Staying at Beaumont House, more like a luxury bed and breakfast than a hotel, was an unexpected pleasure. The lovingly restored home is nestled in a Cape Town residential neighborhood. It was named Beaumont by its new owners, a charming English couple, in honor of the nearby Table Mountain. Thanks to our brief stay at Beaumont House we gained a deeper and more expansive appreciation of the Cape Town area and its environs than we have experienced during previous visits.
Location, location, location! Set on the hills overlooking the town of Franschhoek and the Klein Dassenberg Mountains, Mont Rochelle’s most notable asset is its precious setting. The Saturday we arrived, verdant hills peppered with vineyards were a stunning contrast against the perfect blue hues of the sky and puffy white clouds seemingly added by an artist brush.
A short scenic drive from Cape Town led us to Waterford Estate, best known for its Shiraz and most recently for The Jem, a premium blend of eight varietals. Time was short and we could only visit one or two cellars. A local oenophile who directed us to Waterford said that the wine and chocolate tasting was not to be missed.
Located in the well known Sabi Sabi Reserve and managed by Camelot, part of a chain of South African spas, the Sabi Sabi Earth Nature Spa at Earth Lodge was a quiet haven from the world. After settling in comfortably at the lodge on our first day, we dedicated most of our second day, excluding game drives, of a three day stay at Earth Lodge to spa activities. It was a smart decision. The half day of spa treatments helped us relax and enriched our game viewing oriented stay at Earth Lodge.
Semi hidden in the African bush, Earth Lodge is the most notable architecturally of the four luxury properties in the Sabi Sabi Reserve. Although we had seen photos before arriving, we were surprised by the stark beauty of Earth Lodge and its grounds.
While I had been to Sandton City, one of Johannesburg better known upscale malls, many times in past visits to South Africa’s largest city, I had never visited The Michelangelo Towers, a condominium hotel building on the edge of the mall. The luxury building, our one of our last stops during a three week summer visit to South Africa, offered many advantages for first time and veteran visitors to the African metropolis. My favorite feature was the panoramic view of the city from our two bedroom apartment.
From 24 floors above the ground the city of Johannesburg looks particularly attractive and the floor to ceiling glass walls that spanned the entire living and dining areas and part of the master bedroom made the view that much more interesting. During the day, we could see parts of Nelson Mandela Square and the Sandton area as well as a hazy cityscape in the background. At night, we were surrounded by a sea of lights.