'Football City, Art United', part of the biennial Manchester International Festival. Mata's involvement came about after writer Josh Willdigg noticed him liking posts on the Instagram page of renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist to a slightly obsessive degree. A meeting between Mata and Obrist was subsequently arranged and over a coffee at Manchester's Whitworth gallery they asked what art shared in common with football. What was the answer? 'I would say curiosity — curiosity and the will to learn from a different world,' says Mata. 'I always thought that art and football have some similarities that have been overlooked over the years, the way that you can express yourself through something, the way that you can impact society in many ways, the way to communicate with people.' Those themes were explored in Mata's first exhibition, 'The Trequartista', which was part of the festival's 2023 edition. Now, he has enlisted the help of some of his fellow professional players to delve deeper into those questions, pairing Edgar Davids, Vivianne Miedema and Lotte Wubben-Moy up with internationally recognised artists. He is not the only United name of past or present involved. Ella Toone, Shinji Kagawa and, inevitably, Eric Cantona have all collaborated with artists on pieces for the installation. Toone's is maybe the most striking: a large mask hanging from the ceiling inspired by her spirit animal — a Shetland pony. Personally, I wasn't prepared for Kagawa and artist Chikyuu no Osakana Pon-chan's depiction of Wayne Rooney as a manga character. 'Me neither!' says Mata. Despite this curatorial side hustle and a nine-month gap spent between clubs last year, Mata is very much still a footballer first and a cultural tastemaker second. He is still playing and, almost two decades after his senior debut, the 37-year-old spent last season with Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia's A-League. Advertisement Although Western Sydney's season ended in play-off disappointment, Mata still had something to celebrate at the end of the campaign. A question about Real Oviedo, his boyhood club who have returned to La Liga for the first time in 24 years, induces a fist-pump and a cry of 'finally!' His schedule did not allow him to be in Oviedo for last month's play-off final, although he revelled vicariously through friends, family and the club captain, Santi Cazorla. Both bought shares in the club back in 2012, when Oviedo were facing financial peril. 'I am especially happy for Cazorla — you cannot meet a better person in football, and the challenges that he has been through on a personal level,' he says. 'If somebody, if anyone deserved it, it was him.' What about this other home of his, though? His city for eight-and-a-half years. Wherever he is in the world, he seems to be regularly drawn back. 'I love Manchester. I love the club. I love the people. I loved the appreciation that I received,' he says. On his returns, he can reflect on and appreciate an Old Trafford career that ended with three major trophies and a game-saving goal in an FA Cup final and that memorable win at Anfield, but which unfortunately coincided exactly with United's fall from dominance. The three years since, despite more silverware, has only seen further regression. 'I hoped that when I left the following seasons, with new players, new coaches, things were going to work,' Mata admits. 'Don't get me wrong, the club has been winning trophies, but I understand that the demands of this club are so high and it's probably not good enough.' Perhaps diplomatically, he puts that down to external rather than internal factors. 'Football today is very competitive; all the clubs are improving. They're having bigger budgets, better players… you really have to have a great coach and great culture in the club to get results.' In Ruben Amorim though, Mata feels United have such a coach ready to instill such a culture. 'My impression from afar — and I'm very far in Australia — is that he's got a lot of energy. I think it's needed.' Mata has not met Amorim yet, on account of often being on the other side of the world, although regularly watches his press conferences and has liked what he has seen. '(His) enthusiasm, energy and passion for what he does and passion for helping the club. I love that.' Part of Amorim's culture-setting has involved the exile and likely exit of Marcus Rashford. On Friday, The Athletic reported that United had permitted Rashford and four other players with uncertain futures — Jadon Sancho, Antony, Tyrell Malacia and Alejandro Garnacho — to delay their returns to pre-season training, which officially starts today. Rashford — who has also lost his No 10 shirt at United, which has been given to new signing Matheus Cunha — is a player whose rise from the academy Mata witnessed first-hand almost a decade ago. 'I saw his first training (session) with us. I love him. As a kid, I called him 'the wonderkid',' he says. 'The way he played was fearless, you could feel he could win a game by himself at any time when he was playing at his best.' That is why, in an ideal world, he would like Rashford to remain a United player. 