wejetset - magazine - Places to Stay: Dreamy Private Garden Route Ranch, Kurland

Places to Stay: Dreamy Private Garden Route Ranch, Kurland

Written by Lucy Fennings: Right credit crunchers, here’s a hot tip: kiss goodbye to wintry weather and say hello, sunny South Africa! The Rand is still offering a pretty good bang for your buck, so get yourself over there, sharpish. Here’s a little more inspiration to get you going…

When you were little and you fantasized about a letter arriving telling you that you were in fact the child of a kindly, wealthy, outdoorsy couple who owned a magical home with horses and a swimming pool and quad bikes who let you do whatever you wanted, you probably pictured something like Kurland. The gardens are mature and rambling, its private polo ground hosts matches every day in season, the Cape Dutch architecture is stylish 1940s and the interiors mix colonial country chic with contemporary comfort. But you don’t need rose-tinted spectacles to appreciate what’s on offer here: this luxury Garden Route boutique hotel really is that idyllic. Click Read More for additional information and photos.

Walk into your suite and you’ll want to snuggle up on every cushion-stacked sofa, stroke every soft throw and smell every rose-laden colonial-style corner. Even the water by your bedside (which, if you’re in the middle of your kingsize bed, you’ll have to stretch a fair distance to reach) is regally presented in a Victorian cut-glass jug. Ok, we hear you say, what’s the catch? Only that, if you’re not here very long, you’ll never fit in all the things you decided you’d do when you booked your stay: a polo lesson, a day on the beach, a facial in the spa, a dip in the pool, a whale-watching flight, a vineyard visit, a garden stroll, a sit-down by the fire, a bit of yoga, a forest canopy tour, an elephant ride… Ah well, you’ll just have to stay a bit longer.

Hotel Details

Kurland
The Crags 6602
Plettenberg Bay, South Africa
To book this hotel, call Mr & Mrs Smith 1.866.610. 3867