5th Seasons Guesthouse, Nelspruit

Lowveld Classic

Gorgeous little cottages set up against a high koppie (stone hillside), made of classical tin walls and wooden decks which are so quintessential to this Lowveld region, I am well pleased to have discovered 5^th Seasons Guesthouse in Nelspruit (Mbombela). 

The beautiful décor manages to be both stylish and minimalist, always a happy combination in my world. Naturally themed, choose between the Bird Room, the Tree Room and the Botanical Room, all identical in layout. With a slipper bath, King sized bed, a couch, kitchenette, double cottage-pane doors and a deck opening out onto a spacious view, the huts are well designed and thoughtfully finished.

Each cottage has an individual parking bay, with private access through a raised wooden walkway. The hillside is covered in big rocks and large-rooted trees and is home to many indigenous bird species. The cottages are situated 5km outside of Nelspruit (Mbombela) on the R40 towards Barberton in Mpumalanga.

Accommodation Experience:

Called “Kruger Park nerds” by our family and friends, we were planning to head out at dawn’s first light from 5^th Seasons Guesthouse in Nelspruit, where we had stopped over on our way to our beloved Park. But somehow the gentle slowing of the Lowveld has infiltrated this place. We find ourselves in no hurry at all to leave the guesthouse, first lying under soft covers as long as we like, then sitting outside on the high deck, drinking coffee while enjoying the sounds of the many birds of this area. So lovely is this place that I even find myself wishing for another night here, as a transitional space between the hectic Real World and the otherworldly space of the Park.