HotelChatter || The Cape Town Hotel Scene :: Wining and Dining at d'Ouwe Werf, Stellenbosch

Our roving correspondent Monica Guy has recently blessed the rains down in Africa--South Africa--and is giving us the scoop this week on the Cape Town hotel scene. Have a question or a suggestion? Let us know and we'll do our best to answer it. Enjoy.

Anyone visiting Cape Town would be mad to stay just in the city itself, cool as it is. Most travellers find at least a couple of days to explore the Winelands - the areas where South Africa's excellent, light-drinking wine is produced.

The closest areas to Cape Town are Stellenbosch and Constantia, and you can hire a car to drive round the various wine farms tasting different wines and eating until you can eat no more.

We're not sure of the rules on drink-driving in South Africa, but either way, if you want to do this properly you're best off staying in Stellenbosch itself. And for that, we recommend the 4-star d'Ouwe Werf, which claims to be South Africa's oldest hotel.

True or not, it feels like it is - a beautiful white colonial-style house with antique chairs and tables, old-style décor, and shady terraces and gardens where you can eat and drink to your heart's content with the mountains in the background.

Neethlingshof Wine Farm

There are only 32 rooms in the place, so when the sun's gone down (and your 'sundowner' drink glass is empty) you're left in absolute peace and quiet.

The only thing to do then is go eat in the fine old restaurant. You'll get the local traditional dishes, like grilled ostrich and springbok, or more conventional options if you can't quite stomach this. The service is polished, atmosphere is quiet and gentile, and the wine list, of course, is superb (as long as you like South African wine).

If colonial-style luxury isn't quite your thing, you may feel a bit uneasy at the d'Ouwe Werf. Rooms are all four-poster beds with sink-soft mattresses, and the suites are even called 'governor' suites. Almost all guests are white and the workers all seem to be black. Remember, you're in a country that's just emerged from apartheid and where the majority of blacks sleep not in four-poster beds but in makeshift shacks in urban townships.

But the atmosphere's pleasant and quiet and everyone seems happy enough. And the food's damn good. Rates, including a full breakfast, range from R1300 ($169) to R1990 ($259) (for the 'Governor' suite). It's pretty damn cheap for what you get - save the money for the wine tour.

Hotel Reviews:
D'Ouwe Werf

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