庫爾豐登鄉村別墅酒店(Keurfontein Country House)

I had two bookings about a week apart. Both instances, there was no clean water to shower. The water was muddy. The owner sad this was due to loadshedding. Surely at R 1100 per night, the minimum requirement is a clean bed and decent bathroom facilities. This will definitely be the last time I book this establishment

This visit was altogether disappointing. A few reasons: 1. The pool was empty. 2. The only way to get supper was to pre-order, have it cooked before 4pm and then heat it up in a microwave. Boarding school? 3. We stayed in two 'self catering' units. The self catering part was open plan to the bedroom, and comprised tatty cupboards with minimal cutlery, crockery and glasses and a microwave. 4. The bath, cracked and in desperate need of renovation, had three rings of dirt around it. 5. There was a general air of shabby and not alot of chic.

We chose Keurfontein as a stopover for our family and three dogs as it was advertised as a pet friendly establishment. As we arrived, the owner’s dog attacked and nearly killed one of our dogs. After this had happened the owner made no effort to restrain the dog which then tried to attack another one of our dogs. We went to the vet in George to next morning where we had to settle a R5000 bill. I forwarded this to the owner with deafening silence as the only response. Don’t go to this place. The owner clearly has no ethics or moral principles.

Lovely guesthouse just outside of Willowmore. Beautiful view of the mountains, safe and secure parking. Rooms are cosy, comfortable beds, hot shower and small kitchenette. Friendly host, would stay here again.

Lovely property just outside of Willowmore. Comfortable beds, wondefully hot shower. Beautiful view of the mountains.

I had an early lunch here on a Sunday in January 2023. I last visited Sophia's about 5 years ago when she was still in Willowmore itself and really liked it. The farm setting, on an arid hillside surrounded by beautifully hued mountiaslns, is quite spectacular and the restaurant is filled with interesting curiosities and objets d'art. I had a venison pie with a salad, and vegetables which arrived in a cute phylo pastry basket. The pie was good, albeit not properly warmed through and not exactly bursting with flavour. The veggie basket was smotherd in melted cheddar which definitely struck a false note. The salad was served with a mayo dressing which I also thought peculiar. The whole thing was prettily presented and adequate, but I wasn't blown away. Cheesecake (fridge, not baked, as I was incorrectly told) and a decent coffee to end off with, at R240 all in incl tip. There is accommodation available as well which looked very nice, from the outside at least, but I noticed that the swimming pool was dry. I had decided to sleep over at The Willow Guesthouse in the town itself and will write a review of that later. I've realised that one has to adjust one's expectations when visiting this part of the world. I'm sure it's difficult enough to get good produce and keep standards up, so that anything more interesting or creative than a Wimpy burger and chips is generally to be welcomed.

What an awesome experience and surprise, we stopped there for lunch. At their restaurant “Sophies Choice” Delicious food, 5 star presentation and taste. Wonderful eclectic antiques and paintings, amazing views and buildings. Will definitely stay there next time we drive in that direction!

We arrived on a very cold and rainy Sunday night, the fireplaces in the rooms helped alot however there could have been more wood available as we had to bring our own wood to make fire in the rooms as well as the braai boma, otherwise a nice stay and breakfast was excellent!

We visited for lunch as part of a tour group . A lovely setting , with very unusual, unique & quirky decor. Food was delicious, when we saw the size of the portions we opted to share , they were too large for us . Drinks a very reasonable price too . We would certainly recommend stopping here , the guest rooms looked lovely, there is a pretty garden with outdoor seating , sitting there with a bottle of chilled wine would be idyllic.