Kleinkaap Boutique Hotel, Centurion

Present-Day Charm

 

The charm of an olde worlde effect relies on a perfect balance between old and new. While maintaining the architectural integrity and décor style of an historic building, crisp clean fittings and fabrics help to avoid a musty Miss Haversham feel. This balancing act is well achieved at Kleinkaap Boutique Hotel in Centurion. Due homage is paid to the original 1820 manor house, with warm Cape Dutch antique furniture. Almost Shaker in look, the beauty of the golden and amber wood wardrobes are finished with oversized smooth round handles. Original patterned tile floors are offset with glossy bathrooms and the softest white bathrobes. The beds are inviting with white cotton linen and gentle bedside down-lighting. Freshly baked biscuits in the room, tea and coffee facilities, airconditioning and flat screen TV complete the welcome.

Outside the main building, a shiny red antique car poses in the courtyard next to a pretty fountain. Although this is a sizeable wedding and conference venue, the layout of the buildings and the helpful staff achieve a friendly impression.

Accommodation Experience:

I am in Pretoria on business and I arrive at the Kleinkaap Boutique Hotel feeling anxious and overwhelmed by the work I have just agreed to undertake. I pace restlessly around the room, berating myself. Yet each time I sit on the bed in my upstairs room, I find myself looking directly out onto enormous old trees. It is Spring and these massive, solid structures are bursting forth with millions of tiny, delicate, light green shoots. I cannot help but smile and be filled with a sense of hope. It becomes my pattern for the afternoon - each time I get caught up in my stressy thoughts, I remind myself to look up and out at the hopeful trees. This is the power of a character stay – to draw one’s attention out of one’s head into the physical, present world, which, more often than not, is a less scary and more lovely place to dwell.

D’Vigne Lodge, Greytown

Happy Place

I was happy to have to spend a few days in lush rural KwaZulu-Natal for work. I find myself at D’Vigne Lodge, a surprisingly luxurious and affordable bed and breakfast in small-town Greytown. The country decor - florals and gingham and wingback chairs - works well with the classic 1930’s Victorian manor house, with its pressed ceilings and original high bay windows.

What I love about D’Vigne Lodge:

• Pristine Victorian red-brick building, with two gabled wings and a cleverly enclosed glass verandah lounge
• Pretty garden with green lawns in front, such that the house is set back from the road
• Enormous sunny suites
• English country themed rooms, with white-painted furniture
• Ornate fireplaces, pressed ceilings and original wide wooden floorboards
• Deep slipper baths
• Soft, big white towels
• Heaters, electric blankets and fans

Accommodation Experience:

My latest sophisticated psychological theory is this – do what makes you happy. This advanced thinking is based on complex academic premises which are threefold:

      1.    Life is short

      2.    When you are happy you make other people happy (the converse theorem applies)

      3.    When you do things on the basis of oughts, shoulds or any form of guilt, false self
         or expectations of others, it will usually come with a back-lash.

In this pursuit of happiness, it is our unique combinations of passions and interests that make us who we are. And so I set out with a glad little heart to do two seemingly paradoxical things which make me happy - training of community development facilitators in uMvoti, while staying in some fabulous character finds. My stay at D’Vigne Lodge, is utterly charming and would make even the most jaded traveller’s heart glad.

After unpacking a few of my favourite things, I lie back on the cream chaise lounge in my suite. I settle in with a cup of tea, reflecting that it is lovely when you enter into a space and fit into it with ease and pleasure. When you are happy, the world somehow creates pleasant spaces around you, responding to your own approach with generosity and kindness.

Morrells Manor House, Northcliff, Gauteng

Graciously Received:

Morrells Manor House has all the character of a country guesthouse, with all the hushed professionalism of a luxury urban hotel. Set in one of the older, leafier suburbs of Gauteng, Northcliff, the style is understated French Provencial, with indoor and alfresco dining areas overlooking lavender bushes and a peaceful, blue-grey pool. 

In the original manor house there are chandeliers in every room, Louis XV-style chairs, old fashioned coat racks and wooden luggage racks. Individually decorated rooms follow a botanical theme, with names like Plumbago, Camellia, and Hydrangea. There are fresh cut flowers everywhere and I count four vases filled with lilac sweetpea flowers in my room alone.