'As a Man United fan and as a friend of Marcus, I wish that he can succeed here because it's his club, his boyhood club,' he says. 'I don't know what's going to happen but if he stays and he can actually be happy and enjoy, I think it will be a win-win situation for both the club and him.' It is a time of change at United, though, and a painful one. Mata personally knows many members of staff who have lost their jobs as part of the club's two separate rounds of redundancies over the last year. 'It's difficult for me to say, of course, and I cannot speak if I'm not there, if I don't know. It's true that things are changing in the club. I just hope it's for the best because I want the best for the club.' Advertisement What he believes cannot be lost in the upheaval is that word again: culture. 'It always has been very useful to me to understand where I was. I still do that now in Australia, even now it's a different story,' he says. 'But I think that's very important from a club point of view and from a player point of view.' It was something Mata always seemed to intuitively grasp during his time in Manchester: that there is a thread running between a football club and what happens in the city that surrounds it, whether that be in its pubs, parks or art galleries. And so it is not surprising that this shared culture and the history that stems from it is still, more than anything else, what gives him hope for next season and beyond. 'I'm optimistic because I really believe that this club is way too big, way too powerful, way too good to not be where it can be,' he insists. 'My hope, my will is that it will be soon. I don't know how long it's going to take, but what I know is that Man United will be back to where they belong.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Terry Crews used art to make money during NFL career with Washington
Terry Crews was talented and in the NFL. Crews was a strong, fast linebacker for the Washington Redskins, and then suddenly he was not. Crews' journey to the NFL had not come easily. He didn't get to play at a big-time Big Ten or SEC university; instead, he played at Western Michigan. However, Crews exhibited enough speed, strength and athleticism that he was drafted by the LA Rams in the 11th round (281 overall) during the 1991 NFL Draft. Advertisement But life in the NFL is quite different than playing for one of the 365 Division 1 NCAA football teams. The NFL was 28 teams when Crews played his first season with the Rams in 1991. It's tough enough to make a 53-man roster as Crews did with the Rams. He was cut by multiple NFL teams but he did play one season each for three NFL teams: Rams (1991), Chargers (1993) and Redskins (1995). The NFL is brutal, and for all of his hard work, he was able to only contribute one solo tackle and on assist for the Redskins that least NFL season of his career. The linebacker's career in the NFL came to an abrupt end when the Redskins released him. Crews would later make it to Hollywood, being fortunate enough to earn roles in several television shows and several movies as well. But he didn't simply have Hollywood recruiting him when his NFL career ended. He had to rely on other talents. The surprising route for Crews was the he was very artistic and developed those talents as a kid growing up in Flint Michigan. He was given a flute and took lessons for eight years. He loved to draw and paint and did it well enough that he received an art scholarship to Western Michigan and then, later joined the football team. He even once drew courtroom sketches during the trial of a horrible murder case in Flint. Advertisement Telling his story once on a Jimmy Kimmel Show appearance, Crews told of how he was able to play for three NFL teams but was actually on six different teams in seven seasons trying to make a roster. So, he would ask players if they would like him to paint a portrait for them. He would do so and they would pay him. It's how he made money some of those years before he went to Hollywood. Here is one such portrait, of Crews' Washington Redskins teammate Brian Mitchell. Crews was 27 when he produced this wonderful portrait of Mitchell. His talents in music, art, acting are talents he can (and does) still use today, 30 years after his football career concluded. Crews appeared on Old Spice commercials for a time and has had several featured acting roles over the years. These days, Crews is best known as the host of "America's Got Talent." Advertisement This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Terry Crews played one season for Washington before turning to acting
Washington Post
8 hours ago
- Washington Post
England's Lionesses find a home from home at Zurich's fairy-tale 'castle'
ZURICH — England's hotel at the Women's European Championship is a 'home from home,' although it is likely a step above the players' normal abodes. Nestled in the woods on top of a hill overlooking Zurich and flaunting an array of spires and cupolas, the iconic Dolder Grand looks like a castle that has jumped straight out of a book of fairy tales.
