This is a continuation of our Munich & South Africa trip. You can find the full trip itinerary here.
After Cape Town, we rented a car to drive to Franschhoek, South Africa's wine country, about a 50 minute drive from Cape Town. Dan was a bit nervous driving on the other side of the road, but he did well! :) He said he'd been observing how the taxi drivers drove during our stay in Cape Town to get used to the other side.
There weren't any big hotel chains in Franschhoek, almost every building was not taller than 2 stories. A lot of people stay at guesthouses (Bed and Breakfast) when in Franschhoek. I fell in love after browsing through Maison D'Ail's pictures on TripAdvisor and on their Facebook page. The place seemed relatively new and the price was quite reasonable. The guesthouse was located in a residential area, just off the main town road. We noticed quite a few guesthouses in the area too as we were driving by.
We arrived around 2 PM and rang the doorbell but no one answered. We tried a couple times and finally had to call using our cell phone (paid the extra international rate). Thankfully someone was at the reception area and let us in. Looking back, we should have notified the owners the exact time we were coming so they could be expecting us.
There was a small garden area, followed by a pool. We met Elanda who was the guesthouse manager, and Clive, the owner. They had us sign some paperwork and showed us to our room on the second floor. There's also free Wi-Fi provided with a passcode.
We booked a standard room which was beautifully decorated. I LOVED the design of this guesthouse. Everything looked so clean and modern with a slight rustic touch. I want to decorate my house like this!
There was a super small TV in the room, but not many channels, though we didn't mind it much.
Breakfast was included in the rate and was plentiful! There were fruit juices, fruit cups, cereal, muesli, yogurt, milk, and pastries. They also cooked eggs to order with bacon and mushroom. We loved the variety and the quality of the breakfast was first class.
Thoughts:
We really enjoyed our stay at Maison d'Ail guesthouse and would highly recommend it. The guesthouse was just so lovely in a quiet residential area, and the views from the guesthouse were absolutely amazing. If you can splurge and get the luxury room, I think you should definitely consider it. Our room was perfectly fine for us, but I know we could have gotten a bigger room and a better view and a balcony with the luxury room.
Next Post: Exploring Franschhoek
After Cape Town, we rented a car to drive to Franschhoek, South Africa's wine country, about a 50 minute drive from Cape Town. Dan was a bit nervous driving on the other side of the road, but he did well! :) He said he'd been observing how the taxi drivers drove during our stay in Cape Town to get used to the other side.
There weren't any big hotel chains in Franschhoek, almost every building was not taller than 2 stories. A lot of people stay at guesthouses (Bed and Breakfast) when in Franschhoek. I fell in love after browsing through Maison D'Ail's pictures on TripAdvisor and on their Facebook page. The place seemed relatively new and the price was quite reasonable. The guesthouse was located in a residential area, just off the main town road. We noticed quite a few guesthouses in the area too as we were driving by.
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| Beautiful guesthouse |
We arrived around 2 PM and rang the doorbell but no one answered. We tried a couple times and finally had to call using our cell phone (paid the extra international rate). Thankfully someone was at the reception area and let us in. Looking back, we should have notified the owners the exact time we were coming so they could be expecting us.
 |
| Small seating area/garden |
There was a small garden area, followed by a pool. We met Elanda who was the guesthouse manager, and Clive, the owner. They had us sign some paperwork and showed us to our room on the second floor. There's also free Wi-Fi provided with a passcode.
We booked a standard room which was beautifully decorated. I LOVED the design of this guesthouse. Everything looked so clean and modern with a slight rustic touch. I want to decorate my house like this!
There's a single sink with a stand up shower. There's no tub for the standard room, but I think if you book the higher category room there would be a bathtub. Everything felt so clean and new, just how I like it! All the bathroom amenities were also nice.
The view from the guesthouse was just amazing. We spent one afternoon sitting by the pool to read. It was so relaxing!
Breakfast was included in the rate and was plentiful! There were fruit juices, fruit cups, cereal, muesli, yogurt, milk, and pastries. They also cooked eggs to order with bacon and mushroom. We loved the variety and the quality of the breakfast was first class.
We really enjoyed our stay at Maison d'Ail guesthouse and would highly recommend it. The guesthouse was just so lovely in a quiet residential area, and the views from the guesthouse were absolutely amazing. If you can splurge and get the luxury room, I think you should definitely consider it. Our room was perfectly fine for us, but I know we could have gotten a bigger room and a better view and a balcony with the luxury room.
Next Post: Exploring Franschhoek
Marcela, I'm glad you enjoyed Franschhoek as much as I do. I run South Africa Travel Online, and am forever looking for quality reviews to share with our readers, as it gives them an idea of what to expect. So, we're going to make you a little bit famous - we're linking to this post from our Franschhoek accommodation page, and will also include a link to it from our newsletter. Keep up the great writing :) Rob
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