I choose to stay in the Agapanthus room, which has ceiling-to-floor lead-light windows and double doors onto a private sun-filled courtyard. The synchronised curtains, headboard and floral valence complement the white percale linen and pretty bedside lamps. The enormous bathroom is tiled, with a wide, deep bath and a double-headed shower. Maria Garcia bath products are the final flourish leading to a happy sigh.

Accommodation Experience:

I head out to Morrells Manor House early, deciding to escape the Gauteng rush to get some work done. Despite arriving unannounced more than two hours before check-in time, I am graciously received without even a flinch, offered a drink and shown to my room.

Unfortunately when I see this loveliest of rooms, all thoughts of work vanish. It is all I can do to sink into my soft bed with a magazine. With the sun streaming in through the open doors and windows, to the sounds of Turtle Doves and Barbets from the surrounding established trees, I convince myself I will be more productive tomorrow, thanks to a peaceful afternoon in this plush, secluded haven.

Top 10 Character Baths

Bathroom Bliss

What could be more delicious than donning a soft white robe, filling a deep bubble bath and opening the crinkly wrapping of a fragrant new soap. Garnish with candles, a glass of bubbly and some relaxing music, and you have the makings of instant bliss.

Inspired by the fresh Spring House and Leisure Magazine feature on fabulous bathrooms (September 2013), Characterstays selects its favourite South African guesthouse wallows.

The Gorge Game Lodge and Spa (pictured above and below)

For its combination of views and privacy, the breath-catching baths at the Gorge Game Lodge and Spa take first prize. Lying neck deep in bubbles, one can look out onto the vast gorge, watching birds of prey circle as the skies change colour ‘til the stars come out.

Hamilton’s Tented Camp

The award for the ultimate safari bathing experience must go to Hamilton’s Tented Camp in the Kruger National Park. Overlooking a wide river, one hears hippos grunting and can watch Saddle-Billed Storks and Kingfishers catching their breakfast from an 1880's explorer-themed tented bathroom.

Hartford House, Siyabonga Lakeside Suite

The romantic lakeside suite named Siyabonga (gratitude) at Hartford House has wide twin stone baths. Here you may lie alongside your favourite person, looking down onto the lake, feeling your stress seep away into the midlands laid back natural style.

Grand Africa, Plettenberg Bay

The creative Bath House at Grand Africa, and any of the other stunning boudoir baths overlooking the sea, will refresh your artistic spirits. Resplendent with giant candelabra, red roses, red velvet décor, this is a glamour bathe which will leave you feeling the sexiest version of yourself.

Sycamore Avenue Tree-houses

What could be more heavenly than a Jacuzzi at the top floor of a double storey wooden tree-house? Open the doors to the night skies and stars and create your own spa experience.

Petersfield Farm and Country Cottages

The rustic outdoor bath at De Veepos cottage at Petersfield Farm looks out onto Cederberg foothills and pristine fynbos veld. Bathe under open skies and feel your urban stresses evaporate.

Old Mac Daddy Luxury Trailer Park

The Life Before Colour Trailer at Old Mac Daddy in Elgin contains within it a fairytale Victorian bath. Once you are done marvelling at the creative ingenuity of a full scale bathroom in a luxurious Silverstream trailer, lie back and admire the creative black and white decor and silvery painted curved roof above you.

Welgelegen Manor

Moonlit marbled elegance is the bathing theme of Welgelen Manor near Balfour, just outside Gauteng. Deep Victoria and Albert baths with chrome Victorian fittings match the timeless beauty of this stately Herbert Baker mansion.

 

La Petite Dauphine

Bathing overlooking the golden vineyards and mountains of Franschhoek, glass of the good stuff in hand, is no shabby way to spend an afternoon at La Petite Dauphine. High shuttered windows frame the view from a deep and wide bath. Natural stone tiles and contemporary fittings complement one another well in this, one of my all-time favourite bathrooms.

 The Roberston Small Hotel

This modern, deep, freestanding bath has been expertly integrated into in an attic-style room with exposed wooden beams. The bath in the Stables Honeymoon Suite at the Robertson Small Hotel wins the prize for plush style, with glossy fittings and a choice of views down the length of the beautifully decorated chocolate and cream suite or out the window onto green trees and dappled blue skies.