Babylonstoren

What an amazing place. A farm and winery (with cellar we didn’t have time to see) dating back to the 17th century, producing its own vegetables and exotic fruits (available to purchase) set in absolutely magnificent gardens – I’ve not seen better in South Africa. It is set in the Franschhoek wine valley with it’s unsurpassed back-drop. The is a hotel and cottages dotted around set in the Dutch style. There is beautiful greenhouse housing all manner of plants and herbs (with Myna bird squawking away!) and 4 hee-hawing donkeys to greet you as you pass. Also a spice house that time constraints sadly forced us to miss. Lovely outside restaurant serving scrumptious fayre. Best check the website to savour the full picture - it will whet your appetite if I haven’t already! The gardens are the jewel however and they alone are worth the visit.

Babylonstoren is a beautiful estate that has a lot going for it for a day visit, however as a hotel it is shockingly bad for guests staying there. The room rates here are amongst the highest in South Africa - we paid a little over USD 1,000 per night for our stay for an entry level room. With this price level in South Africa you would expect top tier 5 star hotel amenities and service - the reality is anything but. The main issues are as follows: 1. Outside Guests: The "hotel" receives an incredibly large number of outside guests who come for the day to walk around the gardens/have lunch/do wine tastings/spa treatments etc. These outside guests pay an entry fee of about USD 7-8 and get access to effectively all the same facilities and services as those paying the inflated room rate. Those visiting for the day are in no way at fault, but it feels as if management are just trying to maximise footfall in the property as opposed to run a luxury hotel. All the toilets/signs etc are what you would expect at a nice garden centre, not a luxury hotel charging in excess of $1000 a night. The whole property feels very much geared towards maximising the experience for outside guests with little thought given to those staying there. 2. Limited Hotel Facilities: The facilities for hotel guests are very limited, there a a few small pools of which the one at the spa is open to outside guests. There are not many places to go and relax aside from your room (If you leave your room between 10am and 5pm expect to jostle for space on the footpaths). The hotel is lacking a lobby type lounge area for hotel guests as when it rains (more on that below) there is really nowhere to go and the place turns into a zoo as everyone scrambles for the limited indoor areas. It's quite telling that the reception area for those coming for day trips is more impressive and larger than the small cottage reception for hotel guests paying 125 times as much. 3. Dining Options: There are 2 restaurants, one a more formal restaurant (Babel) which can be booked in advance, the other a more casual one (Greenhouse), both with indoor and outdoor seating. When it rains both restaurants loose about 50% of their seating, and carnage ensues. We showed up at lunchtime on a rainy day and both restaurants were "full" and we were told that there was a waitlist with no priority given to those staying in the hotel. We explained that as guests of the hotel we needed somewhere to eat and asked where this was possible, "you can order room service" we were told. Eating a sandwich sitting on your bed being the only available lunch option is not acceptable for a 5 star hotel. We had to leave the hotel to get lunch elsewhere. It's easy to see why this place has become so popular as the estate itself is stunning. However it has very much become over commercialised and now feels like a "luxury farm-day experience" as opposed to a 5 star hotel. Don't waste your money staying here, find a hotel nearby and v