the cape

Deze trip gaat langs vier zeer trendy, smaakvolle, luxe hotspots in de Westkaap. In de gekozen guesthouses komt een breed samengesteld publiek maar ze zijn hier mede opgenomen omdat ze echt "gay-friendly" zijn. Dus na boeking treft men niet automatisch toch 2 opgemaakte single bedden aan. Verder staan de guesthouse eigenaren erom bekend u de beste eet- en uitgaansgelegenheden te kunnen adviseren. Om een indruk te krijgen treft u hieronder enkele recensies aan van reizigers die u voorgingen (bron: Tripadvisor).

De Go Pink … reis gaat van Manolo in bruisend Kaapstad naar The Small Robertson Hotel in de Robertson wijnvallei. Vervolgens gaat de reis via het op een fynbosnatuurreservaat gelegen Farm 215 (Gansbaai) naar het aan zee gelegen Zensalodge (Scarborough).

Opteert u voor een wat langer verblijf en is een bezoek aan een wildpark een "must" voor u dan adviseren wij u om na uw verblijf in Robertson een of twee nachten te boeken in het zeer luxe gamepark Gondwana (bij Mosselbaai). In dit park kunt u de zogenoemde "Big 5" aantreffen (zie www.gondwanagamereserve.com).

Voor deze unieke reis in de Westkaap staat vooral voorop dat u welkom ontvangen wordt en u maar één ding werkelijk moet: genieten!

MANOLO

"Definitely the most beautiful hotel in Capetown"

"We decided to spend our honeymoon in Cape Town and found boutique Manolo on the internet.
It was a bit difficult to find, but wow, what a stay we had! We chose for the penthouse since the photos on their site looked amazing, and it was actually even better when we arrived and stayed there. It is absolutely breathtaking! Views all over the mountains and city. We slept most of the time with our curtains open, because it was too beautiful to miss! The host, Leen and Peter, provided a home away from home and made us feel very welcome … a bottle of champagne and candles in our room every night when we got home … all the details! And then the views at night. In one word: WOW! This is one of those few places that is actually much nicer in reality than it is on the internet! We can only suggest it to people wanting to have 5 star service with the best views in Cape Town!"

"Gorgeous View, Beautiful Design, Awesome Bed"

"As a Design Hotel fan and frequent traveller, I really can only highly recommend this small and fancy boutique hotel where the two owners are doing everything so as to make your stay extremely relaxed and ZEN. There is a real "personal taken care" factor in Manolo. All the rooms are great, have a nice design and lots of cool features. Outside garden and pool are as well very design and do have a breathtaking view on the Table Mountain. Just go for it and enjoy the stay."

THE SMALL ROBERTSON HOTEL

"Fabulous Hotel"

"This was a highly comfortable hotel, high tech but unobtrusive. The huge bed, linen, furnishings, big bathroom, big wet room shower and towels were all of. Most rooms face on to a long narrow pool and some rooms you can just flop into the common pool at the end of your deck. The staff are faultless and cannot do enough for you. They even washed my car every day unasked."

"Five Star comfort, superb food with friendly caring staff"

"Impeccable service, beautifully appointed with all modern conveniences, fabulous staff. Lots of well-thought through special touches which did not go unnoticed. Certainly deserving of it's five stars. Breakfast (great presentation but no substance and inedible croissants!) and coffee disappointing, as was the restaurant for dinner - only the very best chef is worthy of operating there to match the incredibly high standards of the establishment. Reubens is not of that calibre in my view. Food over complicated.... please give me simple food well cooked. Let's hope The Small Hotel sets the standard for great accommodation in the more rural parts of the Western Cape."

FARM215

"An unexpectedly beautiful place to stay"

"The retreat is wonderfully remote and set in hills covered in carpets of flora. We stayed in a beautiful room in the main house, bigger than lots of London flats, with a private balcony with views over the hills and towards the sea, and a gorgeous slate-clad bathroom. Light streamed in from all side.

The decor is simple, modern and high quality throughout. We dined in the open-sided dining room and the food was absolutely delicious - imaginative, tasty, restaurant-standard three course meals using local ingredients.

The staff are friendly and laid-back - this is definitely a place to relax. There's an honesty bar throughout the day and you can help yourself to the books and games in the dining area.

A wonderful place, highly recommended."

"Remote beauty"

"One of the best things about Farm 215 is the fact that it's miles away from anywhere, you feel like a little peace of paradise has been set aside just for you. The hosts were friendly and attentive and had lots of recommendations for local activities.
The eco-friendly Fynbos Suites and solar-heated pool take your breath away and compared to similar venues overseas, they are quite supberb.
Produce for meals is fresh and locally sourced which could mean you have limited options but nevertheless the chef will deliver delicious creations. They also have a very good range of South Africa's best wines.

The farm has a huge amount of hikes that you can take and the abundance of different flora and fauna is immense.

A definite contender for that special getaway!"

ZENSA LODGE

"Stylish peacefull and very welcoming"

"As an event and congress organiser I need to travel a lot for work and I'm spoilt because most the time I'm sleepting in a five star hotel.
This time it was for pleasure so I was searching for smaller places with all the services I'm used to. In Zensalodge I definitely found what I was looking for … a beautiful place (design and cosy), a heavenly bed, fresh flowers in the room, a delicious breakfast prepared with love and good ingredients by the host of the house, very well located close by Cape Point, Simon's Town, ….
I would definitely go again and if I had the money I would invite all my best friends to spend a whole week in this little piece of paradise …"

"Zensa was a perfect find"

"We'd been given the web site by a friend who visited earlier in the year. The images on the site looked great, but to be honest we tend to be sceptical about how photos of a place at its best translate into reality. We needn't have worried. The reality is even better than the images.

Our room was fantastic, the bed was huge and comfortable, we had a walk in wardrobe/dressing space. large bathroom with bath and separate shower. We also had our own terrace and views of the mountains as well as the sea.

The rest of the lodge lives up to expectations too. Plenty of space even if all the rooms are occupied by guests. The pool area has plenty of sun and shade and the gardens are huge with spots to relax and chill, reading or chatting. There's plenty of scope for privacy and you can feel like you have the whole place to yourself.

There's not a lot in Scarborough itself but it's a great location to get to the Cape Point and also to places like Boulders (for the penguins) and Simon's Town. We drove to Stellenbosch and Franschhoek too , they were only about an hour or so away.

The next time we are in South Africa there's only one place we'll be booking to stay … Zensa Lodge."